The religious response to the not-guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman; the rapidly growing number of Hispanic Protestants; and the mixed-success of the British government's controversial strategy to address homegrown Islamic extremism

"I think at the core of the anger, the root of it was sadness. The verdict really said to young African American males that you don’t matter and so that sadness and that continued rejection by society then led to the anger that then led to some of the behavior we saw in the communities," says Rev. ...

In the wake of terrorist bombings by British-born Muslims in 2005, the British government set up an initiative called Prevent to engage with the Islamic community and to intervene before a person became radicalized. But many British Muslims feel that the policy amounts to religious ...

A conversation about the ongoing unrest in Egypt; bloodless surgeries for those with religious objections to blood transfusions; and the legacy of one of the best-selling poets of all time, Kahlil Gibran.

"I think Egyptians just rose up and said we don’t like the direction Egypt is going in. It’s not because we don’t love Muslims – most of us are Muslims – but we don’t like the idea of an Islamist Egypt," says Kate Seelye, senior vice president of the non-partisan Middle East Institute.

"If there's any way to avoid getting a blood transfusion, one is better off in general if they can avoid it," says Dr. Abe Steinberger, a neurosurgeon at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey.

The best-selling poet "helped present an appealing mystical idea of the wisdom of the East. He was someone who helped humanize and popularize Eastern thought," says literary critic Liesl Schillinger.

Worker justice in Bangladesh's garment industry in the wake of the deadly April factory collapse; Inner City Muslim Action Network in Chicago and its mission of social justice; and Heartbeat, a band of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians

“Only a couple of months ago, if you asked a garment industry owner what do you think of a union, they will say no, no unions,” says Fazle Abed of the Bangladesh Rural Affairs Committee. “But now many of them are saying yes, maybe the union is something we have to accept.”

“Do I believe there’s a problem with some sectors of the community that are vulnerable and susceptible to violence? Absolutely. I wouldn’t deny that...The largest antidote, cure if you will, to any concern about radicalization and violence associated with it is meaningful, critical ...

"We play to the heartbeat. That’s our mutual beat. Everybody has their heartbeat, and it’s the rhythm that is unifying us."

Same-sex marriage prevails; religious activists regroup; affirmative action and voting rights upended; massive art installation on National Mall symbolizes genocide

"Within five years we will bring marriage equality to all 50 states in this vast county," said Chad Griffith, a board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

“The vote on the Defense of Marriage Act was very interesting. You had five justices saying this denies gays and lesbians equality and liberty guaranteed by the Constitution, and I think that says an awful lot because that will carry down the road in other cases. I think this may be a precursor ...

“This has energized the movement for marriage redefinition, and at the same time it’s energized those of us who believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman for the sake of their children,” said Kim Daniels, an attorney and a spokeswoman for the president of the US Conference of Catholic ...

“Let the souls of the millions who have died speak to us and speak through us,” said Rabbi Bruce Lustig of the large public art installation that raises awareness of ongoing genocides and mass atrocities. “We all share the same bones. No matter your creed, no matter your color, we are all ...

Supreme Court decision on affirmative action; historian Taylor Branch on 1963 civil rights events; and relying on jails and prisons to care for the mentally ill.

"I call Dr. King a modern founder in the sense that he was doing just what Jefferson and Lincoln and the other American founders were doing in their most spiritual moments…which was to confront very stubborn forms of evil and subjugation and figure out a way to transform them into equal ...

It doesn’t make moral, ethical, or fiscal sense, according to Cook County sheriff Tom Dart, to house people who are mentally ill in jails and prisons.

The morality of balancing national security and privacy rights; the new president of the SBC’s office of public policy issues; and bridging divides between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.