God Forbid

It was an ancient preoccupation, and now it's a modern obsession. So how has something as universal as sleep remained so mysterious? And what can the cultural and religious history of sleep, dreaming and insomnia teach us today?

Across faith traditions, the pilgrimage is a sacred journey of spiritual transformation, steeped in history and geography. Pilgrimages can be powerful life-altering experiences, but they can also be dangerous. 

Our species has plenty of experience with death, but in many families the topic remains taboo.

From hymns and oaths to the eternal flame - the Olympic Games are full of religious symbolism. Ever since the ancient Games in Olympia, ritual and moral virtues have played a part. 

Can religion provide a pathway for a better tomorrow? Can it aid us in bringing peace where everything else seems to have failed?

Could kindness be an act of defiance or resistance?

Over the COVID years, the Diversity Council Australia found one in two Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people experienced at least one incident of racial harassment or discrimination at work. Other studies have found racism to be a deeply set feature of our society.  

Today, 8 billion of us share this remarkable planet.  Yet there are declines in fertility rates across the globe. Demographers say this is more the rule than the exception. 

What's causing this decline, and can we do anything about it? And what about the planet? Where does it fit into this population debate?   

How is it that the physical brain can give rise to our subjective, intangible conscious experience? Why and how are we aware of being aware? It remains one of the great philosophical and scientific questions, and our God Forbid panel are here to discuss it.

More than half of Australians believe in life after death. Some even believe we can communicate with the dead.  In the nineteenth century, the Spiritualist movement claimed to speak with the dead through mediums and seances.

This  American movement attracted many women; and at a time when they had few rights, Spiritualism gave women a voice as mediums who could take messages from the dead to the living. 

It used to have followers in the millions,  though the escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini insisted they were frauds – and he lobbied the US Congress to ban the practice.

So what made it so controversial and influential? And why do we remain intrigued by what happens – if anything - after we die?