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Episode 3

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I'm Peter Owen Jones, I'm a vicar from the Church of England

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and I've taken a year off from my parishes to see for myself

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the richness of faith across six continents.

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I'm going to witness rituals never seen before, making people's journeys from birth to death.

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I'm going to encounter strange and beautiful faiths,

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expressing people's deepest hopes and fears.

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How can you say such things?

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My biggest hope is to understand humanity's timeless fascination with the divine.

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Am I dreaming?

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Excuse me ma'am,

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we're doing a quick survey to see how people feel

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religion impacts their city.

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Here in the Bible Belt, if feels that religion is in the blood,

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and that's because faith has been shaped by great historical waves

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of Evangelical fervour and mass conversion.

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Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will inherit eternal life.

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Give me five.

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There have been four of these so-called "awakenings"

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in the last three hundred years,

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and I'm in America just as reports announce that another is unfolding.

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God apparently is pouring out His spirit here.

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People are being healed, there's miracles taking place.

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It's even being said that people are being raised from the dead.

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What's happening is that this is the heart and soul of a revival.

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I've journeyed further south through the Bible Belt to Lakeland

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to witness a phenomenon called The Florida Outpouring.

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SINGING

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Revivals are fuelled by the belief that

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the supernatural is breaking into the world.

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Followers believe that the Holy Spirit gives the gift of tongues,

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a divine language spoken by the first disciples at Pentecost.

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People pray in many different ways.

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In this church, people believe that the Holy Spirit is taking them over.

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What's happening now is that everyone is beginning to pray.

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Some people are praying in tongues.

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What I'm impressed with is that people seem to be prepared to let go.

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Just feel that tonight.

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Here we go.

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You really want that lightning?

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You really want that lightning of God tonight?

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You want that fire of God?

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Tonight's preacher, Evangelist Frank Seamster,

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has a reputation for "slaying people in the spirit",

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a dramatic act of renewal

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where followers believe they are physically touched by God.

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If you want a fresh touch by God, I want you to come up right now.

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I want to lay hands on you.

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I want to pray for you. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

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Frank, the preacher, claims he can channel God's power

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to perform miraculous healings.

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Fire! Fire! Fire!

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Oh! Oh, Jesus, Jesus!

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In the name of Jesus, fire!

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I hear somebody that's having problems with your prostrate.

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I'm telling you now right now, God...

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God wants to release a miracle right now.

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Right now, if you just come up.

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There you are. In the name of Jesus.

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The FIRE of God now!

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Burn it off!

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Oh, oh, oh! Oh!

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Although we didn't witness any miracles, many people claim to have been cured of Frank's services.

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How does what Frank claims to do

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relate to stories about Jesus in the Bible?

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I know we will have those preachers who will say, "Well, God is love."

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Revivalism is all about preaching. Frank's vision for American faith is uncompromising.

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He boils the Bible down to its essentials - Heaven or Hell, saved or damned.

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Here in Jerusalem there are so many different ways to God,

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every single different religion believes it has the Holy Grail.

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For Christians this is a big day in Jerusalem, Good Friday.

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The day Jesus was sentenced to death.

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I want to understand how Christians interpret their historical connection with this place.

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Thousands of pilgrims have arrived from all over the world to recreate

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the journey Jesus made to be crucified on Golgotha.

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Many Christians feel they can know God better by travelling

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to the places where the stories in the Bible are believed to have happened.

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For this family from the Philippines, Christianity's roots in Jerusalem remain vital.

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It's knowing him better.

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If you've been to the place where he's been, he's died, he was born, everything that

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surrounds his life, to be there exactly, physically be there, is really very important.

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I think it's like for the Muslim,

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for them, at least once in their life, they have to go to Mecca.

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For us also, as Christians, I think we have to visit the Holy Land at least once.

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For some pilgrims, it's important to get the right props to get the full idea of what Christ went through.

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This is really a sort of... miniature version.

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It's not that heavy.

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It's not heavy enough actually.

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To many of the people taking part, these are serious rituals.

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-I just wondered what part you are playing today?

-I'm playing the apostle John.

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-The apostle John?

-Yes.

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-Hello, I'm John

-I thought he was John?

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No, that's my name.

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-I'm playing Simon of Cyrene.

-Simon of Cyrene.

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I'm just wondering where you got the nails from...

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Believe it or not, a hardware store in California.

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I've been confused about the invitation to follow Christ.

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Is it moral, spiritual or physical, or all three,

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do we find the spiritual by taking the physical path?

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Make way for the Nazarene!

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Move it! Move it!

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But there's something compelling about the experience.

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I think it might really have been like this, a total, chaotic total scrum.

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The pilgrimage ends at the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre,

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which is supposed to be built on the very spot where Christ was crucified and laid to rest in a tomb.

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THEY SING A HYMN

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Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come here to kiss the spot

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where the cross stood and to reflect on Christ's suffering.

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To actually take the route on the day that he was crucified

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involves you in that narrative, it involves you in that story,

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so it's a powerful experience if you let yourself into it...

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You'd be pretty hard hearted if it didn't touch you in some way.

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'Christianity arrived in Ethiopia in the fourth century.

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'I'm heading to a place where one of the oldest forms of Christianity in existence is practised.

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'To see how such a long and difficult history has shaped

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'the beliefs and practices of today's Ethiopian Christians.'

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Somewhere up there is a rock-hewn Ethiopian Coptic church.

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Let's get out there!

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'The Church of Mikael Imba was built on the top of this rocky outcrop

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'over 1,000 years ago.

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It's been in continual use ever since.

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'The celebration is for the annual feast of St Michael,

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'the patron saint of the church.

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'One early arrival has come to be healed

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'in a tank of holy water hewn out of the rock.'

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BELL RINGS

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'The festival begins with a prayer service for the priests.

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'The head priest, Father Hailom,

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'invites me to join them in the church.

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'The roof of the church is at ground level.

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'The whole building is hewn out of the living rock of the mountain.

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'Father Hailom is understandably proud as he shows me round.

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THEY CHANT

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HE CHANTS

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'The chant is in the archaic Ethiopian language of Ge'ez,

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'and the rhythms date back to the sixth century.

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'Fortunately, one of the young deacons does his best to teach me.

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'Ethiopia has suffered many famines over the years.

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'In the 1980s, over a million people died

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'in one of the worst famines the world has ever seen.'

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'As we pray, much-needed rain begins to fall.

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'I know it's something they've been praying for,

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'but I'm wondering how Father Hailom keeps his faith

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'in such a harsh environment.'

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What people have experienced here over the last 30 years,

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I would assume would have tested someone's faith to the absolute limit.

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'As the congregation gathers from the surrounding farms and villages,

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'Father Hailom and the deacon invite me to join them for bread and beer brewed from honey.

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'It's the one time of the year when drinking is approved,

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'as long as you don't get drunk.

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'The church beer is strictly rationed.'

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'The meal is an important part of the festival,

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'especially as people are going to be up all night praying.'

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THEY CHANT AND DRUM

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'Hundreds of villagers crowd into the church,

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'much as they have done for over 1,000 years.'

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'As the sun comes up, the priests lead out of the church.

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'By now they've been praying for 18 hours.

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'Father Hailom ushers me to a place of honour near the front.

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'A 10th-century cross, sacred manuscripts,

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'and a painted icon belonging to the church

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'are brought out to bless the congregation.

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'This is the only day in the year when anyone can see these objects.

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'Their age gives them great power.'

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THEY CHANT

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'By African standards, Christianity is quite a new religion,

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'but among the villagers worshipping on the hilltop,

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'I feel as close to glimpsing man's earliest connection with the divine

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'as I have felt anywhere on my journey.'

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HE CHANTS IN GE'EZ LANGUAGE

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'For this community, a love of God is at the very heart of their identity.

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'In these merciless conditions,

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'their faith is what breathes life into their existence.'

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What an extraordinary answer. Extraordinary.

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Salaam, salaam, salaam.

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'For people to share what little food they have with you

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'is an inspiring and a humbling experience.

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Thank you.

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'The sacred relics are packed away and it's time for me to leave.'

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Salaam, salaam.

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'South Africa used to be controlled by a white minority

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'who followed Calvinism -

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'a branch of Christianity that taught them they were chosen by God.

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'Now they no longer rule the country for themselves,

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'I want to ask what future their God has in store for them.'

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'I'm visiting an Afrikaner family near the Groot Marico River.

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Like all Christians, Calvinists believe that Jesus will one day return to Earth,

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'though not all Christians agree about when he might come.

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'I want to find out why these people think his return will be very soon.

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'Every week, the family gather with their neighbours

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'for a prayer service.'

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You're welcome to sing in Afrikaans also!

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I'll try, I'll try, I'll give it a go.

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Let's trust him to help us in these days.

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The last days before the Lord Jesus comes.

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# What a friend we have in Jesus... #

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'For over three centuries, the Afrikaners have held on to their Calvinist beliefs.

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'Their European hymns, prayers and way of life.'

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# ..In His arms He'll take and shield thee

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# Thou wilt find a solace there. #

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How much of being Afrikaans is about having a strong Christian faith?

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Look, our history takes us back as being also a Christian nation,

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as you would find with the Americas or other nations that have their roots, similar roots like that.

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But I think with us, we have been for many years because of our views on apartheid,

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which we trace to the biblical sense of meaning Holy,

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because that is, the Hebrew word of Holy, actually,

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you can tie that to apartheid or being set aside.

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We still believe that God's hand has placed us here

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to spread the gospel to different peoples and different countries in Africa.

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I get the feeling that there's quite a lot of expectation

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in this room that Christ is... Christ is coming, that...

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Christ is King and we expect the Second Coming.

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That is... We are all very convinced about that.

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Because the Bible says when crime is on the increase, and rumours of wars,

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we can expect his soon return.

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May I ask how many people in this room expect Christ to come soon?

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-All of us.

-2020.

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-2020?

-By 2020,

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it's all gone.

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-By 2020?

-2020.

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What will the world be like with the return of Christ?

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-We have to wait and see.

-Sodom and Gomorrah.

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Earthquakes.

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Water, which is...

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Droughts. ..droughts...

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famine.

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Illnesses. Where's HIV coming from?

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Well, what a conversation.

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I wasn't expecting that!

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I can understand with the end of apartheid,

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with the end of a way of life that had existed essentially for centuries,

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that that could be interpreted as...

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..really the beginning of the end.

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Looking at Biblical passages, but I wasn't expecting everyone in the room to stick up their hands.

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It must be quite a strange position to be in mentally,

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because the world is coming to an end as they know it.

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'The Philippines was named after the great Spanish Catholic king Philip II

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'in the 16th century, and remained a Spanish colony for over 300 years.

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'Today, 80% of Filipinos are Catholic.

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'I'm going to two of the biggest Filipino Catholic festivals.

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'The first is in the farming town of Pulilan.'

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MUSICIANS PLAY

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This is where everyone is going to celebrate the

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culmination of a nine-day festival, nine days of prayers.

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And the people of Pulilan and the surrounding villages are

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just pouring into this town to celebrate their harvest festival

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and to honour the patron saint of farming, San Isidro.

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Really very different from the harvest festivals that I'm used to!

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'In the UK, a church harvest festival parade might be a pretty small event,

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'but here, religion is such an important part of life

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'that it seems everyone is here on the streets

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'joining in to celebrate the harvest.'

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This is absolutely crazy!

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What astonishes me is that the church organised this.

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This is a church festival, but done with 100,000 people.

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How great is that?!

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'With barely time to draw breath, I'm on to the next festival,

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'a few kilometres away in the fishing village of Obando.

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'This is a fertility festival.

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'The tradition is that if you want to have a baby

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'or find a husband or wife, you join the parade and ask the Catholic saints

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'to help you out.'

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Well, really I'm a little confused here.

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I thought that the women who were going to be dancing were those that actually wanted to have children,

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but most of them were of pensionable age, let's say.

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Are you dancing for fertility?

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You believe it was the dance that helped you fall pregnant?

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Are you in the parade because you want to have a wife?

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-Yes.

-You haven't met anyone yet?

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Not yet. Maybe later, in the church.

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Are you allowed to find a girlfriend in church?

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-Yes. After the parade, it will be ended at the church.

-Yes.

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-The band will play at the altar and all the folks and people will dance inside the church.

-Great.

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'The parade wasn't quite what I expected,

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'but I have been told that the church service is worth checking out.'

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'To the biggest cheers of the afternoon, the priest introduces some of the little success stories.'

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'What's happened here

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'is that the Roman Catholic church has absorbed ancient local festivals

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'and over the years, they have become Christian.

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'The way Christians celebrated Christmas in the UK came about in a very similar way.'

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I have come to Jerusalem

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because I want to find out more about Judaism,

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one of the world's oldest monotheistic faiths.

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I want to try and understand why it is that followers of Judaism

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believe that God gave the land that we know as Israel exclusively to them.

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I'm praying for peace at last in this beautiful land.

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The tradition is that you write the prayer, you fold it up tightly and then you stick it in the wall.

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The Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, is all that remains of the Jews'

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Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans.

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The Bronze Age tribe of the Israelites was one of the first tribes on earth to replace a belief

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in many pagan gods, with a belief in one God.

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Their religion became known as Judaism and this is the site of the temple where they believe God dwelt.

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Judaism's long history is rooted in this land.

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Tonight, at Jerusalem's main Synagogue, Jews are celebrating

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one aspect of that history in a festival called Purim.

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Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia

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were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther.

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Following the Jews' escape, 75,000 Persians were massacred in retaliation.

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The Rabbi reads an account of these events from the Book Of Esther.

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The congregation dress up as characters in the story

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and make a noise whenever the name of their enemy, Haman, is read out.

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It's meant to be a rowdy and entertaining occasion.

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They're celebrating their survival as a people.

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You all come here, you bring rattles and crackers and whistles

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to drown out the name of a man who wanted to kill them all.

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The celebration of their survival continues in the hall next door.

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It's about maintaining the narrative of faith,

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maintaining the narrative of a religion, and all religions have it.

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It was genocide that Haman was planning to perpetrate against the Jewish people.

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Here in Jerusalem 3,000 years later, the celebration seems all the more potent because Israelis still feel

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themselves threatened by their neighbours.

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The Purim celebration continues throughout Jerusalem over the next three days.

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The final part of the Purim celebration takes place in an Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva.

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For the rest of the year this is a place of serious and sober religious scholarship.

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But for one night only it's given over to festivity.

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This is about deliverance, the Jewish people being delivered from their enemy at the time.

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It's celebrating the safe passage to the present moment.

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Here we are in this room, we're together, we've survived.

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To a certain degree, yes, it's a show of joy.

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But it's also a show of strength.

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My experience of Purim has shown me the strength of these people's

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connection with their history and with this land.

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I'm keen to discover what the origins of that connection are.

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Here in the Middle East, religious beliefs are impossible to separate from political realities.

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To understand the politics means looking at the origins of those beliefs,

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and the history of the conflict.

0:32:020:32:04

When most of the Jewish people were exiled from Palestine 2,000 years ago,

0:32:110:32:15

they became scattered around the world.

0:32:150:32:18

In the 19th century, the idea of a homeland for the Jewish people started to spread.

0:32:180:32:24

Eventually the state of Israel was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War.

0:32:240:32:30

Jews have been coming to live in Israel ever since.

0:32:300:32:33

I've come to visit a settlement called Efrat built on Palestinian land occupied by Israelis.

0:32:360:32:42

HE SPEAKS HEBREW Pleasure to meet you.

0:32:430:32:45

'The leader of the community, Rabbi Riskin, came here from Brooklyn.'

0:32:450:32:50

This whole area has been a no-man's-land for 2,000 years,

0:32:510:32:56

since we were here at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple.

0:32:560:33:01

The Bible is very specific. It's Genesis, chapter 15.

0:33:010:33:04

"And God entered into a covenant with Abraham,

0:33:040:33:08

"and God said to Abraham, 'Your children will be an eternal people.

0:33:080:33:15

"'And they will have an eternal relationship with this land.'"

0:33:150:33:19

Now likewise, the Bible does not in any way justify

0:33:200:33:23

our pushing people who are innocent people off the land.

0:33:230:33:29

What the Bible does say is, however, we have a right to be here.

0:33:290:33:33

Well, thank you.

0:33:330:33:35

It's been a pleasure.

0:33:350:33:36

The belief that this story, written over 2,000 years ago, gives all Jews a right to come and live

0:33:360:33:43

on this land is disputed,

0:33:430:33:44

particularly by Palestinians who lost their homes when Israel was founded.

0:33:440:33:50

The belief that a story written down over 2,000 years ago

0:34:020:34:08

gives all Jews a right to come and live in the Holy Land

0:34:080:34:12

has caused much conflict between Jewish and Palestinian peoples.

0:34:120:34:18

But why are people prepared to kill themselves and others in the name of religion?

0:34:180:34:23

I want to try and understand what drives someone to become a suicide bomber.

0:34:230:34:29

OK, this is Jerusalem. We'll be driving south to Dheisheh Refugee Camp.

0:34:310:34:35

I set off to a refugee camp called Dheisheh, where Palestinians

0:34:350:34:40

who were forced out of their homes have been living for over 60 years.

0:34:400:34:45

We're just coming up to an Israeli checkpoint.

0:34:450:34:48

Just be generally well behaved.

0:34:480:34:50

We arrive in the refugee camp of Dheisheh.

0:34:520:34:56

At the main mosque, I meet Samir.

0:34:590:35:01

Samir's a Sunni Muslim.

0:35:010:35:03

On Fridays he brings two of his grandsons to the mosque to pray.

0:35:030:35:07

The mosque is a focal point for the community.

0:35:100:35:14

Muslims believe in the same Old Testament God as their Jewish and Christian neighbours.

0:35:160:35:22

They regard their prophet Muhammad not as the founder of a new religion,

0:35:220:35:27

but as the restorer of the original faith of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.

0:35:270:35:32

Many Muslims also believe Muhammad himself ascended into heaven from

0:35:340:35:39

Jerusalem and that's one element of their territorial claim to the city.

0:35:390:35:44

I want to ask Samir about his views on the conflict.

0:35:450:35:49

From his house you can see the Jewish settlement of Efrat up on the hill.

0:35:540:35:59

Is this a conflict about religion or is it about land?

0:36:240:36:28

Samir has lived in this refugee camp all his life and has brought up his family here.

0:36:490:36:55

In 2002, Samir's 18-year-old daughter, Ayat, detonated a bomb in an Israeli supermarket.

0:36:560:37:04

She killed two Israelis and injured 28 more.

0:37:040:37:08

She became the youngest ever female Palestinian suicide bomber.

0:37:080:37:13

I'm struggling to understand, was that

0:37:140:37:17

as an act of radical Islam?

0:37:170:37:20

Or was that to say,

0:37:200:37:23

"We are landless, we are rootless"?

0:37:230:37:26

All the Israelis have told me, "Look, ours is a God of love."

0:37:420:37:46

And you have explained that yours is a God of love.

0:37:460:37:50

Can we not begin talking on that basis?

0:37:500:37:53

One of the victims of Ayat's bomb was a teenage Israeli girl.

0:38:230:38:28

We're on a typical Moscow street, in the middle of January,

0:38:490:38:53

and there's a Hare Krishna procession coming towards us.

0:38:530:38:56

Hare Krishna is a branch of Hinduism.

0:39:080:39:13

Devotees believe that chanting the Hare Krishna mantra brings about a higher state of consciousness.

0:39:130:39:20

I haven't quite got the walk, it's sort of...

0:39:200:39:24

They believe they have a duty to spread their message across the world.

0:39:240:39:30

Is it possible to be spiritual and noisy at the same time?

0:39:320:39:37

So much more movement, so much more open-heartedness

0:39:370:39:41

than the stiffness of Russian Orthodoxy. What do you think?

0:39:410:39:46

You can look at it and you can say, um...

0:39:540:39:56

no meat,

0:39:560:39:59

no gambling,

0:39:590:40:01

no intoxicants, no alcohol, no caffeine, no nicotine,

0:40:010:40:05

no sex at all unless you're married and you want to have children.

0:40:050:40:10

And on the surface of that, that seems like a pretty dour, dowdy religion

0:40:100:40:16

but to be in the midst of it doesn't seem like that at all, doesn't feel like that at all either.

0:40:160:40:21

Hare Krishna!

0:40:240:40:26

Religion has been making the most remarkable comeback here in Russia.

0:40:290:40:33

1,000 faiths imported by missionaries from all over the world.

0:40:330:40:39

All struggling to gain the heart and the soul of new Russia.

0:40:390:40:43

What has become of the atheist ideals of Communism in the motherland?

0:41:030:41:07

Moscow is not only the capital of Russia, it is also home to the Russian Orthodox Church.

0:41:140:41:19

Before the Bolshevik revolution in 1917,

0:41:220:41:25

the Russian Orthodox Church had 80,000 places of worship

0:41:250:41:29

and 100 million adherents.

0:41:290:41:31

But then the Soviet Union became the first state officially to purge religion.

0:41:310:41:38

Believers were persecuted, atheism was taught in schools

0:41:380:41:42

and churches were confiscated.

0:41:420:41:44

And yet today, the Church is thriving.

0:41:470:41:51

This is St Saviours, the biggest Orthodox cathedral in the world.

0:41:530:41:57

But it isn't the original. That was blown up by the Communists in 1931.

0:41:570:42:03

This exact replacement was only finished in 2001.

0:42:030:42:08

This is really a statement about the power of the idea of eternity

0:42:080:42:14

and the power of the idea of everlasting life

0:42:140:42:18

and the power of the idea of the victory of goodness over evil.

0:42:180:42:23

These are powerful ideas and this creation speaks

0:42:230:42:28

about the victory of those ideas over, really, atheism.

0:42:280:42:34

CHOIR SINGS

0:42:340:42:37

To come in out of the cold, grey mist of Moscow

0:42:540:43:00

in to here...

0:43:000:43:02

Not only is it warm but it is sensuous, sensual, full of colour.

0:43:020:43:09

And if this was happening underground

0:43:090:43:11

while the Communist regime was in power,

0:43:110:43:15

no wonder it survived here.

0:43:150:43:17

SINGING

0:43:170:43:19

The churches across Moscow are packed today

0:43:190:43:22

because of the feast of Epiphany, commemorating the baptism of Christ

0:43:220:43:27

and today, holy water is the big theme.

0:43:270:43:30

Soon the priests are throwing it around.

0:43:300:43:33

To be drenched is to be blessed.

0:43:330:43:36

We all were blessed by the water. Wonderful chaos.

0:43:360:43:41

Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians across Russia

0:43:420:43:47

are queuing for bottles of holy water to take home with them.

0:43:470:43:50

They believe that it can cure all manner of ills.

0:43:500:43:54

Water is a purifying agent.

0:43:570:44:00

If you can sense that the Christian tradition, the Jewish tradition,

0:44:000:44:04

the Islamic tradition, have all emerged out of the desert essentially,

0:44:040:44:08

and therefore water is seen as an agent of life, an agent of purity.

0:44:080:44:13

So that is why, within the Christian tradition, we have Baptism,

0:44:130:44:17

and why water is regarded as a rejuvenator, a healer.

0:44:170:44:23

But not everybody in Moscow is celebrating Christ's baptism.

0:44:230:44:28

The spirit of the Bolshevik Revolution is still alive amongst some of its grandchildren.

0:44:280:44:34

I meet Alexander Novikov on the street outside the rebuilt cathedral.

0:44:340:44:40

Alexander's belief system is that there is no God.

0:44:400:44:43

He's an atheist. I am keen to hear what he makes of the religious revival, so I buy him a coffee.

0:44:430:44:50

Spasibo.

0:44:500:44:52

It's quite cold today, I would say -10, -13.

0:44:520:44:55

RUSSIAN IN TRANSLATION:

0:44:550:44:58

Communism sponsored atheism as the official creed of Communism.

0:45:080:45:14

We have been in three churches this morning - they're packed.

0:45:140:45:17

What's happening, what's going on?

0:45:170:45:21

But all movements, including atheism, have their own leaders.

0:45:510:45:56

Alexander told me about an atheist debating society meeting that evening.

0:46:050:46:12

'I was keen to know more about what contemporary atheism had to offer.'

0:46:120:46:19

I think this must be it.

0:46:210:46:24

'I wasn't expecting the grinding boredom that was to follow.'

0:46:240:46:29

RUSSIAN IN TRANSLATION:

0:46:290:46:32

To see the great idea of atheism and humanism

0:46:420:46:45

reduced to an upstairs room full of, what... 12, 15 old men?

0:46:450:46:52

I'm sure during the height of Communism they thought,

0:46:520:46:54

"This will last for ever, atheism will be here for ever and ever."

0:46:540:46:58

Ask someone in 1965 whether in 50 years' time

0:46:580:47:03

all the churches would be reopening in Moscow, they would have laughed,

0:47:030:47:06

they would have laughed at you.

0:47:060:47:08

The Buddhists...

0:47:100:47:12

perhaps have the answer, you know, "believe in permanence at your peril".

0:47:120:47:16

The tide of atheism may have receded here in Russia,

0:47:200:47:24

but I do know there are hundreds of millions of people worldwide who believe there is no God.

0:47:240:47:30

I'm travelling east to the town of Nanded to find out more

0:47:430:47:46

about a religion that is only 300 years old and yet has expanded

0:47:460:47:51

worldwide.

0:47:510:47:53

This faith has its roots in the big Muslim areas

0:47:530:47:55

of central and western India when three to four centuries ago,

0:47:550:47:59

many Indians were caught between a resurgent Islam

0:47:590:48:03

of the Mughal emperors

0:48:030:48:05

and a Hindu caste system they felt badly needed reforming.

0:48:050:48:08

The Sikh faith was begun by a man named Guru Nanak

0:48:080:48:13

and then developed by nine further gurus

0:48:130:48:16

during a period of time when people were often at war

0:48:160:48:20

and had to fight to defend their beliefs.

0:48:200:48:23

Since then, Sikhism has grown into the fifth biggest world religion.

0:48:230:48:28

Nanded is host to a massive festival.

0:48:280:48:31

The town is already packed with pilgrims.

0:48:310:48:34

In fact, whole villages have arrived by lorry from the Punjab,

0:48:340:48:38

the main centre for the Sikh faith.

0:48:380:48:41

Where have you come from?

0:48:410:48:42

IN TRANSLATION:

0:48:420:48:45

How long did it take?

0:48:450:48:46

Four days?

0:48:500:48:51

All the way on top?

0:48:510:48:53

HE BLOWS HORN

0:48:580:49:02

They've come to visit

0:49:030:49:05

one of the most important Sikh temples in India.

0:49:050:49:08

It's where exactly 300 years ago,

0:49:080:49:11

the tenth and last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was assassinated,

0:49:110:49:16

fighting to establish his new religion.

0:49:160:49:19

Everyone is here to pay their respects to his creation,

0:49:190:49:22

the Guru Granth Sahib -

0:49:220:49:24

the Sikh scriptures, which are being read continuously.

0:49:240:49:29

Sikhs are gathering from all over the world,

0:49:300:49:33

from London, from Toronto.

0:49:330:49:35

Before he died, Guru Gobind Singh decreed all spiritual authority

0:49:360:49:41

be invested in this book containing the writings of Guru Nanak

0:49:410:49:45

and some of the other gurus,

0:49:450:49:47

as well as extracts from Hindu and Muslim texts.

0:49:470:49:51

So the book became the Guru and the Guru became the book.

0:49:510:49:56

But, more astonishingly,

0:49:560:49:58

the pilgrims seemed to be giving equal reverence

0:49:580:50:01

to a room full of military hardware,

0:50:010:50:04

overseen by an image of the Guru himself.

0:50:040:50:07

I mean, you guys...

0:50:090:50:10

There's a lot of weaponry here.

0:50:100:50:12

-A lot of fierceness.

-It was needed at the time.

-It was?

0:50:120:50:17

-It was needed at the time.

-Why? There was fighting, conversions.

0:50:170:50:20

Islam wanted to kill all the Sikhs,

0:50:200:50:22

so we needed to defend the Granth Sahib

0:50:220:50:25

but we were not cruel defenders.

0:50:250:50:27

I asked myself what was so new about Sikhism 300 years ago

0:50:300:50:34

that made it worth fighting for.

0:50:340:50:36

Sikhism retained the same ideas of reincarnation and karma

0:50:360:50:41

to be found in Hinduism but had a single scriptural book, as in Islam.

0:50:410:50:46

One god? Just the one source of the divine.

0:50:480:50:52

-That's right, God is one.

-God is one.

0:50:530:50:56

Not like the Hindu pantheon.

0:50:560:50:59

No. He's the creator.

0:50:590:51:01

I love this idea within Sikhism that there's no caste,

0:51:010:51:04

we are all men, we are all women, we are all human beings,

0:51:040:51:07

-we are all equal.

-This is the words of our greatest guru.

0:51:070:51:11

He doesn't believe in caste.

0:51:110:51:13

I want to understand more about how Sikhs demonstrate

0:51:140:51:17

their devotion to God, so I head down to the river

0:51:170:51:20

to meet a group of Sikh holy men

0:51:200:51:22

who call themselves Nihangs.

0:51:220:51:25

They have devoted themselves to the armed service of the religion.

0:51:250:51:29

They spend much of their lives on the road

0:51:290:51:32

with their elephants and horses.

0:51:320:51:34

The Nihangs also run a langar, a vast canteen for the pilgrims.

0:51:350:51:40

For the next 40 days,

0:51:400:51:41

they have pledged to feed, without charge,

0:51:410:51:43

anyone who comes regardless of religion or caste.

0:51:430:51:48

This is an important feature of Sikhism worldwide

0:51:480:51:51

and follows the teaching of Guru Nanak.

0:51:510:51:54

All gurdwaras serve food, prepared and blessed as an offering.

0:51:540:51:59

This great act of giving is known as a prasad.

0:51:590:52:02

Quite literally a blessing.

0:52:020:52:05

And it is the blessing on those who give

0:52:050:52:07

and it is the blessing on those who receive.

0:52:070:52:09

In everything you do, in washing up,

0:52:230:52:25

in turning rotors, you are to think of God. All the time.

0:52:250:52:28

OK.

0:52:340:52:35

We have just landed at Addis Ababa.

0:52:560:52:58

Local time is ten minutes to eleven o'clock.

0:52:580:53:01

Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia

0:53:010:53:04

was once home to its last emperor, Haile Selassie,

0:53:040:53:09

who was also known as the Conquering Lion of Judah.

0:53:090:53:12

When he came to the throne in 1930,

0:53:120:53:15

he became the messiah for a whole new religion

0:53:150:53:18

that originated in Jamaica.

0:53:180:53:21

Before he became Emperor,

0:53:210:53:23

Haile Selassie was called Ras Tafari,

0:53:230:53:27

hence the name Rastafari.

0:53:270:53:29

About four hours' drive south of Addis, there's a patch of land

0:53:310:53:35

set aside by Haile Selassie

0:53:350:53:37

for Rastafarians who want to live in Ethiopia.

0:53:370:53:40

"Welcome home to Ethiopia." Rastafari!

0:53:410:53:44

We're about to begin our little service, you know.

0:53:450:53:47

In reverence, this time and give thanks to the Most High and Praised Selassie I...

0:53:470:53:52

-Hey aye!

-Selassie!

-Hey aye!

0:53:520:53:55

Selassie!

0:53:550:53:57

Rastafari started among the descendants of slaves

0:53:570:54:01

who believed they should repatriate to Africa.

0:54:010:54:04

Today, about 300 Rastas live here.

0:54:040:54:07

CLAPPING First king of iration, he's the alpha and the omega.

0:54:070:54:13

Beginning without an end, the first and forever.

0:54:130:54:16

HE SINGS, DRUMBEAT

0:54:180:54:22

THEY ALL SING

0:54:220:54:26

They believe they're one of the lost tribes of Israel

0:54:270:54:31

and that Ethiopia is their promised land.

0:54:310:54:34

To Rastas, Haile Selassie's coronation

0:54:380:54:41

fulfils the Biblical prophesy

0:54:410:54:43

that kings will come out of Africa.

0:54:430:54:45

To them, Haile Selassie

0:54:470:54:49

was actually the second coming of Christ.

0:54:490:54:52

By returning to Africa,

0:54:520:54:54

followers can put the horror of the slave trade behind them

0:54:540:54:57

and find peace and redemption.

0:54:570:55:00

Jah! Ras Tafari!

0:55:000:55:04

-Me...Bongo Rocky.

-Peter.

-OK?

-Yeah.

0:55:040:55:08

You ever hear about heaven? A man gone a heaven.

0:55:080:55:11

Me is like a man in heaven.

0:55:110:55:14

I'm a redeemed man out of captivity, OK?

0:55:140:55:18

450 years under colonial yoke. 450 years.

0:55:180:55:22

The greatest crime done to humanity is the slave trade,

0:55:220:55:26

and His Majesty is the man who come redeem us out of slavery and colonialism.

0:55:260:55:31

That's why we no say that Christ in the Second Advent. Christ come again!

0:55:310:55:35

-Christ is resurrected?

-Yes, yes, and we are living in the resurrection

0:55:350:55:40

and Christ is gonna bring judgment.

0:55:400:55:42

-Christ comes to judge Earth.

-How soon will this judgment be?

0:55:430:55:47

It is right now. the judgment is right now.

0:55:470:55:50

You are living in the judgment time.

0:55:500:55:53

Things are happening round about, you do not realise is judgment.

0:55:530:55:56

The wrath of God is pouring now on the world because of this wickedness

0:55:560:56:01

to humanity.

0:56:010:56:03

Brazil's futuristic capital is a global centre

0:56:280:56:31

for new age and esoteric faiths.

0:56:310:56:34

Here in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil,

0:56:430:56:45

there is a 21-metre high pyramid called the Temple of Goodwill.

0:56:450:56:51

People of all faiths and none are welcome

0:56:510:56:54

to use this sacred space.

0:56:540:56:56

I think I've got to take my shoes off.

0:56:560:57:00

Bare feet.

0:57:040:57:06

You walk into the centre of the spiral, along the black spiral.

0:57:070:57:13

At the top of the spire here, there is a big crystal

0:57:130:57:15

so when you get to the centre of the circle

0:57:150:57:17

you are bathed within the energy of the crystal.

0:57:170:57:22

You leave all your bad energy, your bad karma, there.

0:57:220:57:26

You are cleansed of it. And then you walk out along the white spiral.

0:57:260:57:30

I think that's what's going on.

0:57:300:57:32

'Everyone can come here - Christian, Buddhist, Muslim -

0:57:400:57:44

'and have their own experience.

0:57:440:57:48

'This is almost the end of an autocratic priesthood telling me what to believe in.

0:57:480:57:54

'It's inviting me to search my own soul,

0:57:540:57:57

'and then come back with the answers, but they are my answers.

0:57:570:58:02

'Those who belong to old religions, and I belong to a relatively old religion,'

0:58:150:58:20

have always criticised new religions.

0:58:200:58:22

Um, but my religion was a new religion at some point.

0:58:220:58:27

All religions were new religions at some point.

0:58:270:58:30

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0:58:480:58:51

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0:58:510:58:54

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