Australia’s very first interfaith network runs a thriving ‘faith tour’, with the cooperation of sixty or so volunteers and the myriad mosques, temples and churches in its cluster of ten suburbs. Join a busload of Catholic school students on tour and encounter elephant-eared Ganesha, the Buddha’s relics, and mosque dress code.
Tags: religion & spirituality
Older Episodes
Does God belong in school?
Eternity is a learning curve.
This Encounter in the Central Australian desert introduces Morris Stuart, a former pastor who was born in British Guyana in the Caribbean. He uses sacred music to help empower indigenous people, working with local choirs in Central Australia, Alice Springs and, most recently, with the famous South African Soweto Gospel …
Have you volunteered in an orphanage or school, or help build something while travelling through Asia, Africa or South America? This form of tourism seems admirable, but there’s an unsavoury underbelly to volunteer tourism that’s not so obvious to the innocent.
Does Islam need a Caliphate? How might it work – and how likely is it to be restored? This week Encounter looks at the past, present and possible future of the Caliphate.
If someone tells you to go to Hell, you’ve probably got a good picture in your mind of what you’ll find when you get there: Somewhere deep underground, devils with pointy tails, lots of fire and brimstone. But where does our western idea of Hell come from and why does …
A tribute to distinguished poet, priest, scholar and educator, Peter Steele who died on 27 June 2012. Peter Steele’s poetry has appeared in seven volumes and last month his final book of ‘essays in poetry’ was published as Braiding the Voices. This program features Peter Steele in conversation, his poems, …
A musical Encounter this week, as we join the Choir of Christ Church St Laurence for a service of Advent Carols.
Encounter delves into Buddhism's long history in Australia and how it has adapted to this land and its people, and it's not as peaceful as you might imagine.
Mystical revelation or epileptic seizure? This week we explore the terrain where spirit and synapse coincide
Today there are more practicing Protestants in China than in the UK, and some say China could become the world’s largest Christian nation by 2030. Could the "Asian Century" of turn out to be the Asian Christian century?
Is religion intrinsically violent? Many atheists say yes - while many religious believers see their faith tradition as being about peace and harmony. This week we complicate both pictures.
There's a back story to the upcoming Meredith Music Festival (Australia's hippest festival?) about a woman whose life God 'interrupts'. That's the way Mary Nolan puts it.
Khaled Sabsabi - community activist, visual artist and hip hop producer - arrived in Australia as a war refugee. We spend a day in his company.
Have you met Jason Chan the walking Buddhist monk yet? Find out about his journey from far north Queensland to Sydney walking barefoot.
The Muslim community in Australia is anxious: militant Islam is on the rise in the Middle East and spreading around the globe. The Australian government has reacted by increasing the surveillance powers of intelligence services. How are the new laws and the media hype impacting the Sunni Muslim community in …
Does Islam need a Caliphate? How might it work – and how likely is it to be restored? This week Encounter looks at the past, present and possible future of the Caliphate.
As ISIS militants continue their mission to purge Iraq of its minority populations, diaspora Iraqi Christians campaign in defence of those they have left behind. Who are these Christians?
This week we trace the similarities and differences between contemporary anti- Semitism in Europe and its mid-20th century outbreak, via a walking tour of Prague, and using Franz Kafka as our guide. Why Kafka? Because he was there last time it happened.