Iowa Public Television

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

Episode #249

NEWS: Welfare Check Up - President Bill Clinton proclaimed victory this week for his administration's efforts to reduce the numbers of Americans on welfare. Speaking at the National Forum on Welfare to Work in Chicago, Clinton quoted White House figures that show a dramatic 48 percent drop of welfare recipients since the President's first term in office. The Urban Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization out of Washington, D.C., released a study earlier this week on the state of welfare since reforms were put into place and how former participants are faring. Their report confirmed the White House's findings but added that a large number of those that have left the welfare system have low paying jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY takes a look at welfare reform with a report from R & E correspondent Chris Roberts. COVER STORY: Hinduism in America: Part Two - "I guess when I was younger, whenever I thought of weddings, I always thought of brides in white, a guy in tuxedo, standing at an altar." That's Anju Bhushan Patel recollections. Born in America to Hindu immigrant parents from India, Anju and her groom Salil, decided their wedding would be a traditional Hindu ceremony with some modifications. RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY continues its two-part series, "Hinduism in America" with a look at how the second generation of American Hindus are adapting this ancient religion by incorporating elements of American culture into its practices. R & E contributing correspondent Monika Samtani talks with Anju and Salil Patel about how they practice their faith in this foreign setting. PERSPECTIVES: A Discussion on Sin - First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton commented on her husband's infidelities last week with the release of a tell-all article in Talk magazine. In the exclusive Talk interview, Clinton states, "You know in Christian theology there are sins of weakness and sins of malice, and this was a sin of weakness." RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY takes a look at Mrs. Clinton's statement and explores what Christian theology says about sin. Joining substitute host Mary Alice Williams for a roundtable discussion, will be Reverend Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., author of Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin and dean of the Chapel for Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Jane Redmont, feminist Catholic theologian from Berkeley, California. [26 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.