[Vision2020] In God's Name

[Tom Hansen]

"In God's Name" to be aired tonight (December 23, 2007) at 9:00 PM on KREM2
(Channel 2).

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>From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America website at:

http://www.elca.org/ingodsname/

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ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson is one of 12 "of the world's most
influential religious leaders" featured in a Prime time two-hour television
special event on CBS, December 23 -- "In God's Name." Produced by Jules and
Gedeon Naudet, the diverse and powerful voices offer provocative, compelling
and enlightening perspectives on myriad issues in our post-9/11 world,
including the rise of terrorism, fanaticism, intolerance and war. 

"In God's Name" will explore the complex questions of our time through the
intimate thoughts and beliefs of 12 of the world's most influential
spiritual leaders, together for the first time in one program. The two-hour
special will be broadcast in December on the CBS Television Network.

On the day of the terrorist attacks in September 2001, Jules and Gedeon
Naudet were caught in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Jules was
shooting inside when the South Tower fell. "On Sept. 11, we faced death and
thought we had lost each other," said Jules Naudet. "This harrowing
experience was the first step in a journey that would take us around the
world searching for answers to the meaning of life." It also led to their
production of the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning film "9/11" for the CBS.

This time the brothers' quest took them to Egypt, England, India, Israel,
Japan, Lebanon, Russia and the Vatican, as well as Illinois and South
Carolina.

"We chose these 12 leaders because of the vast number of believers -- more
than 4 billion -- that their faiths represent," said Gedeon Naudet. "We also
wanted to explore the diversity of spirituality in our world today."

The program marks the first time that this distinct group of leaders has
appeared in one broadcast. These spiritual beacons speak out about violence
and hatred and reveal their own thoughts about faith, peace, unity,
tolerance and hope. Viewers will see them in intimate settings, including
their homes and personal places of worship. Ultimately, through the eyes of
these 12 very different religious figures, the filmmakers discover the
common ground among believers around the world.

The 12 leaders featured in this special, in alphabetical order, are:

- Alexei II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church

- Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader

- Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church

- The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists 

- Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim leader

- Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America and President of the Lutheran World Federation

- Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand
Shrine of Ise

- Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

- Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention

- Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim
leader

- Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest
authority

- Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of
England

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Government has no more to do with the religious opinions of men than it has
with the principles of mathematics. Let every man speak freely without fear,
maintain the principles that he believes, worship according to his own
faith, either one God, three Gods, no God or twenty Gods; and let government
protect him in so doing, i.e., see that he meets with no personal abuse, or
loss of property, for his religious opinions...." 

-John Leland, colonial-era Baptist minister and religious liberty advocate,
The Rights of Conscience Inalienable, 1791 pamphlet