>> abernethy: coming up, an eye clinic where, for more than thirty years, some of the world's poorest people have been getting first-class medical care free of charge. its founder called the clinic "divinely inspired." and, the often humiliating experiences of people with disabilities and their families, when they go to houses of worship. captioning sponsored by the lilly endowment

>> abernethy: welcome. i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. in iran, after weeks of protest, the country's religious authority validated the disputed presidential election and widened efforts to quash dissent. the guardian council, a body of clerics and islamic law experts, this week formally certified president mahmoud ahmadinejad as the winner after a partial ballot recount. meanwhile, a senior cleric, ayatollah ahmed khatami, said the protesters were "at war with god" and should be "dealt with without mercy." he said iran's supreme leader rules by god's design and should not be defied. riverside church in new york city, one of the nation's best- known congregations, has

accepted the resignation of senior minister brad braxton two months after his installation. lucky severson reports. >> reporter: braxton was controversial from the start. some congregants complained that his compensation package was excessive. others, that his evangelical preaching style made them uncomfortable. >> fear not, fear not. i'm gonna preach it until the holy ghost tells me to stop. >> reporter: some said he was moving riverside away from its progressive tradition of social justice. >> the direction of the church with the new leadership is or has strayed, or is straying from the mission of the church, which is open, affirming and inclusive, interracial, interdenominational and international. >> reporter: riverside church is adjacent to columbia university,

in harlem, which is largely african-american. over the years, its congregation has gone from predominantly white to predominantly black. >> one of the things that some people are afraid of is that the church will turn black. and you know, i really resent that. >> reporter: braxton did not discount race as a factor in his resignation, but acknowledged that his preaching and leadership style had caused friction. >> some serious conversation needs to occur about what it means to invite a leader, a pastoral leader, into this community. is this congregation really ready for, and interested in, a pastoral leader who actually wants to lead? >> reporter: in accepting braxton's resignation, the church cited the need for some "deep soul-searching" that would allow it to move forward as a "stronger, more unified congregation." for "religion & ethics newsweekly," this is lucky severson.

>> abernethy: in other news, president barack obama hosted gay rights activists at the white house to celebrate gay pride month. during the gathering, the president said his administration is working hard to change what he called the "worn arguments and old attitudes" in the gay rights debate. he said he wants to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. he also said congress should repeal the defense of marriage act, which defines marriage as the legal union of a man and a woman. mainline protestant denominations and the catholic church have been pushing the obama administration to lift the nearly 50-year-old trade embargo with cuba. this week, a prominent cuban ecumenical leader said he believes the time is now right to do that. reverend francisco marrero gutierrez, head of the presbyterian reformed church in cuba, is on a rare visit to the

us to meet church leaders here. he said cuban churches are playing a greater role in their society and need stronger ties with u.s. christians. >> ( translated ): i do think that there's a new generation here, a new political generation that opens the way to re- encounter. >> abernethy: we have a special report today on a hospital system in india that provides world class care for the blind- both the well-off and very poor- at amazingly low cost. it's called the aravind center, and it was founded by a pioneering deeply spiritual hindu eye surgeon who believed that good ideas and compassionate healing have their origins in the divine. fred de sam lazaro reports.

>> reporter: aravind is the world's largest eye care center, a one-stop shop that even makes many of the lenses and instruments used by its surgeons. it looks like any of india's high-tech centers where rich indians and medical tourists can get first-world care at third- world prices. the surgical error rate is as low here as any place in america. the big difference at aravind is that its patients are among the world's poorest people. 20 years ago, i visited aravind's founder, dr. govindappa venkatswamy. everybody called him "dr. v." he had retired from a government hospital in 1976 and set out to tackle "needless blindness." worldwide, 45 million people still suffer from preventable or reversible blindness. 12 million are in india alone, where the extreme sun and a genetic predisposition are blamed. many people lose their sight and livelihood by their early 50s. >> there is nothing which

disables a man more than cataract and poor eyesight, and there is nothing more easier than to mend it. you just do a small operation.f6 >> reporter: dr. v began with a simple idea in a sparse 11-bed hospital with four doctors, three from his own family. it would serve patients who could pay, but the profits wouln afford free care to the many more people who couldn't afford even the bus fare. so, aravind set out to find patients, mainly through screening camps in surrounding rural areas. for those needing surgery, groups like the lions club provided buses to the hospital, where they entered a brisk assembly line operating room. dr. v's business role model was the american chain store. >> in america, you have models, whether it is sears stores or mcdonald's hamburgers. you are able to open a chain of stores, restaurants, hotels, and

you are able to organize them efficiently. >> you spoke to him here. you were sitting here, and he was sitting there and talking about mcdonald's. >> reporter: dr. v died in 2005, but his office is left untouched as a shrine to him. his nephew, ophthalmologist aravind srinivasan, manages a system that's grown to five regional hospitals and 25 satellite clinics. this was the first one. >> this is a 32-year-old hospital, so we are probably geared to see about 700 patients a day. today, we are seeing about 1,500 to 2,000 patients a day. >> reporter: each pays about $1 for a doctor's appointment. that helps fund an equal number of patients who go next door to a free eye hospital. there's not much profit margin, so a heavy volume of paying patients-- satisfied patients-- is critical. efficiency is also critical >> we call this a clinic scoring sheet. >> reporter: dr. aravind, who also has an m.b.a. from the university of michigan, has continuous productivity reports at his fingertips.

>> this statistic talks about >> reporter: patients are promised a completed appointment in two hours. a brochure details what they can expect. >> registration takes about five minutes, vision test about ten minutes, refraction check about ten minutes. >> reporter: this is sort of a patients bill of rights almost? >> exactly, so they understand what's happening. >> reporter: aravind's reputation is drawing patients from farther and farther away. >> ( translated ): whenever you say "eye operations," everyone says, "go to madurai." >> reporter: 55-year-old k.g. angeneyulu had been in a three- year depression that started when cataracts began clouding his vision. he became completely blind three months ago. angeneyulu and his wife shobha endured a two-day train journey to get here. >> ( translated ): i was a sportsman. i used to swim. after the cataract, i could no longer move around. i got stuck at home, and i started eating. then, a leg injury made me even more immobile. i had problems being overweight, and i developed high blood

pressure. >> reporter: by 9:00 the morning after arriving here, he was being prepared for surgery. already, dozens of patients had gone ahead of him. so, you've been going for two hours and done 16 surgeries? >> yes. >> reporter: dr. aravind and surgeons in several other operating theaters, or o.t.s, were first working the routine, mostly cataract cases. >> the other o.t.s are not primarily cataract surgeons. they are primarily doing either glaucoma or cornea, and they also do some cataract to contribute to the main volume. so, we are able to identify those cases that need a little extra attention are segregated from the pool. >> reporter: angeneyulu was a high-risk case, given his hypertension and obesity. >> you just have a margin is about five to ten minutes to get the surgery done. >> reporter: about ten nervous minutes later, dr. aravind had removed a particularly tough, leathery cataract. >> the cataract was a little obstinate, but things went on well.

he'll get about 95% vision tomorrow. so, when you see him tomorrow, you'll see a very different man, more confident. >> reporter: by the end of this day, dr. aravind and his colleagues did about 300 surgeries, about half of them free of charge. increasingly, however, patients are seen outside the hospital. telemedicine connects doctors to satellite clinics, and today's eye camps offer much more on site, from grinding eye glass lenses to digital scans. near the camp, a satellite truck beamed high resolution images to specialists at the hospital. technology has improved care, and it has also brought down costs, notably for the intraocular lenses which are implanted during cataract surgery. they used to be imported. aravind began making its own intraocular lenses back in the early 1990s. they used to cost between $50 and $100 each. today, they are made in this factory for as little as $2 a piece.

aravind lenses are exported to 120 countries, and they own 8% of the global market in intraocular lenses. this factory is an example of how aravind turned a supply problem into an opportunity. it's not just business acumen that drives the mission, but also a firm spiritual basis, inspired by the teachings of sri aurobindo, a mid-20th century spiritual leader. he believed that good work and good ideas are a manifestation of the divine. >> part of that is to recognize that whatever ideas you get, it's not really your ideas; they are divine ideas. so, how do you kind of act on it but are not taking the egoistic ownership to those ideas, like "i have done it"? so, how do you train yourself to open up? >> reporter: one way aravind has opened up, or shared its ideas, is by training some 250

hospitals in 40 nations to adopt its methods. it's the ethos set by his uncle. dr. v, who was single, never took a salary. in fact, he mortgaged his home to start aravind, and he also coaxed or inspired 34 members of his extended family to work here, starting in 1976 with his sister natchiar and her husband. both left surgical careers in america to work here for about $20 a month. >> today, oh, my god, we are very, very happy. in fact, at that time in '80s, we were not happy, even though dr. v was happy. in the family, like me and my husband, two children, it was not easy for us. we could not even buy a cycle. at that time, we didn't appreciate his far vision. >> god bless you, madam. >> god bless me? god bless the surgeon. >> reporter: she says the satisfaction of seeing patients

like angeneyulu restored to full lives makes up for any material privation, although, over the years, salaries have greatly improved for the 220 doctors and some 2,500 other aravind staff. >> my children are starting school on the first, so i want to get going. >> ( translated ): we'll give you some dark glasses, just like a hollywood actor. >> reporter: he's one of 27 million patients who've been treated at aravind and 3.4 million who've had surgery. over the next 20 years, the goal is to raise that number ten- fold. that's a measure of how ambitious the aravind people are. it's also a measure of how many people remain blind in the world whose vision can easily be restored. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," this is fred de sam lazaro in madurai, india. >> abernethy: as officials in washington wrestle with how to reform this country's health system, they might want to note

the lessons of the aravind hospitals, where good management and commitment to service make possible expert care free for all who are poor, and-- for those who can pay-- a doctor's visit for one dollar and subsidized cataract surgery for 12. there is an issue many congregations are debating: how to welcome at worship services people with disabilities, especially children. filmmaker ilana trachtman visited several christian, jewish and muslim places of worship that are trying to open their doors to everyone. she listened to the stories of children, parents and clergy. >> in every faith community there is a scriptural basis for welcome and hospitality. but you've also got congregations who live in cultures where people with disabilities have been hidden and ostracized and devalued in lots of ways. and too often faith communities

sanctified prejudices in the community rather than challenge them. it shouldn't be easier to get into a bar than a church. >> when i think back as a child, i don't remember seeing anyone like sufyaan at the mosque. no one- i don't remember any children or adults like sufyaan attending the mosque. >> and i don't think that was by mistake. i think that, we parents, look at it as, um, not just a distraction but an embarrassment. but he deserves to pray. he has a right to faith too. >> well, the first time that sufyaan attended the mosque, not only was he talking out loud and using his hand motions, but he was running in and out of the rows.

>> it wasn't received well... there were whispers, there were talk. "he's-- he's a bad kid. he obviously wasn't raised right. that's bad parenting". >> i think the primary challenge is a lack of knowledge, because sometimes families conceal the information that they have family members that have disabilities. sister safiyyah muhammed has made us aware of her sons disability in terms of autism. she's made it almost like a quest for our community to become more knowledgeable about it. >> when the kuran refers to the believers-- it doesn't say, the believers except for the insane. love for your brother what you want for yourself. and sufyaan, autism or not, is considered a brother to another person who does not have autism.

>> i've had families say to me "i've fought all week to get my kid included in a school or whatever. i shouldn't-- i don't want to have to fight when it comes to sunday morning or saturday." >> are you guys ready to go? in other families that i've talked to, there's been numerous instances of "we don't know what to do with your kind" or "please don't come back". >> ok, that looks good. >> katie's going to definitely do the sign language. >> hello. >> you look nice in your white top. >> why thank you. >> how you been? >> we noticed that people with disabilities were missing from communities of faith. it wasn't that people with disabilities didn't exist; they just weren't being invited and welcomed into their houses of worship.

>> i carry the banners that like, kind of like, kind of like a spirit does too. and um, the gospel, i have to read the gospel, i have to study for it, then we read the gospel. we begin in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit. dear lord, everything's presented in a way that is much more interactive. whether they're in the choir, whether they're part of the skit, whether they're doing readings, and so, um, everybody gets to use their gifts and get involved. >> i'm reaching up to the lord because of my voice. i can sing unto his praise.

>> frankly, i would not feel comfortable just walking into any church for a service because of the noisiness and uh... we usually make some kind of a scene-- like we are right now, pulling hair-- um, where here, you know, we really don't have to worry about it. a lot of times when we're out in public, joshua does experience a lot of stares when we go into restaurants and things. so we find that we really don't go to a lot of the public places. this is wonderful because not only does he get time to come and be exposed to worship, but i get to come back to church too. >> when i see individuals of all abilities feeling free to be themselves and to worship as god has intended them to be i-- i feel the holy spirit moving within everyone. >> faith communities have gone from doing nothing to doing special things for people with

this sort of special services for special people and special religious educations. to then hearing families and others say "don't do anything special for us. just include us." >> several families moved to this community because we make it an inclusive community. i don't want a synagogue that doesn't let jews in. isaac was blind, in most synagogues he couldn't find his way around. moses stuttered, in most synagogues he couldn't read from the torah that's called the books of moses. so, you got to create the environment where everybody has a place and, everything flows from there. >> we were at a different synagogue. sam's autism, you know, outbursts occasionally was really not tolerated. so we came here immediately for synagogue accepted us, and learned hebrew, and loves to be

on the bema. >> so when i come back in the summer, in august, we can study together? >> not many deaf people read the torah. my dad always said to me i am better reading in hebrew than english. >> we have a reputation that we are special needs community when in fact that probably only makes up a small percentage of the active community in the synagogue. i think it defines the synagogue because it simply doesn't happen elsewhere. >> i happen to be married to a gentleman who's a quadriplegic and in a power wheel chair. there's lots of ways of creating access to the bema. but what's really special to him is that everyone uses the ramp. that's the first time that he's felt, when he's been in a synagogue, accessible or not, that he's felt there's true inclusion.

>> there are seats that can accommodate wheelchairs in a row, so you're not stuck in an aisle separate from everybody else. there are large print prayer books, brail prayer books. most synagogues have pillars usually higher, you have to lean forward into it. by having them free-hanging like this, anyone can roll up literally in a wheelchair, take the pillar, lift it and come out with it. >> what would happen to these kids if a synagogue like this wasn't around? >> if everybody is created in the image of god, then our community should be a reflection of the diversity and the wonder of god's creation. >> i met so many people over the years say it feels like they're part of a real living community as opposed to an artificial community where only perfect people are sitting here. >> some people would say "what

is he getting out of it. why is he here? he's a distraction. we need prayer more than he does". but the fact is, who's to determine who gets more blessings and who doesn't. >> abernethy: the council on american-islamic relations has kicked off a new project to distribute a 100,000 free copies of the quran to us legislators, educators, and others who help shape public policy and opinion. the group says it wants to follow up on president obama's recent speech to the islamic world by helping americans better understand islam. pope benedict the sixteenth says science may have helped to verify the final resting place of the apostle paul. the pope said carbon dating confirmed that bone fragments found in a sarcophagus near rome date from the first or second century. according to tradition, that

sarcophagus is the tomb of paul. it is located under the basilica of st. paul outside the walls of rome. and finally, many protestants around the world are preparing to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the birth of john calvin. the reformation leader was born on july 10, 1509, in geneva. calvinist theology remains one of the most influential streams1 of protestantism and calvin will be honored throughout the year with a series of lectures, conferences, and other events. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. there's much more on our web site. audio and video podcasts are also available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you this fourth of july weekend, the mormon tabernacle choir performs" america the beautiful."

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