God Forbid

We live in a universe that sustains life – but what are the chances of that? 

And scientists now believe that if the laws of physics were different by just a fraction – our universe would be either empty, simple, or long ago extinct.

If the strength of gravity or the mass of an electron was different by even the tiniest amount, the universe as we know it would not exist. So tiny even that the difference itself is almost beyond comprehension.

Why has this cosmic fine tuning come about? 

The philosophical and even religious implications are so profound, that this is one of the most exciting questions in astrophysics.

This is our final in our short series on science, religion and belief. 

Over the past 3 weeks we've explored the relationship between science and religion, the persistence of the idea of creationism...and now...why are we here at all? Can science ever answer that fundamental question?

And it’s so exciting that this week on the God Forbid panel, we have two internationally acclaimed astrophysicists to tackle this and much more. 

GUESTS:

• Luke Barnes - Senior Lecturer and astrophysicist at Western Sydney University
• Geraint Lewis - Professor of astrophysics at The University of Sydney

This program was made on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

It was first broadcast in August 2025

Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution nearly 170 years ago. 

So why are there still creationists? 

While mainstream Christianity holds that evolution and faith are compatible, a minority of Christians believe they are not. 

Last week on God Forbid we looked at the entangled relationship between science and religion, and how, when the scientific revolution began, the two not always but often worked in harmony. 

Priests were sometimes themselves scientists. 

And scientists often saw themselves as trying to understand God’s creation. 

But in the 20th and now 21st century, observation and measurement is left strictly to science. Values, and the world unseen is the realm of religion and philosophy.  

Yet for a minority of believers – the new arrangement does not work. They insist on a forced and literal mixing of two.

GUESTS:

• Jonathan Marks is Professor Emeritus of Biological Anthropology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.  Author of Why Are There Still Creationists? 
• Russell Blackford is philosopher of religion and science from the University of Newcastle. Author of op ed "Why Does Fundamentalism Persist?" will appear in the Dec/Jan edition of Free Inquiry – the Journal of Secular Humanist Ideas. Books include 50 Great Myths About Atheism and his latest, How We Became Post-Liberal: The Rise and Fall of Toleration  

In 1927, a Catholic priest told Albert Einstein the universe was expanding. Einstein though that was a crazy idea. But the priest was right. 

And when the Pope claimed this as proof of creation, the tables were turned again. The priest told the pontiff, keep your religion out of my physics. 

There’s the simple idea that we had religion to explain the world, until we upgraded to science, which did the trick far more effectively.   

But as the priest and Einstein anecdote illustrates, that simple idea does not explain the very complex story: the relationship between science and religion. 

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the London think tank Theos. His latest book is The Landscapes of Science and Religion – What are we disagreeing about? 

Peter Harrison is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Australia and Emeritus Professor at UQ. His latest book is Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age 

They’ll both be Keynote speakers opening the 2026 ISCAST biennial Conference on Science and Christianity. 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

The world has trust issues with its media.

Three in five Australians trust TV and radio news, and what's in the newspapers.

But in North America it is fewer than three in ten.

Are we doing something better here, OR are we just a decade behind them? 

Is it an economic problem? After all, ownership of our media has been contracting to just a few players. That alone has had some huge implications for the quality of news and who it speaks to.

The online podcast world has arguably meant a democratisation of the way people are finding their news. 

How can lost trust in media be regained? 

GUESTS:

• Tara Henley, Canadian journalist, broadcaster and author of "The Trust Spiral"
• Jonathan Holmes, journalist, writer, former ABC TV presenter and broadcaster
• Scott Mitchell, former ABC journalist and now co host of the podcast "Lamestream"

This program was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Is intolerance tightening its grip on public life? 

The twentieth century was among the most intolerant in human history; the Holocaust, Stalinism, empires collapsing in blood. 

So why, in the twenty-first century, is tolerance still so elusive? 

In the final episode of a two-part series on toleration, God Forbid looks at the ever-growing allure of tribalism, cementing division along contentious political fault lines. 

Guests:

Dr Shaun Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia. Author of the forthcoming Catholicism and Enlightenment.

Dr Devleena Ghosh, Professor, School of Communication and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney. 

Dr Abdullah Kunde, Founder and President of the Muslim Debate Initiative Australia.

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Rulers throughout history have used tolerance and intolerance in their pursuit of power. 

In our modern context, tolerance is often lauded as an unqualified good, but are there limitations? Should we extend tolerance to those who commit acts of violence?  

In the first of two episodes on the rise and fall of tolerance, God Forbid looks at the religious roots of tolerance and intolerance. 

Can lessons of the past be applied today, in an increasingly divided world? 

GUESTS:

Shaun Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Theology, Notre Dame University. 

Jürgen Overhoff, Professor of the History of Educational, University of Münster, Germany. 

Francisco (Paco) Garcia-Serrano, Professor of History, Saint Louis University, Madrid. 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

What is the place of religion in a pluralist society?

Australia calls itself a secular country, yet it has never been more religiously diverse.

Whether you're religious or secular, whether you support multi or mono-culturalism, it seems we all claim the authentic mantle of modern Australian identity.

Yet none of us agree on what it is, much less who owns it.

How should we grapple with our identity as a secular nation in a diverse and ever-changing world? 

GUESTS:Renae Barker, Senior Lecturer, UWA Law School, author of State and Religion: The Australian Story. 

Greg Melleuish, Professorial Fellow, Robert Menzies Institute; Fellow, Campion College. Co-author of Understanding Piety and Theology in the Culture of the West: The Poetic Life. See him in conversation at the Berry Writer's Festival in November. 

Enqi Weng, Research Fellow, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University. Author of Media Perceptions of Religious Changes in Australia: Of Dominance and Diversity. 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Generation Z is the first generation since the war to start out with less claim on the country than their parents.

You might believe this story is just all about economics. Negative gearing, property investment, supply and demand... 

But there's an older, even ancient, argument that says that says a country where people own nothing will eventually become a country where people are nothing.  

That owning property doesn't just confer wealth. It's moral training. When you own, you own up. This was the vision of Prime Minister Menzies who spoke of responsibility for "homes material, homes human, and homes spiritual". 

So was Menzies right? Does owning things make you more responsible, even a better person? Or is that the convenient story owners tell themselves, while the rest of us try to find this weeks rent? 

GUESTS:

James Vitali is a political theorist from Cambridge University, now a Conservative Party councillor in Dorset in the UK - His new book The Ownership Society: How Bourgeois values can save Britain. 

Max Jeganathan is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. On the Labor side - He advised the Rudd and Gillard governments. 

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Neuroscience is now spectacularly good at explaining how brains work. 

But there’s one thing it still can’t explain: why having a brain feels like something. Like anything at all!  

Philosophers call this the Hard Problem of consciousness.  

Is this gap in our knowledge something that science can never fully understand? Something intangible, even unknowable?  

Some say it's a life force, an essence, a soul. 

What, if anything, can religion offer this intangible? 

GUESTS:

• Rev Antonios Caldas Coptic Orthodox priest and lecturer at St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College
• Prof Neil Levy philosopher at Macquarie University and Oxford University

The Northern Territory is set to become the final Australian jurisdiction to legalise voluntary assisted dying (VAD). While thirty years of arguing comes to an end, God Forbid examines the wider conversations that are essential, but so often overlooked when it comes to voluntary assisted dying.

GUESTS:

Christoper Dudfield, Spiritual Care Practitioner, clinical leader and researcher.

Jodie Clarkson, retired teacher and community worker, palliative care outpatient in Mparntwe (Alice Springs).

Professor Charlie Corke, Senior Intensive Care Specialist, Barwon Health.

Further reading:Christopher Dudfield reflects on our obligations to the dying, even when we cannot endorse their choices, on ABC Religion and Ethics (18 August 2026).

WARNING: This episode of contains discussion of suicide, death and dying. 

Further informationHelp and support is always available.

Helplines (24 hours/7 days a week): Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 13YARN on 13 92 76. 

For bereavement support visit Compassionate Friends or call their National Grief Hotline on 1300 064 068.

This program was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.