Beyond Belief

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the religious origin and moral aims of the Olympics. Joining him are Baroness Grey-Thompson, Vice Chair of the London 2012 Athlete's Commission; Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, Professor of Sociology at Toronto University and author of the book "Challenging Olympic Power and Propaganda;" and Matthew Syed a sports journalist with the Times, who competed in table tennis at the Olympics in Barcelona and Sydney.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the symbol of the cross in contemporary society. Joining him are Dr Sophie Lunn Rockcliffe, Lecturer in Roman History at King's College London; Dr Anna Robbins, Lecturer in Theology and Contemporary Culture at the London School of Theology; and Dr Ed Kessler, Director of the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic religions in Cambridge.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss religion and adoption. Joining him are Raffia Arshad, a family lawyer, Ruby Clay, an author who has adopted three children with her lesbian partner, and Fiona Bowie a social anthropologist and also an adoptive mother.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the religious dimensions to Nigeria's current crisis. Joining Ernie are Dr Jameel Yushau, senior lecturer in media and politics at Northumbria University, Dr Steven Pierce, lecturer in the history of sub Saharan Africa at the University of Manchester and Dr Leena Hoffmann who has just completed her PhD on democracy and patronage politics in Nigeria at the University of Birmingham.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the place of faith in the lives of travelling people. Joining him are Dr Adrian Marsh, Senior Programme Manager at the Open Society Foundation, Cathleen McDonagh, from Exchange House, a National Traveller Organisation in Dublin; and Jackie Boyd, a pastor with the Light and Life Gypsy Church.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the appeal and direction of "New Atheism". Joining him are Professor Simon Blackburn, Vice President of the British Humanist Association; Mark Embleton, a psychologist and President of Atheism UK; and Lois Lee, founder of the Non-Religion and secularity research network.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss religion in Korea following the death of Kim Jong-il. Joining Ernie for the discussion are James Grayson, Emeritus Professor of Modern Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield; Professor Sebastian Kim who holds the Chair in Theology and Public Life at York St John University; and Dr Jiyoung Song Associate Fellow at Chatham House and Lecturer at the National University of Singapore.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the Bahai faith. Joining him are two Bahai writers Moojan Momen and Lil Osborn, and Denis MacEoin who used to be a Bahai but left after he became disillusioned with what he saw as its authoritarian structures.

Ernie Rea and guests discuss the role of Bishops in the House of Lords. Joining him are the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, Jonathan Bartley, Director of the Think Tank Ekklesia, and Dr Meg Russell, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London.

What role does religion play in the race for the Republican nomination for the White House? Ernie Rea is joined by Bob Vander Plaats, head of "The Family Leader" pressure group, Boo Tyson from "Coalition Mainstream" and Dr Alexander Smith from Huddersfield University.

Ernie Rea and his guests discuss the nature of pilgrimage and why it is growing so much in popularity in a so-called secular age. Joining him are Dr Marion Bowman, Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Open University; Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions & Conservation and Connie Hill-Smith who is writing her doctoral thesis on cyber pilgrimage at the University of Wales, Trinity & St. David's.

This week's Beyond Belief comes from Scotland, where Ernie Rea and his guests discuss same sex marriage, which the Scottish government is considering legalising. Joining him are John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrew's, the Reverend John Bell, a Church of Scotland minister and Bashir Maan, Former Convenor of the Muslim Council of Scotland.

Ernie Rea & his guests discuss the origin of the Protestant Work Ethic & its relationship to today's crisis in capitalism and the global financial markets. Joining him are Lord Mawson, social entrepreneur, cross bench peer & minister in the United Reformed Church; Professor Sam Whimster, Fellow in the Centre for Advanced Study at the University of Bonn, and Jonathan Wittenberg, Rabbi of New North London Synagogue.

Ernie Rea and his guests discuss the nature of mystical experiences. Do they always entail altered states of consciousness? Joining him are Dr David Luke, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich and President of the Parapsychological Association, Shamanic Practioner, Dr Zoe Bran and Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

In the first of a new series, Ernie Rea and his guests discuss Islam & the Veil. Joining him for a lively debate are Fatima Barkatullah, writer and lecturer for the Islamic Education & Research Academy, Dr Shuruq Naguib, Lecturer in Islam at Lancaster University and Khola Hasan, Lecturer on Women's Rights under Islamic law & member of the Islamic Sharia Council.