"Does the public really understand in a deep way what the moral burdens of war are? I don't think so," says philosopher, ethicist, and psychoanalyst Nancy Sherman.

"Whether we're actually preserving veterans' capacity to have a flourishing life afer war, a good life for a human being after war, I don't know. I just don't know," says clinical psychiatrist Jonathan Shay.

"Soldiers carry all the moral weight of war, and we carry very little, and we need to share that moral burden by realizing that they are our surrogates," according to philosopher, ethicist, and psychoanalyst Nancy Sherman, author of "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our ...

"To do the war on the cheap and not hold us all accountable for the decisions that are made is a travesty," says this New York National Guard state chaplain.

"It's like you don't really know your spirit until it's been damaged. We don't really have a consciousness of our own spirit until it's wounded, and then it needs help," says Michael Abbatello, who served in Afghanistan as a rifleman in a Marine Corps infantry line unit.

"It's our job as civilians to tend to the returning warriors by bringing them into the center of the communitiy," says this psychotherapist and author of "War and the Soul."

The dean of Yale Divinity School reflects on Lent, poverty, public policy debates, and the moral obligations of people of faith.

"Part of what calls people to public service, part of what calls people to be engaged in helping others both here and around the world is their faith."

Imam Rauf says his concern about Rep. Peter King's hearings on American Muslims is "the impression it is giving that Muslims are de facto liabilities to homeland security" and "the perception it will raise among Muslims overseas."

On March 10, Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to open hearings on "the radicalization of American Muslims." Watch excerpts from a Capitol Hill briefing held in advance of the hearings.

At a recent briefing on Capitol Hill, the government and policy analyst for the Muslim Public Affairs Council distinguished between the broad moral principles of Islamic sharia law and and the extremist fiqh jurisprudence of al Qaeda.

The Catholic peace movement Pax Christi USA met outside the White House for prayers of repentance for war.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent for many Christans, and the imposition of ashes can serve as a reminder of human frailty, a public sign of religious faith, and an expression of pastoral care.

The seriousness of Ash Wednesday and Lent was preceded this week by frivolity and the traditional pancake race at Washington's National Cathedral.

"We want to prove to America that we are not terrorist suspects," says Imam Mahdi Bray. US Islamic groups have launched several projects to fight extremism within their own communities, particularly among young people.

Despite America's trials and tribulations, one of the country's redeeming qualities is that somehow it eventually finds a way to "get it right."

As Congress debates the budget, religious conservatives say the debt is a moral issue, and an interfaith coalition has launched a campaign to reduce military spending and prevent cuts for the poor.

Writer Mary Karr says what struck her about Catholicism "wasn't the grandeur of the Mass, it was the simple faith of the people" and "the carnality of the church. There was a body on the cross."

Watch much more of correspondent Judy Valente's conversation with Mary Karr about God, prayer, poetry, and the Catholic faith.

Imam Feisal Rauf of New York City was in Washington this week and spoke with us about religion's positive potential in a post-Mubarak Egypt.