Debating the Stupak Amendment

Perhaps no religious group has been more vocal - or divided - on the health care debate than the Catholic Church.  The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the official voice of the church in the United States, has lobbied against the Senate version of the Democrats’ health plan, which they say would allow federal dollars to fund abortions. But many Catholic advocacy groups dispute that premise, and say the Bishops don’t speak for them. This week, it’s a (civil) debate between two Catholics on different sides of the spectrum. 

David Nolan, Communications Director of Catholics for Choice

Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats for Life

Shaping The President's Policy, and His Soul

Where does the President turn when he needs a line from the Q'uran, a refresher on Catholicism, or a daily devotion on his Blackberry?  Journalist Daniel Burke has just released a surprising analysis of President Obama’s inner spiritual circle: the people who prep him to meet the Pope, write his speeches for the Muslim world and pray with him in private.  Burke joins us with a who's who of what he calls the President's "spiritual cabinet".

Pictured: Obama makes his speech to the Muslim world at Cairo University

Daniel Burke, author of "Obama's Spiritual Cabinet Shapes Policy, Tends His Soul" for Religion News Service

A Higher Calling

Meet the new Jim McGreevey: proud gay American, volunteer, seminary student.   About a year after he stunned the country with the announcement that he had been unfaithful, the ex-New Jersey governor enrolled at one of the country’s most prestigious Episcopalian seminaries.  He has now begun a spiritual process, known as discernment, that may lead to his priesthood.  McGreevey joins us to reflect on the long journey to finding his true self. 

Jim McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey and author of The Confession

The Spiritual Core of Avatar

Ten movies are up for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, but the real buzz centers on just one:  Avatar.  Much of the film takes place on a distant moon, Pandora, where beautiful, blue aliens live in communion with nature. Avatar’s theology, if you can call it that, has been celebrated and panned by religion trend spotters- even the Vatican weighed in through its official newspaper. It was not impressed.   Craig Detweiler explains what religious themes he sees in the Oscar contender.

Craig Detweiler, editor of Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games with God

A Call for Compassion

Karen Armstong really, truly believes in the golden rule. Two years ago, when the best-selling author won the coveted TED prize, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her $100,000 prize money: urge people around the world to treat each other as they’d like to be treated.  With the help of global religious leaders, she created the Charter For Compassion, a 330-word document that calls on everyone to embrace empathy and shun violence.  She joins us to answer tough questions about how it will actually work in the real world.

Karen Armstrong, author of The Case for God and founder of the Charter for Compassion

How Mormon is the Twilight Saga?

Even if you aren't familiar with the Twilight books, you probably know someone who is.  The last book in the four book series, Breaking Dawn, sold 1.3 million copies on its first day alone.  The saga, about an ordinary teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, has inspired fandom bordering on the obsessive.  One thing even many fans don't know, however, is that elements of author Stephanie Meyer's Mormon faith appear in the Twilight story.

Samira Mehta, Doctoral Candidate in American Religious Cultures at Emory University

The Mormon Bloggernacle

In a recent speech to Brigham Young University students, 80-year-old Mormon Elder M. Russell Ballard called upon young Mormons to take to the internet, using blogs as a vehicle to share their beliefs with others.  And they certainly have.  The Mormon blogosphere has grown so rapidly, it has earned its own nickname: the bloggernacle.  Courtney Kendrick tells us about her blog, C Jane Enjoy It, which receives about 30 thousand hits every day.

Courtney Jane Kendrick, author of the blog C Jane Enjoy It

Jenny Sanford, Keeping the Faith

When governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford admitted to an extramarital affair on national television, his wife was noticeably absent from the shot.  Unlike many wives of unfaithful politicians, Jenny Sanford stayed at home, praying with her friends and family.  Sanford would ultimately forgive her husband...but choose to divorce him.  She joins us to explain how her faith provided solace and, ultimately, helped her make the decision to leave.

Jenny Sanford, author of Staying True

The full, unedited interview, including the story of how Gayle and Ted met as students at Oral Roberts University.

Gayle Haggard, author of Why I Stayed: The Choicest I Made in My Darkest Hour

An Intimate Portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a complex figure- at once a simple Buddhist monk, the leader of the Tibetan community in exile and an A-list celebrity.  He is also a man whose human side few people know.  This week we revisit our conversation with Pico Iyer, a friend of the Dalai Lama for over thirty years, who tells the story of a man who rises at 3:30am, meditates 8 hours a day, and often answers questions with ‘I don’t know.’

Pico Iyer, author of The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama