>> coming up -- an african country learning how to grow enough food so it won't have to ask for foreign aid in the future. also, the widely influential religion grantmaker, craig dykstra, as he prepares to retire. major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis based private family foundation, dedicated to its founders and christian religion, community development and education. additional funding provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and group retirement product. that's why we're your retirement company. the estate of william j. carter. the jane henson foundation and

corporation for public broadcasting. >> welcome. i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. several major decisions from the supreme court this week. five of the nine justices voted to uphold president obama's healthcare law, saying the law's individual mandate is legal. religious groups were divided over the legislation. some had called healthcare reform a "mol imperative" while others worried the law would allow federally funded abortions. faith communities had also lobbied hard around arizona's immigration law. on monday, the court struck down three parts of that legislation. but, it left in place the requirement that local police check the immigration status of people they believe could be in the country illegally. in another case, the justices ruled against mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of murder.

they said courts should have discretion about imposing that punishment. for more on the religious reaction to these decisions, patricia zapor of catholic news service is here and so is kim lawton managing editor of this program. welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> pat, the health care decision, what do you hear? >> well, i hear from some religious groups. most mainstream religious groups are pleased with the outcome in general. although, the catholic bishops for instance cautioned that there are still a lot of parts of the health care law that are not quite perfect. it's got issues for provision of contraceptives. it has not, what they consider inadequate protections for conscience for medical care providers. there are other things that they want to be addressed. but, in general, mainstream christian groups are excited because this is a way that people who have been cut of the healthcare system because they're not poor enough and

they're not rich enough might stand a chance of getting some decent health care. >> and a lot of the groups, christian and jewish groups and others, really lobbied hard to get this legislation passed as well so -- >> so they've been working at it for decades. >> yes. and so from them, i'm hearing things like this is a victory for the common good and something that's exercising the moral obligations to take care of people. but i'm also hearing a lot of concerns from religious conservatives who see this as something terrible, the government reaching in violating peoples' individual liberties. i'm hearing concerns about government funding of abortion and certainly the contraception mandate, which a lot of people feel does also violate religious liberty -- the idea that religious groups have to provide free contraceptive services. >> even if they're very strongly against contraception? >> right and that's what the lawsuits that were filed over. >> summarize what that situation is now. >> well, this is related to regulations from hhs and is actually at this point just proposed regulations from hhs about how the employer mandate, that employers provide

healthcare, plays out. and the catholic church and a bunch of churches, a bunch of religious groups in general, are worried that the way the possible provisions are currently written, they will be required to provide contraceptive coverage, which goes against their faith teachings. and they've sued over this. more than forty organizations filed lawsuits against the federal government challenging that a few weeks ago. >> go ahead. >> well, and there's also -- well i was just going to say, for some of the groups who support, who don't oppose contraception, they're worried about this notion of the government putting religious groups in different categories. so a worshiping institution would be exempt, but a faith based school would not or something like that. >> a hospital or school would not. and that's another fight that they say has long since been settled that religious organizations get to define themselves as religious organizations. the government doesn't get to do that.

that delves into first amendment issues that nobody's happy treading into. >> and none of that was affected by this week's decision. >> let me move on. let me move on to the arizona immigration decision. what have you heard about that in the way of reaction? >> well, people were pleased with the parts that were overturned from the arizona immigration law -- the parts making it a state crime to be in the state illegally. the ruling was very clear in saying states don't get to decide that this is a crime and under federal law it is not. but, they are worried about the provision of the "show me your papers" provision that will allow law enforcement agencies to ask pretty much anyone who they think might possibly be in the country illegally for proof of residency, proof of legal status in the country. >> but don't they have to have some kind of other reason for stopping somebody? like speeding or something like that? >> that's not clear, but they definitely have to have more than just "you look latino." there has to be more to it than that. and that was something that the

ruling very narrowly said, we're going to be watching this. you can't be profiling people. >> a lot of religious groups too are saying that this ruling -- there was concern about this "show me your papers" provision, although some religious conservatives said, hey it's respect for the rule of law, and so there were some differences there. a lot of religious groups across the spectrum also said this shows the need for a federal immigration reform -- comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. and we've seen growing political activism on this even from evangelicals who tend to be more politically conservative, but just saying that this shows that our country has an immigration problem that needs to be solved. and when you have these individual states coming up with differing laws, it makes the whole situation complicated. >> there was a large group of evangelical leaders who, a couple of weeks ago, came out with a statement just to that effect and they reiterated that after this ruling. >> okay. pat zapor of catholic news

service, kim lawton of "religion and ethics newsweekly," many thanks. in other news, religious relief groups are helping the thousands of people fleeing the wildfires raging in the mountain states. charities are working to provide food and shelter to the more than 35,000 evacuees. several churches have had to cancel religious services. faith leaders are asking for prayers for those people affected by the fire. the blaze has been particularly bad around colorado springs, home to many evangelical organizations, among them focus on the family. a popular catholic priest, once called the country's first televangelist, may become a saint. this week, pope benedict xvi recognized the late archbishop fulton sheen as having quote "heroic virtues," furthering his cause for

sainthood. the charismatic sheen was known for his popular broadcasts "the catholic hour" on the radio and "life is worth living," which ran on tv during the 1950s. the newly elected president of egypt says he will work to protect the rights of all egyptians, including women and christians. mohammed morsi, the muslim brotherhood candidate, also promised to appoint a woman and a christian to prominent positions in his administration. many coptic christians had voiced concerns over their status if a member of the brotherhood was elected. but the coptic church issued a statement praising morsi for working with all members of society. we have story from fred de sam lazaro today about the country of niger, in west africa. it is suffering yet another famine, but at the same time, it is working with others to help learn how to grow enough food for itself so it will not have to ask for help in the future.

>> at 8:00 a.m. each day, the weigh-in begins at a regional health center. babies are weighed and the girth of their arms is also measured, a color-coded proxy for malnutrition. there's still the odd green, or normal. children in the yellow zone are most common. in a few weeks many more will fall, like amina, into the red. more tests followed to assess her condition before amina was transferred to the emergency feeding center 10 miles away. it's near capacity, and the medical supervisor expects they'll begin pitching expansion tents much earlier this year. >> translator: in may, our admissions were up more than 10% from 2011, and that usually means our june and july will be really bad. the peak is usually in august. >> ironically, the frequency,

the very routineness of such crises could contain the damage in niger this year, certainly compared to the last famine in 2010. >> this is not like the situation in 2010. i think we are better prepared, and i think it is because the government of president issoufou really did alert the community very early. they sounded the alarm as far back as october, september of last year. >> unlike earlier governments, which denied or downplayed famines, williams says president mahamadou issoufou, elected to office early in 2011, has declared food security a top priority. >> translator: i remember the first big drought in 1973/'74. then again in 1984 we had another one. since then, the time between droughts has been getting shorter, and i believe this is attributable to climate change. >> the president said he wants to take niger beyond its chronic food emergencies. >> that's why we have created

the 3n initiative -- nigeriens helping nigeriens. it's a structural response to the food crises that are consistently linked with our recurrent droughts. we are convinced that drought does not need to mean famine. >> a key part of the 3n program is to expand a greening initiative that began two decades ago. this former french colony is land-locked. the sahara lies in the north, and it has steadily crept south, turning farmland, arid to begin with, into desert. international aid groups like world vision have led the effort, sharing the president's goal of going beyond humanitarian aid. >> they give us food for these homes. this land is very dry and they told us, it will have trees. we can have better crops and fodder for our animals. >> the shallow half-moon faced

depressions they are digging, it's hard to imagine anything sprouting in such conditions. in nondrought years, there's just enough rain to transform the land and it's already happened in a wide swath of southern niger. >> if you look around you, not a single tree is planted. it's all coming from a seed stock in the soil or coming from trees that were cut in the past. the root system is still alive and given a chance to emerge and will grow. >> the trees have kept desert sandstorms at bay and returned land to productivity as chris ray, a scientist who worked in this region since the 1970s. >> this crop doesn't look like much because it's coming out of the desert. this is millet, one of the main crops here. it's just been sewn probably two weeks ago. in three months time, it will be

about 1 1/2 to 2 meters high. this whole field will be less green. >> in the old days, farmers used to clear their fields of trees or saplings. trees were state property seen as timber or forestry resources. drought and rapid population growth added to the cutting, creating a virtual desert. visible in this 1975 u.s. geological survey satellite picture. >> the soil will protect the crop from drought, hold the moisture in the soil. >> chris ray and a colleague, tony renato began a model of protecting trees on farmland. their work was picked up among others by world vision which produced this video. farmers were employed to spread the word. >> translator: we began using this technique in 2006 and it has worked well for us.

>> one of the key goals was to dispel a commonly held notion that the payback is years away. >> even in the first year you need to start pruning. so that the tree develops a trunk and starts developing a canopy. even in the first year, you already have some benefits by leaves and some twigs that women can use as fire wood in the kitchen. by year two or three, certain trees will be taller than you or me. >> the leaves form life stock fodder and trap moisture in the soil. improved soil fertility can mean better harvests and some villages have surpluses. the surpluses have been gathered into a bank in about 20 other villages that are part of the pilot projects. drought took a severe toll on the harvest but hasn't

translated to famine. >> the grain bank is helping us a lot. it's keeping our children fed until the harvest comes. in. >> in a sea of difficulty, we find here examples that a surplus, a grain surplus has been produced in the drought 2011. >> ray says niger could some day become self-sufficient if villages like this are replicated on a large scale. that sea of difficulty makes it daunting. experts say it will require education and family planning. literacy is 30% and the average woman bears seven children, a rate that will triple the population by 2050, offsetting any gains in food production. then there are pressing means like children like amina. a catastrophe can be avoided from this year's famine. she says it won't be easy.

>> there's at least 15% of children under 2 that are really hungry. you're right. there is no magic bullet. it's not, this is not something that has a quick fix to it. development, by its nature, is a long-term process. >> for his part, president issoufou says he's acutely aware of niger's chronic neediness and of so-called donor fatigue. >> translator: i understand why donors would be tired of supporting our population. we ourselves are tired of needing the help, of not being able to feed our own people. for us in niger, it's a matter of shame not to be able to feed our children. that's why we say, please, don't give us fish to eat. teach us to fish for ourselves. >> niger does have a head start.

remember the 1975 satellite picture? this one is from 2005. by chris reij's count, niger has grown 200 million trees over the past two decades, the only country in africa to have actually added forest cover in the period. for religion & ethics newsweekly, this is fred de sam lazaro in niamey, niger. several denominations are holding their meetings this time of year. in nashville, first lady michelle obama delivered the keynote address at the african methodist episcopal church's general conference held every four years. the first lady praised the ame church in its role for advancing civil rights. in pittsburgh this weekend, the presbyterian church usa begins its week-long, every two-year general assembly. church delegates will debate gay marriage and possibly selling the church's stock in companies whose products some say are used

to expand israeli settlements in the west bank. finally, something we almost never do here, report on a friend and benefactor on the occasion of his retirement. since this program first went on the air, 15 years ago, the lilly endowment of indianapolis has been our principal funder. not once during all those years has it tried to influence other editorial decisions about covering the news of all religions. the head of the endowment's religion division has been craig dykstra, who is retiring from lilly this summer. dykstra's friends say the endowment's grants and dykstra's personal religious convictions have had a profound influence on thousands of christian believers, and have helped restore vigor to many congregations, especially in the protestant mainline.

>> the reverend dr. craig dies diekstra is a minister they call a reformed minister dating from john calvin. >> in the heart of it is understanding god and the gracious, giving and generous god, and the proper response as human beings to that generosity is gratitude. >> while he's been at the endowment, it has concentrated most of its religious grant-making on congregations and found the best way to do that was to help pastors. on his watch, the endowment made possible sabbaticals for some 60,000 pastoral ministers. over the 23 years dr. dykstra

has been head of the endowment, he made grants totalling $1.8 billion. that's billion with a "b." >> there are countless ministers out there, thousands of them who i think are clearer in their vocation and more confident and would say they're more inspired doing more excellent work as a result of the program that craig and his colleagues put in place. >> in addition to helping veteran pastors, the endowment put a special emphasis on youth, helping young pastors learn the practical skills of ministry which are not the always taught in seminary. it created summer academies where bright high school students could study theology and consider becoming ministers, which many of them have done. beyond all these and other programs, the ultimate goal of

dykstra and the endousment is the encouragement of what they call human flourishing. >> it's about what it means for fully alive as a human being. >> tom long is a professor of preaching and dr. dykstra's best friend. >> people flourish as people in a relationship to other people and to god and themselves in healthy ways. that's the definition of humanity, not just the definition of a church person. >> james wwnn runs the lilly institute in albany which covers practical advice and expertise. >> being honest of all the brokenness out there in the world. nonetheless, there are really things we can do that allow humans to be as fully human as the creator intended. >> dorothy bass has collaborated with dykstra on several books. >> craig lives and has a very

powerful sense that god upholds us in mercy, and that to live in awareness of that and a response to that is just the best thing there is. and it's the way to full humanity. >> it is this kind of life that dykstra, citing the new testament, wants to invite. >> what we really hope for, for people of faith and indeed for all people, is the gift of life abundant and our text just talked about it. a kind of life and a way of life given by god, received in gratitude and lived out in vocation as a response to god's calling. >> as dykstra cleaned out his office recently, he and his friends were asked to assess the success of the endowment's religious grant making over the past 20 years. has it helped people flourish, slow down the mainline decline?

>> the first thing i'd say he's done most effectively is change the tone how christians in america think about the future. by making it more focused around hope, around possibilities, around excellence, around a way of life abundant. >> especially mainline christianity has tremendously benefited and strengthened by what lilly's done. >> any time you work with the church, you're working with a thimble in the ocean. there are these tremendous secular powers and forces at work that are not always in our interest. this is a remarkable part of craig's hope. he knows these efforts when you put the telescope on them are quite small, but have paid off and will pay off in terms of

deeper church life, more faithful ministry. >> dystra sees great hope. >> they are people you want to be around. i'm encouraged by that more than anything else. plant the seeds in hope and faith. you see early fruits that are terribly encouraging. and i think there is more to come. i hope i live long enough to see a lot more of it. >> dr. dykstra is returning next year to his first love, teaching, at the duke university different school. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. follow us on twitter and facebook and watch us any time on smart phones. you can find videos on the pbs

iphone and ipad app. it's free and available in the app store. there's always much more on our website, as well. you can comment on all our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, scenes from celebrations of the feast day of st. john the baptist in the philippines, where water comes from fire trucks, not the jordan.

major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by lilly endowment, an indianapolis based private foundation dedicated to its founders interests in religion, dedicated to education. additional funding provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. the estate of william j. carter. the jane henson foundation. and the corporation for public broadcasting.