coming up -- supporters of gay marriage cheered the supreme court's decisions they said moved the country closer to full marriage equality. tim o'brien reports on those and other rulings this week, and kim lawton sums up reactions from religious communities. >> it's very gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered americans can finally enjoy. federal recognition and protection that laws so long extended to their fellow

citizens. >> our churches are going to have to be ready to live in a world in which we cannot simply assume a definition of marriage and family. also -- calling attention to genocide around the world, people from all 50 states made artificial bones to display on washington's national mall. welcome, i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us this week of important and controversial supreme court

decisions. tim o'brien reports on the court's rulings on gay marriage, on voting rights, and on race as a factor in admissions to colleges and universities. then, kim lawton sums up the reactions of religious communities to the court's gay marriage decisions. tim begins with affirmative action. >> reporter: no issue had tied up the court longer this year than whether to uphold affirmative action at the university of texas at austin, where being african-american helps in being admitted. >> diversity, and let's be more pointed, racial diversity, is used as one factor among many. >> reporter: the justices ruled that any distinctions based on race must be subjected to strict scrutiny, reaffirming a standard it had generally announced ten years ago. the court did not quarrel with the university's argument that it had a compelling interest in a diverse student body, but made clear that race-neutral remedies must be considered before any

racial preferences will be allowed. the next day, the justices entered an even deeper fray -- voting rights. the court dealt a lethal blow to a key provision of the 1965 voting rights act, generally considered the crowning achievement of the lyndon johnson administration and the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th century. among other things, the 1965 law required nine states with a long history of racial discrimination, mostly in the south, to submit any new voting procedures to the justice department before it could be implemented. but chief justice john roberts, for a five-judge majority, said the formula for determining which states are affected was too antiquated. "our country has changed," said roberts. "while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions." if the affirmative action case

was the longest awaited decision of the year, the same-sex marriage cases were the most anxiously awaited, and on wednesday, the last day of the term, the court delivered a pair of big victories for gay rights. the decisions brought jubilation to supporters of same-sex marriage, here running from the courthouse with victory literally in their hands. the justices let stand a lower court decision throwing out prop 8, the california amendment that banned same-sex marriage in that state. >> our plaintiffs now get to go back to california and together with every other citizen of california marry the person they love. >> and today we can go back and say to our own children, all four of our boys, your family is just as good as everybody else's family. we love you as much as anybody else's parents love their kids,

and we're going to be equal. now we're going to be married, and we will be equal to every other family in california. thank you. >> reporter: and, in another case, the justices found the federal defense of marriage act, or doma, unconstitutional. the law denies same-sex couples the federal benefits routinely allowed heterosexual couples, such as the right to file a joint tax return. doma was challenged by 83-year-old edie windsor, whose relationship with thea spayer spanned more than 40 years. the two were married in 2007, but thea passed away two years later, leaving the bulk of her estate to edie. along with it came a federal estate tax of $363,000. had thea been male, edie would have qualified for the federal exemption, but under doma she had to pay. this week the supreme court found such disparate treatment violates the constitution's

guarantees of liberty and equality. in new york, edie windsor said she cried when she learned of the high court's decision. >> we won everything we asked and hoped for. wow! >> reporter: the opinion was written by justice anthony kennedy, who concluded "that the principal purpose and the necessary effect of this law are to demean those persons who are in a lawful same-sex marriage." kennedy, a reagan appointee, is now emerging as the court's resident champion for gay rights. this is the third major case in which he has provided the critical fifth vote for victory. >> it took less than five years to strike down proposition 8 and to restore marriage equality to the most populous state in this land. so today, let's set a new goal. within five years, we will bring marriage equality to all 50 states in this vast country. >> reporter: when these cases were argued last march, several

justices suggested the country might not be ready for a ruling that would rec quir all states to recognize same-sex marriage. this appears to be at least a step in that direction. for "religion and ethics newsweekly," i'm tim o'brien at the supreme court. >> strongly held disagreements over gay marriage are just as prevalent, perhaps more so, in religious communities as they are in the country as a whole, as kim lawton reports. ♪ >> reporter: hours after the supreme court's same-sex marriage decisions were announced, people of faith gathered at washington's national cathedral for a prayer service of thanksgiving and celebration. >> today's supreme court rulings announce a new era for our country. it's an era in which married gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered americans can finally enjoy the same federal recognition and protection that our laws have for so long extended to their fellow citizens.

>> reporter: but for religious opponents of gay marriage, it was a day of disappointment. >> our churches are going to have to be ready to live in a world in which we cannot simply assume a definition of marriage and family. >> reporter: according to the pew research center, support for legal recognition of same-sex marriage continues to grow, including among religious americans. about half of catholics and white mainline protestants now say they support gay marriage. but 42% of all americans are still opposed it, and much of the strongest opposition is rooted in religion. the vast majority of white evangelicals and black protestants remain firmly against allowing gays and lesbians to marry. >> reporter: reverend dennis wiley of covenant baptist united church of christ is one of growing numbers of clergy who support gay marriage as a matter of justice. >> straight people of faith like myself and others who have fought and continued to fight as

allies and advocates alongside our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender brothers and sisters have been vindicated for our steadfast and unwavering support of marriage equality. >> reporter: national cathedral dean gary hall announced in january that the cathedral would welcome the celebration of same-sex weddings. >> i think there's a good biblical case to be made that god made human beings in god's image and blessed human beings and pronounced us good. so, whoever we are in our sexual orientation, we are good. and therefore the church needs also to make the same tools for living that have been historically available to heterosexual couples available to homosexual couples as well. >> reporter: hall acknowledges that many mainline protestant denominations are still wrestling over the issue. although his own denomination,

the episcopal church, has approved rites to bless same-sex unions that can be adapted to use in weddings, it officially still defines marriage as between a man and a woman. meanwhile, religious opponents of gay marriage say no court decision or poll numbers will sway their position. >> we don't believe that the state created marriage. marriage did not come about through a legislative act or through a court edict, so no government bureaucrat or no supreme court justice has the authority to re-define marriage. marriage is designed by god and embedded in nature and is beyond the reach of the state. >> reporter: russell moore is president of the ethics and religious liberty commission of the southern baptist convention. he says he's concerned about where the court's decisions may lead. >> all of us agree that there are limits on how we define marriage. all of us right now in american culture agree that a marriage is limited to two people, uh, all of us agree that, uh, marriage is a voluntary, uh, arrangement. we all agree on certain limitations with marriage. the questions is, what now? what does this mean?

>> reporter: he and many other conservatives believe the rulings will burden the religious liberty of those who oppose gay marriage. kim daniels is an attorney and spokesperson for the president of the u.s. conference of catholic bishops, cardinal timothy dolan. >> it could lead to the loss of government contracts and benefits for those who uphold the truth of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. it could lead to the loss of professional licensing or institutional accreditation. people could face anti-discrimination suits because they refuse to give up their beliefs that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. >> reporter: but she says, the battle isn't over. >> this has really energized the movement for marriage redefinition and at the same time it's energized those of us who believe that marriage as the union of a man and a woman for the sake of their children, is an important part of the common good of our country. and i know that we'll continue to contribute to this conversation, because catholics witness to the joy of our teachings on marriage and family, and that's something we'll continue to do. >> reporter: moore says he's urging his community to take the

long view. >> we need to be winsome, prophetic, speak to the outside culture and loving in persuasive ways and also train up counter-cultural communities that honor marriage and keep our marriages together and cultivate healthy marriages in the future. >> reporter: religious advocates of same-sex marriage are also promising to ramp up their grassroots efforts. >> i think the faith community can do a lot of work state by state to advance marriage equality, and i would also like to see gay and lesbian folks in their own congregations come forward and press their faith communities to extend marriage equality themselves. >> reporter: given the depth of feelings on both sides, the conversation will continue for a long time to come. >> kim and tim are both here. welcome. tim, let me start with you. where do we go from here, especially in california? >> well, in california, i think you are going to see gays and lesbians going to get their marriage licenses. it might not happen tonight but

it won't be long. the court cleared the way for that in allowing a district court decision to stand, throwing out prop 8, california's ban on same-sex marriage. >> and what did you see in the votes in the court that would lead you in that direction? >> well, the vote in the court on that case, on the prop 8 case, was purely on jurisdictional grounds. the vote on the doma case, the defense of marriage act, was very interesting. you had five justices saying that 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 for a ruling that says any discrimination based on sexual orientation by the state is suspect and will only be upheld in extraordinary circumstances. >> and 37 or 38 states now say no way on gay marriage. >> and that will stand today.

whether it stands tomorrow is an entirely different question. >> okay. >> and that's what i was hearing a lot this week, that this case really galvanized both sides in the faith community on this debate. it gave new energy to proponents of same-sex marriage to say we can go into these local states that ban it and make an argument to have those bans overturned. and among the religious people who are against same-sex marriage, they said this gives them the energy to maintain and to keep their position out there. >> energy on both sides, grounded in biblical tradition. >> right. for the religious opponents of same-sex marriage, they very much look to the bible. they believe god ordained marriage as between a man and a woman, that it -- and procreation is tied up in that, that it symbolizes in the christian community jesus's relationship with the church. so there are very deeply held theological reasons why they

hold those positions. and for the religious proponents of same-sex marriage, they say when they look at the bible they see an evolving view of marriage, and they also point to biblical values like justice and say compassion and justice should be at play here. >> did you sense, tim, just a second, did you sense a momentum in the direction of accepting gay marriage within the religious communities? >> well, certainly the advocates feel that their position has been vindicated, but even among religious conservatives and opponents of same-sex marriage, polls show they say even though they don't like it, it's probably inevitable that it is here and it will happen. >> tim, what were you going to say? >> i was going to say, you were talking about the biblical references. well, one of the lower court judges in the doma case pointed out this is a civil action and if you want to sanctify marriage you just have to go to a higher court. >> it's going to be interesting to see how though this, the doma

ruling is interpreted, how it's implemented in terms of benefits and the president and others this week said there will be religious freedom for people who hold a view against gay marriage, but i heard a lot of concern about religious liberty issues for people who hold that position and how that's going to get worked out in terms of federal contracts, in terms of tax exemption, and is it just religious congregations, churches, that would be exempt from having to go along or what about faith-based institutions, so i think a lot of legal wrangling yet to do. >> i was going to ask you, you both think this opens the door to a lot more court action? >> landmark decisions, you don't get many of them, but landmark decisions like the doma decision always raises more questions than it answers. >> tim, before we go, affirmative action, where, quickly, where does that stand now? >> well, about where it stood ten years ago. that it is suspect, racial considerations may be allowed in university admissions policies,

in this case only involved universities, not the employment sector. and if there's a way of getting the diversity that university officials want that is race neutral, you got to consider that first. >> and voting rights? >> well, the court took a shot at a sacred cow, the 1965 voting rights act, finding it was really an anachronism, and the court's correct in that the problems that the country was addressing back in 1965, the discrimination back then bears no resemblance to the world we live in today, yet no legislation has done more for african americans than the 1965 voting rights act so anything that dilutes that law is of course very controversial. >> and among religious, especially moderates and liberals and black protestants this week i heard a lot of sadness about the voting rights decision, precisely i think because of the symbolic nature of it. >> it is very symbolic and i think the damage may be more symbolic than real. >> tim, kim, many thanks to you

both. in other news, religious leaders applauded the u.s. senate this week for passing a comprehensive immigration bill, which includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented now in the country. faith groups, including many evangelicals, have been lobbying hard for immigration reform, calling it a moral issue. they are now urging the house of representatives to take up and pass an immigration bill. a recently-suspended vatican accountant, a priest, was arrested in italy this week for allegedly bringing $26 million into his country illegally. he was already under investigation for charges of laundering money through his

account at the vatican bank. his arrest came just days after pope francis appointed a committee to review the controversial bank, which, in the past, had been implicated in other laundering scandals and accused of having ties to the mafia. the new five-person commission includes two cardinals, other high ranking clergy, and a harvard law professor but no bankers, although the group can consult with them. also this week, pope francis strongly condemned anti-semitism, saying no christian can be anti-semitic because christianity and judaism share common roots. the pope made the comments in a meeting with jewish leaders, the first time he has met officially as pope with a jewish delegation. afterward, one of the rabbis present referred to francis as "a very good friend to the jewish people." the international red cross

is raising concerns over how hospitals, houses of worship, and schools are being impacted by violent conflicts around the world, particularly in syria, other parts of the middle east, and africa. the organization said armed groups are now occupying these spaces, including churches and mosques, making civilians there targets for opposing forces. the president of the red cross called it one of the most worrisome trends in the past year. in india, prayer services were held this week for the more than 1,000 people who died in massive flooding and landslides. close to 100,000 people were rescued, and several thousand more were still stranded well into this week. hundreds of bodies were found in a flooded area near one temple, the site of an annual hindu pilgrimage. most years, pilgrims finish the trip before monsoon season, but

this year, record-high rains came early. earlier this month there was a massive display on the national mall in washington designed to call attention to genocides around the world. using whatever materials they had on hand, people from every state made artificial bones to recognize current violent persecutions and recall past ones, like the holocaust. we visited a bone-making event at the washington hebrew congregation and spoke with its rabbi, bruce lustig, to his daughter, eve, and to artist naomi natale, the founder and director of the project she calls "one million bones." >> from the beginning, our goal was to collect a million handmade bones that would all be installed on the national mall. we're going to start by rolling out a log. when you make something with your hands, it changes the way you feel, which changes the way you think, which changes the way you act.

you know, i've made bones in temples, in churches, out in the street. everybody brings their own history with them, you know. they bring their own experiences, their own understanding of what does a bone mean to them, and what do our connections to each other mean to us. >> i'm a child of a holocaust survivor and so, when i saw the imagery of the bones, it evoked so many emotional feelings. people of faith, there's no belief that is worth anything that doesn't have a corollary action. and so, if we believe that we should stand up for the people of darfur, the south sudan, congo, burma, all of these places where genocide has taken place, it's important that we act as well. sons and daughters, carry these bones. let the souls of the millions who have died speak to us and speak through us.

we all share the same bones. no matter your creed, no matter your color, we are all created in the image of god. >> the experience of carrying the bone and laying it out, it's kind of like a journey from where you pick it up and where it goes. it's very much of, like, a meditative experience, holding it. if we can accept this idea that we belong to each other, then we can recognize our responsibility to one another. >> my grandmother and great-uncle on my dad's side are survivors of the holocaust. just being jewish, you know, the holocaust is a part of who i am, it's a part of my tradition and part of my life. and there are so many people that didn't survive, did not

have a proper burial or their bodies weren't found. this is a way, to me, of sort of honoring them. >> when i think about so many issues that are facing our world, i think, you know, the most successful solutions that we'll come up with are ones where people can see the small but very significant role that they can play within that movement. ♪ >> hopefully, in our children's generation there won't be a need for us to have consciousness-raising events about genocide, that on earth there will be no genocide. finally, next thursday is independence day, and we wish for all of us a safe, happy and even glorious fourth. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. you can follow us on twitter and

facebook and watch us anytime on the pbs app for iphones and ipads. and visit our new redesigned website, where there is always much more, including audio and video podcasts of this program. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, more scenes from the washington national cathedral's service celebrating the supreme court's decisions on gay marriage.

barry kibrick: today on "between the lines," a look at what we can learn from traditional societies with pulitzer prize winning author jared diamond. welcome, i'm barry kibrick. professor diamond won the pulitzer for his best-selling book "guns, germs and steel." now he returns to our past in search of a better future. with his book, "the world until yesterday," he highlights the many crucial lessons to be learned from our ancestors so that we can live better lives today. linda ellerbee: i'm a writer today because i was a reader when i was 11 years old, and it was... deepak chopra: you do not need to prove your state of happiness to anybody. warren christopher: most