91Èȱ¬

Week by week All Things Considered explores what people believe; how it affects their understanding of the world; and what they do as a result. The 91Èȱ¬ has designated 2019 as a Year of Beliefs, and this edition of the programme begins that year by examining the notion of belief itself.

This takes place in the context of a country divided dramatically by beliefs in one inescapable area of our national life: the Brexit debate has split families, generations and communities. It’s sparked both high-flown rhetoric and the ugliest of abuse.

But belief can unify too, with widely accepted understandings of values and rights: shared beliefs can shape communities and hold them together.
So what does it mean to believe something? What difference does it make to daily life? And in an increasingly secularised society, what part does religion still play in determining what we believe?

With Roy to discuss these questions are: Rabbi Monique Mayer, of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue and the Progressive Synagogue in Bristol; Richard Paterson, who retired last year after three decades as the first Humanist celebrant in Wales; Abdul Azim Ahmed, Deputy Secretary General Muslim Council of Wales and Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University; and Stephen Bullivant, Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion at St Mary's University, Twickenham, and consulting editor of the weekly Catholic Herald.