The Boy Scouts of America - The national council of the Boy Scouts of America will vote next week on a proposal to lift the long-standing ban on gay scouts, although allowing gay adult leaders is not under consideration. As Deborah Potter reports, most scout troops are sponsored by faith-based groups, some of whom say that lifting the ban is incompatible with scout values, and could lead them to withdraw their sponsorship. Sequestration and the Poor -The 85-billion-dollar federal spending cuts imposed by sequestration will severely impact city governments and their programs for the poor-programs like Head Start, supplemental nutrition and public housing . The head of Catholic Charities in Maryland tells Lucky Severson that his budget is a "moral document" and that failure to ease the cuts on programs for the poor is "frankly immoral." Reforming Washington - Host Bob Abernethy profiles former White House press secretary Mike McCurry. McCurry has a new graduate degree from Wesley Seminary and wants to change Washington's political climate. Sikh Turban Showdown - At a Sikh Foundation of Virginia "Turban Showdown," Sikh parents helped children wrap their turbans. Youth and education coordinator Surinder Singh explains the meaning of the turban and why, for Sikhs, it is a mark of pride, respect and responsibility.

Guiding Rage into Power - GRIP -- A program in California's San Quentin prison that uses meditation to help inmates address the root causes of their violent behavior. The creator of the program tells correspondent Kate Olson that even though they are in prison, they are nevertheless part of a community, and they are learning not to create violence but to resolve it. Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews - There are more than 300,000 of them in the U.S. and Canada, living in tightly-knit communities that observe the strict rules of the Torah. Lucky Severson reports that those who have left the communities say they sometimes find themselves ostracized by their own families, who have been taught that the outside world is "demonic" and "dangerous."

Iraqi Refugees - Ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq this country has taken in more than 64,000 Iraqi refugees. Some of the refugees are living in the San Diego area, where they have family connections. As Saul Gonzalez reports, many are fearful of returning to Iraq because of sectarian violence and criminal gangs, but have had trouble adjusting to life in this country. Room to Read - This nonprofit organization has set up 1500 schools and 15,000 libraries---with millions of books---in Cambodia and nine other countries. As Lucky Severson reports, its founder is John Wood, who resigned from Microsoft to lead the project and who says "if you don't get an education, can't read or write, the odds are stacked against you." Muslim Anti-Terrorism - Haris Tarin of the Muslim Public Affairs Council talks with Bob Abernethy and Kim Lawton about efforts to prevent radicalization among Muslims in the US.

Children's March 50th Anniversary - In May 1963, hundreds of children-some as young as six years old-faced police dogs, fire hoses and arrest, to march against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Experts say it was a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights. Kim Lawton looks back at the march and its legacy and interviews civil rights leaders and some who marched as children, including University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Freeman Hrabowski, who was then 12 and who describes the personal impact of marching and being put in jail. Baseball as a Road to God - Baseball has its own relics, prophets and rituals---as does religion---according to John Sexton, president of New York University and author of "Baseball as a Road to God." But beyond surface similarities, Sexton tells Bob Faw, the game's most magnificent moments, its timelessness and its intensity, can bring us to a sense of "the ineffable"---the transcendent.

Religion and the Environment - A national organization called Interfaith Power and Light---IPL---is bringing different faiths together on environmental issues, especially climate change. Although pastors have often been reluctant to talk about the environment from the pulpit, Lucky Severson reports that IPL wants houses of worship to invest in energy efficiency and to serve as examples to the people in the pews, encouraging them to become energy efficient in their homes. Baseball as a Road to God - Baseball has its own relics, prophets and rituals---as does religion---according to John Sexton, president of New York University and author of "Baseball as a Road to God." But beyond surface similarities, Sexton tells Bob Faw, the game's most magnificent moments, its timelessness and its intensity, can bring us to a sense of "the ineffable"---the transcendent.

Churches and Domestic Violence - Women are overwhelmingly the victims of the widespread phenomenon of domestic violence. It's not frequently talked about in churches but a Chicago priest now visits parishes around the city to deliver a homily to open people's eyes to the problem and he encourages each parish to set up a support system for victims of abuse. He tells reporter Judy Valente that it's hard to measure success because no one knows how many women who need help aren't coming forward and that abusers don't change easily, but must be confronted and held accountable. Medical Ministry - Dr. Joseph Dutkowski, a devout Catholic, gave up his career as an engineer to become an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in patients---young and old--- with afflictions that cripple or deform. Dutkowski tells Bob Faw that he sees the likeness of God in his patients, and that to share their suffering is, to him, a gift.

India Sex Selection - Recent attacks on women in India have spotlighted gender inequality there. In India, boy children have been preferred over girl children for centuries, in part because only boys can carry on the family's lineage, and also because the family must provide a dowry when their daughter gets married-even though dowries have been outlawed for half a century. As Fred de Sam Lazaro reports, the abortion of female fetuses has meant five boy babies are born to only four girl babies, but rising prosperity in India has led some families to view girls and boys as being of equal value. Keeping the Sabbath - The fast pace of life and the many distractions created by technology have led a Presbyterian pastor in Virginia to experiment with taking one day a week with her family without computers, work or even errands a day for "holy time." As Judy Valente reports, the idea is, for at least one day a week, to stop producing more and more, and learn to be content and appreciate the gift of that day the Sabbath. Jim Wallis - Bob Abernethy and Kim Lawton interview the social activist and CEO of Sojourners magazine about his new book On God's Side. Wallis advocates solving the country's major problems through a national Christian conversion that emphasizes serving "the common good."

Same-Sex Marriage - This past week the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 same-sex marriage restrictions and the Defense of Marriage Act. Religious groups filed briefs on both sides of the disputes. Tim O'Brien reports on the arguments and the justices' responses to the lawyers as they presented the cases. Nick Vujicic - Nick Vujicic is an evangelist and motivational speaker who, in the last ten years, has traveled to 44 countries and spoken to five million people----despite having no arms or legs due to a rare disease he was born with. He has had to deal with his anger and sometimes depression, but he tells Lucky Severson "if God can do something beautiful with my broken pieces, then God truly has a plan for each and every one of us. Holy Week - The three days leading up to Easter comprise the holiest time of the year for Christians. Filled with worship, prayer and pilgrimages, they commemorate Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter. Father Kenneth Semon of The Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe, New Mexico says "To go through the experience of the three days is really to go through what changes life for people."

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby: This week in England, Justin Welby is enthroned as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader to nearly 80 million Anglicans around the world. Over the past decade, the Anglican Communion has been deeply divided over theology, gender and sexuality. In an exclusive interview, Welby spoke with managing editor Kim Lawton about his intention to make reconciliation a top priority during his tenure as archbishop. St Francis and the Pope - A visit to the Franciscan Monastery in northeast Washington, D.C., gives us a window into the life of St Francis, who wanted to walk in the very footsteps of Christ in everything he did. Fr. Larry Dunham, OFM, explains that St. Francis, whose name was taken by the newly-elected Pope, could see God not only in every man and woman, but in everything in creation---including the birds, the rocks and the fields. Dunham says Pope Francis's love for the poor reminds us that it was the poor that Jesus lived among and reached out to in particular. Desert Seder - According to Rabbi Jamie Korngold, the so-called "Adventure Rabbi, " it was when the ancient Israelites were wandering in the desert that God spoke to Moses and where the Jews got the teachings of the Torah. That is why she took a group into the Utah desert to experience the seder in the wilderness. This seder includes hiking and dancing, but also reading the story of the exodus directly from the Torah scroll, in a desert that one participant described as looking like the Negev, where the people once wandered.