Many around the world labeled the events of September 11 as "evil." President Bush in his recent State of the Union speech described "an axis of evil." But what does the word mean? It is a subject of enduring theological debate, even of scientific argument. It drives to the heart of the question: What does it mean to be human?
Guests
Robert Pollack, biologist and director of Columbia University's Center for the Study of Science and Religion
 | Web-only audio*: Is heaven evil? A Web-only exchange with Robert Pollack on approaching the mysteries of other faiths.
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Rami Nashashibi, a Muslim social activist, founder of the Inner City Muslim Action Network
Lisa Lampman, formerly of Prison Fellowship, a crisis worker who responds to school shootings
Leon Weinstein and daughter Natalie Gold, Holocaust survivors
M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist, reading excerpts from his 1985 book People of the Lie
Recommended Reading
• Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, by Hannah Arendt. (Peter Smith Publishers, 1994. ISBN: 0844659770)
• Ordinary People and Extraordinary Evil, by Fred E. Katz. (State University of New York Press, 1993. ISBN: 0791414418)
• God and the Victim: Theological Reflections on Evil, Victimization, Justice, and Forgiveness, by Lisa Lampman and Michelle D. Shattuck (Eds.). (Eerdmans, 1999. ISBN: 0802845460)
• People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil, by Morgan Scott Peck. (Simon & Schuster, 1983. ISBN: 0671454927)
• The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings, by Michael L. Peterson (Ed.). (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992. ISBN: 0268015147)
• The Faith of Biology and the Biology of Faith: Order, Meaning, and Free Will in Modern Science, by Robert Pollack. (Columbia University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0231115067)
• The Missing Moment: How the Unconscious shapes Modern Science, by Robert Pollack. (Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN: 0395709857)
• Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA, by Robert Pollack. (Houghton Mifflin, 1994. ISBN: 0395644984)
Music
(Click titles and artist names to purchase from Public Radio Music Source.)
• Opening theme: "Vals Pa Sne" by Groupa, from 15 Years, NorthSide NSD 6015
• "Leap of Faith" by Joshua Redman, from Beyond, Warner Bros. 47465
• "Roads" by Portishead, from Dummy, Go! Discs London 422828 553
• "Crazy Lady" by Sonia Dada, from A Day at the Beach, Capricon 42037 2
• "Ave Maria" by Jehan Ariste Alain, from Christmas at St. George's, Pro Organo 7078
• "Swedish Lullaby" by Libana, from Lullaby: A Collection, Warner Bros. 42565
• "Taxim" by Klezmer Conservatory Band, from Dance Me to the End of Love, Rounder 3169
• "Mélodies Hébraïques: No 01 Kaddish" by Maurice Ravel, from The Cantorial Voice Of The 'Cello, Dorian 90208
• "Agnus Dei" (Samuel Barber) by Dale Warland Singers, from Cathedral Classics, American Choral Catalog 120
• Quartet for the End of Time: Mvts. II, VIII by Chamber Music Northwest, from Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time, Delos 3043
• "Out of Hand" by Billy McLaughlin, from Hold on to Forever, Narada 72438 47220 2 9
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