Everyday Ethics

One year ago, news began breaking about an attack on Israel by the Islamic group Hamas whose fighters invaded southern Israel and murdered around 1200 people - children, women and men. They also captured around 240 others- children, men and women- and kept them hostage. It was the biggest killing of Jews since the Holocaust during World War Two. Israel's response was brutal- in the past year they have bombed Gaza- bombed refugee camps, schools, hospitals, homes- and in the process killed over 41,000 children, women and men. In the past few weeks, the war has escalated...another Shia militant group, backed by Iran- Hezbollah- have increased their attacks from Southern Lebanon into Northern Israel, and in response Israel has launched a ferocious response on Lebanon- they killed Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah and they've been blamed for exploding pagers and walkie talkies being carried by Hezbollah members. The Lebanese health ministry say nearly 2000 people have been killed there in the past three weeks. And then Iran got directly involved- they fired 1800 rockets at Israel- most of which were intercepted by the Israeli missile defence systems. How Israel will respond to that is not yet clear. So this is the scenario that is facing the Middle East right now. What might happen next? What can the United States and Europe do to stop it? Presenter Audrey Carville in conversation with Gershon Baskin, who has been advisor to both Israeli, Palestinian and international prime ministers on the peace process, Dr Yvonne Ridley is a journalist and author - she was taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, and Dr Leon Litvack is from Queen's University.

What drives someone to change their faith? It can't be an easy decision- or can it? It certainly arouses deep emotions among others- what should be a private matter rarely is, it tends to provoke a reaction but is the new belief believable? Is it masking a previously bad life? Presenter Audrey Carville in conversation with Rabbi Jonathan Romain who recently conducted some research on religious conversions, and theologians Professor Tina Beattie and Dr Elaine Storkey.

Is it easier to remember than to forget? What would happen if we did forget our past? Would we be consumed by guilt? Would we be free to heal? Would it be liberating? By 'our past' we don't just mean our most recent past. We mean remembering world wars, remembering revolutions, remembering civil wars. We commemorate a lot in this part of the world, we've just emerged from a decade of remembering. We say it's about respect for those who are gone and what they left behind for future generations. But is it really? Do we ever face up to the hard questions that lie behind those events? Are we willing to examine the valour and nobility of the so-called other side? Does commemoration keep us tied, in an unhealthy way to the past? Would it be healthier to learn to forget in a respectful way? Presenter Audrey Carville in conversation with Wallace Thompson of the Evangelical Protestant Society, Professor Deirdre Heenan from Ulster University and by theologian Professor Laurence Kirkpatrick

Morals and values - Are they inextricably linked to faith? Have they changed over time, as society changes? What about those who find themselves on the outside of society because their values don't match the majority?