Interfaith, intereverything, Sunday night on CBS

This CBS television show, "In God’s Name," set to air Sunday night (Dec. 23 9-11PM ET) looks interesting. It was produced by the talented French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who did the amazing doc on 9/11 a few years ago. They filmed the destruction of the World Trade Center "accidentally," while they happened to be following around a firefighting crew for another film. Their painful experiences on 9/11 (both feared the other brother had been killed) prompted them to ask some deep questions about faith and belief, which prompted them to interview 12 of the world’s leading religious figures, many of them heads of their religious communities. Here’s CBS’s list, from their release yesterday. --Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church --Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church --The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists --Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shiite Muslim leader --Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation --Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand Ise Shrine --Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel --Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention --Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader --Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Sri Akal Takht, the Sikhs’ highest authority --Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England (Pope Benedict, by the way, is not interviewed in the film, though the Naudet brothers excerpt comments from the pope on the topic at hand. They also met with the pope this week at the Vatican.) Here’s the video teaser: