{"id":1132,"date":"2008-10-10T13:57:30","date_gmt":"2008-10-10T17:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=1132"},"modified":"2013-05-29T11:22:15","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T15:22:15","slug":"episode-no-1206-listen-now-read-the-transcript","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2008\/10\/10\/episode-no-1206-listen-now-read-the-transcript\/1132\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Now \/ Read the Transcript"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen to this episode now:<\/strong>
\n[powerpress]
\nTRANSCRIPT
\nEpisode 1206<\/strong><\/p>\n

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor:\u00a0 Coming up, the candidates’ religious beliefs and how they affect their politics.\u00a0 And, religion and the media \u2014 what\u2019s fair to report about a candidate and
\nWhat\u2019s not?<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Welcome.\u00a0 I\u2019m Bob Abernethy.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to have you with us.<\/p>\n

As the financial crisis spread around the world, religious leaders warned of its looming impact on charitable giving and on the growing number of the poor.\u00a0 Pope Benedict saw in the crisis a reminder that what’s most real and trustworthy is not the material, but the spiritual.<\/p>\n

The plight of the world\u2019s economies, and what to do about it, dominated the second debate between Senators Obama and McCain.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Religion\u2019s role in the campaign is at the center of our program today, beginning with a special report from Kim Lawton on the religious beliefs of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, back-to-back.<\/p>\n

KIM LAWTON:\u00a0 All four candidates describe themselves as Christians, but they talk about their faith \u2014 and apply it to their politics \u2014 in very different ways.<\/p>\n

Barack Obama has been the most outspoken about matters of faith, even though a survey last month found that 46 percent of Americans were still unable to correctly identify him as a Christian.<\/p>\n

Obama says he was not raised in a religious household.\u00a0 But when he arrived in Chicago as a young community organizer, he says he realized something was missing from his life.\u00a0 He visited Trinity United Church of Christ and went forward during an altar call given by its controversial pastor, Jeremiah Wright.<\/p>\n

Senator BARACK OBAMA (D-IL):\u00a0 The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me.\u00a0 I submitted myself to His will\u00a0 and dedicated myself to discovering His truths and carrying out His works.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Obama easily offers testimony about what that means to him.<\/p>\n

Sen. OBAMA (at Saddleback Church):\u00a0 I believe in, that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through him.\u00a0 That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. I know that I don\u2019t walk alone.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Obama believes that his personal spiritual journey has public consequences and he often talks about the importance of putting faith into action.<\/p>\n

Sen. OBAMA:\u00a0 That I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I went out and did the Lord’s work.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Reverend Adam Hamilton is author of a book about religion and politics called \u201cSeeing Gray in a World of Black and White.\u201d\u00a0 He says Obama embodies several streams of Protestantism.<\/p>\n

Reverend ADAM HAMILTON (Author, \u201cSeeing Gray in a World of Black and White\u201d):\u00a0 He\u2019s a picture of what mainline Protestantism, I think, should strive to be.\u00a0 And that is somebody who does have an evangelical experience of Christ, a personal walk with Christ, and a compelling desire to work for justice.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Obama often cites Scripture in outlining his agenda.<\/p>\n

Sen. OBAMA:\u00a0 We need to heed the biblical call to care for \u201cthe least of these\u201d and lift the poor out of despair.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 He says that\u2019s something he learned from Jeremiah Wright during his more than 20 years of membership at Trinity UCC.\u00a0 But earlier this year, after months of controversy surrounding Wright, Obama formally cut ties with the church.\u00a0 An aide says Obama and his family have been visiting a variety of congregations on the campaign trail and will select a new home church after the election.<\/p>\n

Faith may cause divisions, but Obama says it can also play a key role in bringing Americans together.<\/p>\n

Sen. OBAMA:\u00a0 What is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand:\u00a0 that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.\u00a0 Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us.\u00a0 Let us be our sister’s keeper.\u00a0 Let us find that common stake we all have in one another.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 John McCain has said faith was important to his family when he was growing up, but they didn\u2019t talk much about it.\u00a0 He still doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 Nancy Pfotenhauer is one of McCain\u2019s senior advisors.<\/p>\n

NANCY PFOTENHAUER (Senior Advisor, McCain Campaign):\u00a0\u00a0 I think it is sometimes a challenge to get Senator McCain to open up about his journey and in part because he, I think he considers those acts to be, if you will, quiet acts of courage and faith.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 McCain was raised in the Episcopal Church and attended an Episcopal school in Virginia.\u00a0 He learned the Anglican liturgy and memorized the Apostles\u2019 Creed and the Nicene Creed, two of the oldest statements of traditional Christian doctrine.\u00a0 McCain says he drew heavily on those for spiritual strength during his captivity in North Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Senator JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ):\u00a0 I had to have faith in something greater than myself, not only to survive, but to survive with my self-respect intact.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 For nearly 20 years, the McCain family has attended the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona, although McCain spends much of his time in Washington.\u00a0 McCain has never officially joined the North Phoenix congregation because he has not been baptized as an adult, something Baptists require.<\/p>\n

During a candidates\u2019 forum at Saddleback Church in California in August, Pastor Rick Warren asked McCain what his relationship with Jesus means to him.<\/p>\n

Sen. MCCAIN (during Candidates Forum at Saddleback Church):\u00a0 It means I\u2019m saved and forgiven, and we\u2019re talking about the world, our faith encompasses not just the United States of America, but the world.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 McCain has spoken with several high-profile religious leaders, but it\u2019s not clear whether he gets personal spiritual counsel from them.\u00a0 At a pro-Israel event in 2007, the senator suggested he did receive such advice from evangelical megachurch leader John Hagee.<\/p>\n

Sen. MCCAIN:\u00a0 And I thank you for your spiritual guidance to politicians like me who need it fairly often.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard trying to do the Lord\u2019s work in the city of Satan.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Nonetheless, earlier this year, McCain rejected Hagee\u2019s endorsement because of controversy surrounding past statements the pastor made about Catholics and about the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

McCain hasn\u2019t spoken much about how his faith affects his policy positions, except when it comes to abortion.<\/p>\n

Sen. MCCAIN: The consistent message of the Gospels calls us to recognize that all life is sacred because all human beings are created in the image of God.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 He does frequently link his faith with his patriotism.<\/p>\n

Sen. MCCAIN:\u00a0 Faith in my comrades, faith in my country and faith in my God.\u00a0\u00a0 That faith helped me not only to endure, but to understand and respect the values it encompassed.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 McCain frequently tells a story from his days in the North Vietnamese prison camp.<\/p>\n

Sen. MCCAIN:\u00a0 I was standing outside of my cell, and who comes walking up and stood next to me but the gun guard. And then with his sandal, in the dirt, he reached down and he drew a cross.\u00a0 And he stood there for about a minute and then he reached down and rubbed it out of the dirt and walked away. For a minute there, there was just two Christians worshipping together.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget that moment.<\/p>\n

Senator JOE BIDEN (D-DE):\u00a0 John held a press conference saying we\u2019re in an economic crisis.\u00a0 We Catholics call that an epiphany.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 On the campaign trail, Joe Biden frequently identifies himself as a Roman Catholic, but he rarely speaks in-depth about religious issues.<\/p>\n

TOM BROKAW (Moderator, \u201cMeet the Press\u201d):\u00a0 You\u2019ve talked often about your faith and the strength of your feelings about your faith.<\/p>\n

Sen. BIDEN:\u00a0 Actually, I haven\u2019t talked often about my faith.\u00a0 I seldom talk about my faith.<\/p>\n

Sister SIMONE CAMPBELL (National Coordinator, NETWORK Lobby):\u00a0 We Catholics don\u2019t talk a lot about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s been hard for us to learn how to talk about our faith in a public forum because we believe that it\u2019s the living of our faith is the key issue.\u00a0 But what I\u2019ve seen in Senator Biden has been quite touching.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Sister Simone Campbell is national coordinator for NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby group.\u00a0 She works on Capitol Hill and has known Biden for several years.<\/p>\n

Sr. CAMPBELL:\u00a0 His faith, I think, has done a couple of things.\u00a0 One is it has sustained him in hard times; but it\u2019s also given him a sense of caring for those who live at the margins of our society, and trying to make our nation a nation of peace-making.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Biden spent his early childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where St. Paul\u2019s Catholic Church was a central part of his family\u2019s life.\u00a0 He went to Catholic schools and even briefly considered becoming a priest.<\/p>\n

In his book \u201cPromises to Keep,\u201d he wrote: \u201cMy idea of self, of family, of community, of the wider world comes straight from my religion.\u201d\u00a0 He attends mass nearly every Sunday and says he carries a rosary.<\/p>\n

But Biden has been in conflict with the Catholic Church over the issue of abortion.\u00a0 Earlier this year, the U.S. Catholic bishops took him to task for what they called his \u201cflawed moral reasoning\u201d in saying he\u2019s personally opposed to abortion but supports a woman\u2019s right to choose.<\/p>\n

Sen. BIDEN:\u00a0 I\u2019m prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception.\u00a0 But that is my judgment.\u00a0 For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am, seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and several other bishops said because of those views, Biden should not seek Communion.<\/p>\n

Archbishop CHARLES CHAPUT (Archdiocese of Denver):\u00a0 He really should change his mind if he says he\u2019s a Catholic. He should believe what the Catholic Church believes.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Sister Simone Campbell says Biden has been a leader is promoting the Catholic concept of seeking the common good.\u00a0 And she says he has applied other elements of Catholic social teaching, such as pursing peace and helping the poor.<\/p>\n

Sr. CAMPBELL:\u00a0 He wants things solved and done. And I think his faith helps create an urgency in him for responding to the needs of those \u2014 especially those who live at the economic margins of our society.<\/p>\n

Sen. BIDEN:\u00a0 The 92nd Psalm we use as a Communion hymn in our church:\u00a0 \u201cAnd may he lift you up on eagles\u2019 wings and bear you on the breadth of dawn and make the light the shine upon you.\u201d\u00a0 Folks, as corny as it sounds, it\u2019s within our capacity to lift us up, to let the light shine on corners of the country where people have been left behind.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Church has played an important role in Sarah Palin\u2019s life, although she too has been very private about her personal faith.\u00a0 As an infant, Palin was baptized a Roman Catholic, but then her parents began attending the Wasilla Assembly of God Church.\u00a0 That local congregation is part of the Assemblies of God, an international Pentecostal denomination, which has a conservative evangelical theology and emphasizes manifestations of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

KAYLENE JOHNSON (Biographer):\u00a0 It was really the fabric of their social life and their faith life really informed who they were and how they lived their lives.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Fellow Wasilla resident Kaylene Johnson wrote a biography of Palin.\u00a0 She says
\nPalin\u2019s beliefs were reinforced from a young age through Christian clubs and Bible camp where Palin asked to be re-baptized.<\/p>\n

Ms. JOHNSON:\u00a0 Sarah Palin was baptized when she was 12 years old in the little Beaver Lake outside of Wasilla here.\u00a0 And she took that commitment of her baptism very seriously from the time she was a girl.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Palin and her family continued attending Wasilla Assembly of God until 2002.\u00a0 Since then, they\u2019ve attended several other evangelical churches, most frequently, Wasilla Bible Church, a nondenominational congregation.<\/p>\n

McCain campaign officials say Palin does not consider herself a Pentecostal.\u00a0 And they are angered by questions about whether she has ever had the Pentecostal experience of speaking in tongues.<\/p>\n

Palin\u2019s specific beliefs are unclear.\u00a0 During a June 2008 visit to the Wasilla Assembly of God, Palin asked the audience to pray for her son and other men and women in the military.<\/p>\n

Governor SARAH PALIN:\u00a0 (from YouTube video):\u00a0 We\u2019re sending them on a task that is from God.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we have to make sure that we\u2019re praying for \u2014 that there is a plan and that plan is God\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 ABC\u2019s Charlie Gibson asked her what she meant by that.<\/p>\n

Gov. PALIN (during ABC News interview:\u00a0 The reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln\u2019s words when he said, first he suggested, never presume to know what God\u2019s will is.\u00a0 And I would never presume to know God\u2019s will or to speak God\u2019s words.\u00a0 But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that\u2019s a repeat in my comments, was \u201cLet us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God\u2019s side.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Johnson says Palin incorporates that kind of prayer in her own life.<\/p>\n

Ms. JOHNSON:\u00a0 She really commits her decisions, and the decisions she makes, to God.<\/p>\n

Gov.\u00a0 PALIN:\u00a0 We are expected to govern with integrity and good will and clear convictions and a servant’s heart.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 During her political career in Alaska, and on the campaign trail now, she has made few overt statements about religion.\u00a0 Like her running mate, she does express the belief that America was created for a special purpose.<\/p>\n

Gov.\u00a0 PALIN:\u00a0 That world view that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism, and we are to be that shining city on a hill.<\/p>\n

LAWTON:\u00a0 Does it matter what a candidate believes?\u00a0 According to an August survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, nearly half of all Americans say they get uncomfortable when politicians talk about how religious they are.\u00a0 But at the same time, more than 70 percent of Americans say they do want a president with strong religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Kim Lawton in Washington.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 We examine now how the media should cover candidates. Should religious beliefs \u2014 or anything else \u2014 be off limits:\u00a0 a candidate\u2019s family, personal life, pastor?<\/p>\n

Michael Getler is a longtime correspondent and editor at The Washington Post.\u00a0 He\u2019s now the ombudsman for PBS.\u00a0 Tom Rosenstiel directs the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington.\u00a0 He\u2019s co-author of the widely used textbook, \u201cThe Elements of Journalism.\u201d\u00a0 And Kelly McBride heads the ethics department at the Poynter Institute in Florida, which trains journalists.\u00a0 She joins us from Tampa.<\/p>\n

Welcome to you all.\u00a0 Kelly, some candidates say, or used to say, that their religious beliefs are their private business.\u00a0 You say it\u2019s important to report what those beliefs are.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

KELLY MCBRIDE (Ethics Department, The Poynter Institute):\u00a0 Well, I think religion is important in American life.\u00a0 We\u2019re a very religious country.\u00a0 Everybody has some form of belief system.\u00a0 And I think to examine that belief system and how it informs a political candidate and how he or she might make decisions is information that voters deserve to know.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 How a person in office might be guided by religious beliefs in decision making?<\/p>\n

Ms. MCBRIDE:\u00a0 Yes, or not guided.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we should presume that a certain theology dictates that a candidate who belongs to that church would act in a certain way.\u00a0 But I think it\u2019s entirely appropriate to ask the question.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Tom Rosenstiel, how are we doing this year?<\/p>\n

TOM ROSENSTIEL (Director, Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism and Co-Author, \u201cThe Elements of Journalism\u201d):\u00a0 Well there is no systematic coverage or examination of the belief systems of these candidates . . .<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Why not?<\/p>\n

Mr. ROSENSTIEL:\u00a0 . . . when it comes to their religion.\u00a0 What we\u2019re seeing is episodic coverage that \u2014 Mitt Romney will give a speech about his religion, or tapes will come out of Obama\u2019s pastor or from Palin\u2019s church.\u00a0 And often the coverage of that relates to the political impact of how they deal with these tempests.\u00a0 The reason for that is, I think, twofold: one is that we have political writers covering these candidates, not people who understand the nuance of religion; it\u2019s not, however, because the candidates don\u2019t want to talk about this stuff.\u00a0 Barack Obama\u2019s made a special effort I think this year to talk about faith in his life because he thought that this was a failing of Democrats that was limiting their appeal.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY: Michael?<\/p>\n

MICHAEL GETLER (PBS Ombudsman):\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, I was going to say I think it\u2019s also \u2014while it\u2019s very important to focus on this as Kelly pointed out originally \u2014 it\u2019s also good to keep in mind that there are millions of people who are not terribly religious in this country and other religions that are not mainstream.\u00a0\u00a0 And, too much of a focus on it, it seems to me, works against people who may be very good at what they do.\u00a0 They may be very good politicians.\u00a0 They may be very good at governance.\u00a0 And yet, for somehow the religious issue becomes almost too prominent.\u00a0 So that bothers me a little bit.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 And is anything off limits in terms of religion and everything else but a personal life?\u00a0 Is anything off limits anymore?\u00a0 What about . . .<\/p>\n

Mr. GETLER:\u00a0 Yes, there are things that are off limits.\u00a0 But it\u2019s less than it use to be.\u00a0 I mean, I think part of the understanding that is that the press is no longer the way it used to be.\u00a0 It used to be just a couple of major newspapers and magazines and wire services and whatnot.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s an enormous world including the internet, which is just vast, and cable television and everything else.\u00a0 So where they used to be gatekeepers, which was The New York Times and The Washington Post and AP and others, those newspapers try to stick to their same standards but it\u2019s very hard to do that now because information comes out all over the place and it\u2019s very, very \u2014so there are things that should be off limits \u2014 but it\u2019s very hard to keep them off limits.<\/p>\n

Mr. ROSENSTEIL:\u00a0\u00a0 I would say in presidential politics there really is no zone of privacy anymore.\u00a0 The one exception to this that is sort of holding is children.\u00a0 Politicians will use their kids and their families as visual images.\u00a0 We see that all the time.\u00a0 But the press proactively examining the backgrounds and experiences of children is still the one area.\u00a0 But in terms of anything else about a public figure and his or her life, I think there is no zone of privacy.\u00a0 There is less of an appetite among these mainstream outlets that Mike\u2019s talking about to get into it.\u00a0 But they will now be pushed into it.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Kelly, what have you seen in this campaign about the way in which things relating to religion or privacy were reported?\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m thinking about the way everybody was fascinated by Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Obama\u2019s relationship to him \u2014 about . . .<\/p>\n

Ms. MCBRIDE:\u00a0 Yeah, I think . . .<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Go ahead.<\/p>\n

Ms. MCBRIDE:\u00a0 I think most of the reporting on religious issues has had a distorting effect.\u00a0 Most of the time in a political campaign when the media does focus on a religious issue, it\u2019s as a distortion, or something that\u2019s exotic or weird.\u00a0 So, Reverend Wright was outside of the mainstream belief system.\u00a0 And there was a lot of focus on him and what the implication might be for Barack Obama when, in fact, Obama had spent weeks and months describing how his personal belief system and his faith guided him and influenced him.\u00a0 And Wright\u2019s behavior and his theology, his belief system, was really not much of a part of that.\u00a0 But because of the focus on that, it ended up distorting in the public\u2019s mind Obama\u2019s belief system.\u00a0 And I think you can say that almost every time.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 And Mormons \u2014 Mitt Romney and Mormons, Tom, wasn\u2019t that . . .?<\/p>\n

Ms. MCBRIDE:\u00a0 Mormons, yeah, Mormons and Mitt Romney; in Sarah Palin\u2019s case, her previous life as a Pentecostal \u2014 all of that, extremely distorting.<\/p>\n

Mr. ROSENSTEIL:\u00a0 And a lot of this is because politics is about comfort: am I comfortable with this person; are they like me; will they understand me \u2014 particularly as we get to the general election phase when people who are not political junkies begin to check in and make decisions.<\/p>\n

Mr. GETLER:\u00a0 Also Bob, in the past again, you would hear about this on your evening news broadcast, or you would read about it in your morning paper.\u00a0 Now you can see it a hundred times a day and it adds to that sense of tension over it.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 And what about the coverage of John Edwards\u2019 affair?\u00a0 What did you make of that?\u00a0 Was it fair?<\/p>\n

Mr. GETLER:\u00a0 Well, it was certainly fair once he acknowledged it on television.\u00a0 As you know, The National Enquirer pursued and broke the story, and eventually.\u00a0 But the main newspapers and magazines really did not cover it.\u00a0 And they didn\u2019t actually even pursue it much, which I think was wrong.\u00a0 I think Edwards is a major national figure and there was some reporting, as the Charlotte Observer showed, that you could do on public records that would at least move this story forward.<\/p>\n

Mr. ROSENSTEIL:\u00a0 What the press needs to do is in this environment, the mainstream reportorial press, is to be actually more aggressive about these things.\u00a0 Otherwise the agenda will be set by outlets and forces that don\u2019t have the kind of professional standards that I think we would hope for.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 More aggressive about what \u2014 about personal behavior?<\/p>\n

Mr. ROSENSTEIL:\u00a0 About reporting allegations about personal behavior and then coming to a judgment \u2014 a professional journalistic judgment \u2014 about whether this is relevant or not.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t report these things then others will and they\u2019ll be reacting and writing about stuff that they might otherwise have said, \u201cNo.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked into it and this isn\u2019t relevant.\u201d\u00a0 The traditional press still has the power to take things off the table.\u00a0 This has happened numerous times.\u00a0 The Washington Post and Bob Dole said, \u201cWe\u2019ve looked into it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not relevant.\u201d\u00a0 And that was the end of that.\u00a0 The rest of the press followed that lead.<\/p>\n

Mr. GETLER:\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s the difference between reporting and publishing.\u00a0 And right now the resources are diminished in a lot of papers, so that, I think, is a factor as well.<\/p>\n

ABERNETHY:\u00a0 Michael Getler, Tom Rosenstiel, Kelly McBride, thanks to you all.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 In other news this week, Connecticut\u2019s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.\u00a0 The court said the state\u2019s marriage law discriminated against gays.\u00a0 Until now, same-sex marriage has been legal only in Massachusetts and California.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 The Dalai Lama is recovering from gallstone surgery.\u00a0 The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize underwent the surgery Friday at a hospital in New Delhi.\u00a0 It\u2019s the second time in recent weeks that the 73-year-old has been hospitalized.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 There has been a dramatic apology from the Episcopal Church for its role in slavery.\u00a0 During a solemn service of repentance, Episcopal leaders asked forgiveness for the denomination’s participation in slavery, segregation, and discrimination.\u00a0 Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told the crowd of hundreds at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia that church members had, quote, \u201cignored the image of Christ in our neighbors.
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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 In London, the Catholic Church has had to abandon plans to move the remains of a revered 19th century cardinal from a humble graveyard to a marble sarcophagus.\u00a0 When officials tried to exhume the body of Cardinal John Henry Newman, all they found in his grave were red tassels from the cardinal\u2019s hat and a brass plaque.\u00a0 Experts said that because Newman was buried in a wooden coffin in 1890, his remains likely disintegrated.\u00a0 Meanwhile, church officials said the discovery will not affect efforts to name Newman a saint.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 On our calendar Sukkot.\u00a0 The seven-day Jewish observance begins at sundown Monday.\u00a0 Jews honor their ancestors\u2019 40 years of wandering in the desert by
\nbuilding a fragile structure called a sukkah, which they use for prayers and meals.<\/p>\n

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BOB ABERNETHY:\u00a0 That\u2019s our program for now.\u00a0 I\u2019m Bob Abernethy.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s much more on our Web site.\u00a0 On our \u201cOne Nation\u201d page there\u2019s additional political coverage and analysis of the economic crisis.\u00a0 Audio and video podcasts are also available.\u00a0 Join us at pbs.org.<\/p>\n

As we leave you, music from the Episcopal service of repentance last weekend in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2008 WNET-TV.\u00a0 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
\nPrepared by Burrelle’s Information Services, which takes sole responsibility for accuracy of transcription.\u00a0 No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research.\u00a0 User may not reproduce any copy of the material except for user’s personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be reproduced, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any manner that may infringe upon WNET-TV’s copyright or proprietary interests in the material.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to this episode now: [powerpress] TRANSCRIPT Episode 1206 BOB ABERNETHY, anchor:\u00a0 Coming up, the candidates’ religious beliefs and how they affect their politics.\u00a0 And, religion and the media \u2014 what\u2019s fair to report about a candidate and What\u2019s not? … More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[532],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nListen Now \/ Read the Transcript | October 10, 2008 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Listen to this episode online, download the MP3 and read the transcript.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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