Religion & Ethics NewsWeeklyis a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. Visit www.pbs.org/religionandethics for additional information. Show #1740 will be fed over PBS at 5:00 p.m. EST on June 6 (check local listings). Program Note: Due to special pledge programming, be sure to check local listings. 

Bloodless Surgery – For Jehovah’s Witnesses receiving blood transfusions is a sin.  Betty Rollin reports on a bloodless surgery program at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey which serves not only Jehovah’s Witnesses but nearly all of their patients.  Neurosurgeon Dr. Abe Steinberger says “The risks of giving blood in many cases outweigh the benefits of giving blood.” (Originally aired July 12, 2013) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2013/07/12/july-12-2013-bloodless-surgeries/19167/

The Painful Pilgrimage of Christian Wiman –  Poet, seeker and victim, Christian Wiman talks with Judy Valente about his spiritual journey and the central importance of poetry, new metaphors and all the arts to experiencing, for him, the “glimmers of God.”  The former editor of Poetry magazine taught this year at the Yale Divinity School and Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music.  Married, with two young daughters, Wiman describes his “glimpses” of the holy at the same time that he lives with an incurable cancer. (Originally aired October 25, 2013) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2013/10/25/october-25-2013-poet-christian-wiman/20803/

Shavuot – This past week, Jews observed Shavuot.  Also known as the Feast of Weeks, it comes seven weeks after Passover and, along with Passover and Sukkot, is one of three Jewish pilgrimage festivals. It acknowledges the harvest by the Jews as an agricultural people thousands of years ago, and celebrates God’s giving of the Torah to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. (Originally aired June 17, 2011) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2011/06/17/june-3-2011-shavuot/8933/