27/02/2011

Available for over a year

As the crisis in Libya continues, Western nations are pushing the UN for action and not just statements. Action which could include asset seizures, travel bans and sanctions. But what is the moral argument for intervention in another country's problems? Edward Stourton discusses this question with Professor John Millbank, Director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham and The Rt Hon Denis MacShane, Labour MP and former Foreign Office Minister. The BBC's World Service writer in residence, Hamid Ismailov, will reflect on the story of a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi. Even though the law of Islam forbids suicide, he set fire to himself as an act of frustration and despair and his actions have fanned the flames of revolution across the region. It was Christchurch's second major tremor in five months, and New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster for 80 years. As the death toll from last week's earthquake continues to rise, Victoria Matthews, the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch talks to Edward about how the shattered community are trying to rebuild their lives. 'What is your Religion?' That was the question from the 2001 Census which the British Humanist Association claim gave a misleading picture of people's affiliation in the UK. Now the same question is set to appear in the 2011 Census and the British Humanist Association is launching a poster campaign to urge people who are non-religious to tick the 'no religion' box on the Census form. Our reporter Trevor Barnes asks why it's so important that we know how many of us are religious. Representatives from the UK's faith communities are set to present a public petition to the UN this week, calling for the regulation of the world's thirty four billion pound weapons trade. It's in preparation for a major conference set to take place in 2012 to negotiate a Global Arms Trade Treaty that will set binding and international standards for arms sales and transfers. Jehangir Sarosh, Co-Moderator of the European Council of Religious Leaders, part of Religions for Peace tells Edward about the important role faith groups have to play in this arena. And as St. Paul's Cathedral in London celebrates three hundred years since its completion by Sir Christopher Wren, the Rev Dr. Giles Fraser, the Cathedral's Canon Chancellor takes our reporter Charles Carroll on a hidden history tour of this iconic building. E-mail: [email protected] Series producer: Amanda Hancox.