Beyond Belief

"I put my pants and toothbrush in a bag, and I never went back."

On a wet and windy November night a Carmelite nun, Lisa, leaves the convent, her home for 24 years, after a monk asks her to marry him.

With so few people now living in religious communities, what's the future for Britain's monks, nuns, friars and sisters?

Aleem Maqbool brings together three people who have experienced life in a religious order to hear Lisa's story and discuss this question. Father Luigi Gioia is a former Benedictine monk, turned Anglican Priest and scholar. Sister Gabriel Davison is a nun with the Poor Clares in Arundel, West Sussex, a centuries-old Catholic order which had a recent surprise hit in the classical charts with an album of their singing. And Berwyn Watson is the new Abbott at the Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in Northumberland.

The panel discuss what first attracted them to religious life and the benefits and challenges to life as a monk or nun. What is the purpose of monastic life, both for individuals, but also for the wider religious community and society? And what's the place of these centuries-old institutions in modern Britain?

Plus, what happened next for Lisa, and the monk, Robert?

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Exploring the faith behind the pomp and pageantry of the Queen's funeral.

Millions will have watched the historic funeral service from Westminster Abbey and the Committal at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest. For some, the services will be full of meaning and resonance. Others will be less familiar with the Christian rituals that have evolved over centuries.

Ernie Rea is joined by writer and journalist Catherine Pepinster, Professor Douglas Davies, Rev Dr Giles Fraser and Andrew Carwood MBE (Director of Music, St Paul's Cathedral) to discuss and illuminate the meaning, symbolism and significance of the Queen's state funeral.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Anglican Bishops are starting to consider what 'redemptive action' for the horrors of slavery could look like. The history of the transatlantic slave trade casts a long shadow. Over three million black Africans were transported in British ships to a life of slavery. The legacy of a practice that spanned three centuries has been keenly felt in recent years, from the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, to the toppling of statues of slave traders.

Calls appear to be getting louder for institutions, corporations and individuals to offer redress. The historic links of Christianity with slavery have been examined and some feel there is a debt to be paid. What might that look like? What responsibility do the heirs of the oppressor have to the heirs of the oppressed?

Ernie is joined by theologian and broadcaster Professor Robert Beckford, legal specialist on reparations Esther Stanford-Xosei, and Professor Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford.

Plus he hears from the Virginia Theological Seminary in the US who have started paying reparation to the descendants of those it says laboured on it's campus under slavery or segregation.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Margaret Atwood tells Ernie Rea about the role of faith in her seminal novel and how her fiction, written nearly 40 years ago, resonates in a post-Roe v Wade world.

Atwood's novel about a dystopian future in a fundamentalist regime has been turned into a hugely popular TV series, about to start it's fifth season. It's also been adopted by activists protesting against restrictions on female rights and freedoms.

Professor Linda Woodhead (Kings College London), Professor Coral Ann Howells (editor of The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood) and Alissa Wilkinson (Culture and Film Critic for Vox.com) join Ernie to discuss the role of religion in Atwood's Gilead, why her vision has struck a chord today and its influence on culture and politics.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Last month’s attempt on Salman Rushdie’s life brought the world’s attention back on Iran and the death sentence imposed on the writer by Ayatollah Khomeini more than three decades ago.

More recently, Iran has been in the news with reports of crackdowns on perceived dissidents: women who choose not to wear the hijab and members of other religions especially the Baha'is.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is ruled by a Supreme Leader from the Shia tradition, Ayatollah Khamenei. It is he who ultimately wields the power and imposes limits on the peoples’ rights and freedoms. Given his overruling authority, it is difficult to know what ordinary people believe or how they feel about their system of government.

So is this vast country of 86 million people really an Islamic nation? And if it’s not, how religious is Iran?

Ernie Rea is joined by Professor Ali Ansari, Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Professor Sajjad Rizvi and Khosro Kalbasi, a journalist for BBC Monitoring watching Iran.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Can our morning coffee routines, the Saturday parkrun, or a daily walk in nature be sacred?

Ernie Rea explores how ritual, repeated actions done the same way every time, long associated with religion, is being employed by those outside of faith practice. There are now apps that can help build mindful rituals into your day, workplaces are designing ceremonies to build community amongst colleagues. What attracts us to these kinds of practices and without a religious framework do they lose their power?

Ernie is joined by Casper Ter Kuile, formerly at the Harvard Divinity School he's the author of 'The Power of Ritual'. Kashori Jani is a Sanskrit teacher at a Hindu faith school and shares ancient Hindu wisdom and Kirtan (musical mantra meditation) with her large following online. Father David Elliot is Catholic Priest and the Head of Theology at the Oratory School in Oxford.

Plus Matt Brooke from Tough Mudder tells us how ritual helps competitors complete their endurance challenges.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted and Katharine Longworth

Modest clothing is a multi-billion dollar trend, with designers seeking inspiration from cultures where dressing modestly is the norm. There are millions of images tagged as #modestfashion on Instagram or Tik Tok, from prairie dresses to designer hijabs. Ernie Rea explores the religious reasons from the Abrahamic faiths about why some cover up, and asks if our ideas of modesty are changing.

He's joined by Dr Shuruq Naguib a lecturer of Islamic Studies at the University of Lancaster, Dr Lindsay Simmonds a research fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies and Molly Boot, a theologian training for ministry in the Church of England. They discuss what rules they apply to the way they dress and the historic and scriptural basis for their understanding of modesty. What is the requirement of men to dress modestly in faith traditions and what role do sexuality, shame and purity have in the way some people of faith understand they have to dress?

Plus, cultural journalist Hafsa Lodi explains why, for her, the modest fashion industry poses a paradox, and we hear from male blogger Zaahid.

Producers: Rebecca Maxted and Katharine Longworth

How easy is it for autistic people to believe in God?

The National Autistic Society describe autism as a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people communicate and interact with the world. They say 1 in 100 of us may be autistic and the diagnosis of autism has risen dramatically in recent decades.

How are religious organisations responding to the needs of a growing number of their congregations?

Ernie Rae is joined by a panel of three autistic guests to discuss their experiences: Professor Grant Macaskill, the co-director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen; Samantha Stein, a YouTuber with over seven million views, who set up an atheist summer camp; and Iqra Babar, a digital artist with a strong Muslim faith.

We also hear from TV quizzer Anne Hegarty, who is autistic and a Catholic, about her relationship with faith.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

She wears a necklace of severed human heads with blood dripping from their necks. Her tongue is bright scarlet and sticking out. She carries a bloodied sword.

Meet Kali, a Hindu goddess who is one embodiment of the Hindu principle called Shakti, meaning energy, power or force. Who is Kali and what does she represent?

We’re embracing some of the ideas of shakti in the West. You can take kundalini yoga classes or meditation courses to access your divine feminine energy. What is the philosophy behind these practices?

Join Ernie Rea as he visits the British Museum to see a new statue of the female Goddess, part of a new exhibition called 'Feminine Power: From The Divine to the Demonic'. Curator Belinda Crerer and dancer and devotee of Kali, Indrani Datta, tell him more.

Plus Ernie is joined by experts in the Shakti tradition Sumita Ambasta, Lavanya Vemsani and Acharya Vidyabhaskar.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted

Image: Kali Murti, Kaushik Ghosh, India, 2022. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

As Muslims around the world celebrate Eid, Ernie Rea hosts a panel on the beliefs and culture of the Uyghurs, a majority Muslim people in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, North West China. Human rights organisations have accused China of committing crimes against humanity against the Uyghur people and the US government has accused the Chinese government of genocide.

For over eight years, there have been reports of mass surveillance of the Uyghur population and abuses including forced incarceration in 're-education camps' and sterilisation against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. The Chinese government have consistently denied accusations of abuse and insist their camps are vocational facilities, and to combat terrorism.

Ernie Rea explores the faith of the majority Muslim Uyghur people. What could be lost from their language, culture and heritage?

Ernie is joined by experts on the region, Dr Jo Smith Finley and Dr Rian Thum. Rahima Mahmut, a Uyghur Muslim. grew up in the region and is the UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress. And Abduweli Ayup, a Uyghur poet and linguistic scholar, tells his story of incarceration in Xinjiang.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted