coming up -- a respected inventor predicts we'll eventually become hybrids of biology and technology. what are the ethical implications? plus, the beloved tradition of the christmas pageant. year after year, churches try to make the christmas story come aliv

welcome, i'm kim lawton sitting in for bob abernethy. thank you for joining us. during a major speech on the economy this week, president obama said the gaping financial inequality in this country violates america's values. that was also the message of religious activists who lobbied in washington. on thursday, interfaith leaders held a prayer vigil on capitol hill and urged lawmakers to extend unemployment benefits by the end of the month. meanwhile, there was more religious support for the occupy movement. archbishop of canterbury rowan williams said jesus would have joined the protesters who have been camped out in many cities, including outside st. paul's cathedral in london. some religious conservatives disagreed.

in a cnn blog, family research council president tony perkins said it is clear in the gospel parables that jesus supported the free market system. with the presidential primary season getting ever closer, republican hopefuls continue their outreach to faith-based voters. all of the gop candidates, except ron paul, addressed a meeting of the republican jewish coalition in washington wednesday. one-by-one, they affirmed their strong support for israel. although jews traditionally vote strongly democratic, some in the jewish community have been unhappy with president obama's policies toward israel. the candidates are competing for evangelical votes as well. rick perry generated controversy with a new ad in iowa touting his christian faith. he vowed to end what he called "obama's war on religion." faith-groups had divided reactions to the obama administration's new directive promoting gay rights around the world.

a memo from the president ordered u.s. diplomats abroad to "promote and protect" the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. secretary of state hillary clinton said religious and cultural objections to homosexuality should not trump basic human rights. there was also mixed religious reaction to the administration's stand on the plan b morning-after pill. the food and drug administration was preparing to allow sales of the drug without a prescription to girls under 17. but health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius unexpectedly stepped in and said girls under 17 should not be able to buy plan b on their own. the u.s. supreme court refused to intervene this week in a legal battle over whether a new york city church can hold religious services afterhours in a public school. the bronx household of faith sued the new york board of education, hoping to overturn a citywide ban on religious groups using public schools for worship services.

the ban was upheld by a federal appeals court, although it was not enforced while the case was moving forward. now that the supreme court has declined to get involved, some 60 new york city congregations currently meeting in public schools will need to find new spaces. leaders of angel food ministries have been indicted on 49-counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. federal officials said ministry founders linda and joe wingo, their son and another employee raised money in the name of christian charity and then used it for personal gain. angel food worked with churches to sell vastly discounted food to needy families. the nonprofit suspended operations in september. around the world, shiite muslims observed ashura, the somber period commemorating the death of the prophet mohammed's grandson, who was killed in a 7th century battle. this year in several places, ashura observances were marred by violent attacks.

in afghanistan nearly 60 pilgrims were killed in a suicide bombing at a shrine. 20 people died in a similar attack in iraq. in recent years, shiites have been targeted by sunni muslims during ashura. police in india filed charges of conspiracy and financial impropriety against the karmapa lama, tibetan buddhism's third most important leader. the charges stem from a large sum of money in several foreign currencies discovered during a raid of his headquarters earlier this year. the karmapa's staff says it was donations from followers around the world. they say the 26-year-old religious leader did not knowingly break any indian laws. the karmapa escaped from tibet in 2000 and lives outside dharmsala, near the dalai lama. a court will decide whether the case should go to trial. now, a special report. technological advances have taken us to places we could barely imagine even a few years ago. and what may happen in the years ahead?

some say technology can and should be used to overcome virtually all human limitations. but what are the ethical implications? lucky severson has the story. >> reporter: ray kurzweil may not be a household name, but the blind know who he is. he invented the first reading machine and then reduced its size to a hand-held gadget. kurzweil will be remembered more as a man on a mission to tell the world what life will be like in the age of technology. microsoft billionaire bill gates said he is the best in the world at predicting the future, and what a world he predicts. >> this is a design of a robotic red blood cell. we are going to put these technologies inside us, blood-cell-size devices that will augment our immune system, make us a lot healthier, destroy disease and dramatically push back human longevity, go inside our brains and actually enable us to remember things better, solve problems more effectively. we are going to become a hybrid

of machine and our biological heritage. in my mind, we are not going to be transcending our humanity. we are going to be transcending our biology. >> reporter: kurzweil has written several books. one of the most recent, called "the singularity is near," predicts that by the year 2050 nonbiological artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence, creating a hybrid of man and technology. >> what i am predicting is that we will have machines, we are going to need a different word because these are not like the machines we are used to. these are going to be machines that will seem as human, as real, as conscious, as any actual human being. >> reporter: even if nonbiological or artificial intelligence created in places like mit is not as close to "singularity" or matching human intelligence, as kurzweil believes, it's close enough that scientists and ethicists are now saying we need to take a serious look at its ramifications. professor christian brugger is a

bioethicist at st. john vianney theological seminary in denver. brugger disagrees with kurzweil that humans can ever come close to perfection with technology. >> i don't think that the technology is the problem. what i have concerns about is the philosophy that stands behind it, the idea that somehow we are going to be able to overcome human limitation or we're going to overcome death. >> reporter: what troubles brugger the most is the notion that technology will one day replace god. >> if we start to think about technology as a kind of savior, is it going to overcome our misguided ambitions? is it going to overcome those kinds of prejudices that cause us to hate our neighbor? to many of us who follow a religion, we'd say that god would help us to overcome those things. >> reporter: kurzweil argues that it's human nature for mankind to utilize technology to

overcome human limitations. >> we are the species that does change ourselves. we didn't stay on the ground. we didn't stay on the planet. we didn't stay with the limits of our biology. if you want to speak in religious terms you can say that's what god intended us to do. >> reporter: kurzweil bases his predictions on what he calls the exponential growth of artificial intelligence in the fields of genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. >> informational technology is growing exponentially, not linearly. our intuition says it grows like this 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 -- 30 steps later you're at 30. the reality is that it grows 2, 4, 8, 16, and 30 steps later you rell at biion. when i was a student at mit, i went there because it was so advanced at that time it actually had a computer, and it costs tens of millions of dollars. it took up half a building. the computer that i carry around and that we all carry around is a million times less expensive. it's 1,000 times more powerful. >> reporter: john donoghue is a professor of neuroscience and

engineering and director of the brown university institute for brain science. he says his work has not progressed exponentially. but in only ten years he's been able to implant sensors in the brains of paralyzed patients enabling them to operate a computer, type, run a robotic limb simply by thinking, sending out brain signals. >> the value of the technology is first for people who are severely paralyzed. the first step is to give them any control at all. they can't do anything without help from someone else. people want and feel some sense of pride in taking care of themselves so anything we can restore is a great step. >> reporter: neuroscience has yielded other life altering advances. for instance, there are now over 75,000 parkinson patients worldwide who've had tiny electrodes implanted in their brains. doctors say the operation significantly reduces tremors and allows patients to rely less on medications.

>> by the way, nobody is picketing, protesting, oh, people putting computers in their brains that that is somehow unnatural or defies the way things should be. >> reporter: bioethicist brugger worries that science will soon cross the line to where brain implants will not simply heal patients, but enhance their ability to think and compete. >> if we move in this direction of radical human enhancement, are we going to develop those who are and those who aren't? the enhanced and the unenhanced? i mean, lord, we can't even find the money to get everyone braces who needs braces. >> when the technologies are only affordable by the rich they actually don't work very well. consider mobile phones. 15 years ago somebody took out a mobile phone in the movie. that was a signal this person is very powerful and wealthy, and they didn't work very well. now 5 billion people out of 6 billion have mobile phones, and they actually work pretty well. >> a lot of people worry about

one day there will be a knock on the door, and there will be a robot, and you would say where did that come from? and i will tell you that the future is going to be much stranger. >> reporter: colin angle is the cofounder and ceo of irobot, better known as the creator of the roomba, the floor cleaning robot or the packbot robot used to disarm roadside bombs in iraq and afghanistan, and soon to be released, robots that can keep track of grandma and remind her when it's time to take her meds. >> we call it a physical avatar, and so that these robots would allow a doctor to visit a patient in their own home without ever having to leave his doctor office. >> reporter: angle doesn't believe robots will ever replace humans, but he says notwithstanding the science fiction stories of robots run amok, society needs them. >> throughout history there are many different situations where technology exists and can be

used for good or evil, and i think that as robots become more capable we need to be careful about using robots to help society. >> reporter: kurzweil himself worries about technology falling into the wrong hands. >> the same technologies that are being used to reprogram biology away from heart disease and cancer, presumably good things, could be deployed by a bioterrorist to reprogram a biological virus to be more destructive, and that's actually a specter that exists right now. >> reporter: he says he's working with the military to develop a system to detect rogue viruses, something like the virus protection found in today's computer software. but he sees the good society can gain from artificial intelligence far outweighing the bad. >> that was the family religion. it was personalized, you, ray, can find the ideas that will change the world. >> reporter: kurzweil has

patented over two dozen inventions, includint the first music synthesizer, which he sold to stevie wonder. president clinton awarded him the national medal of technology, and few have more faith in technology than ray kurzweil. >> computers are already better than humans at logical thinking. it is our emotional intelligence, the ability to be funny, to get the joke- that is the cutting edge of human intelligence. that's the most sophisticated, complicated thing we do, and that's exactly the heart of my prediction that these computers will match us in emotional intelligence, which includes our whole moral system. >> if the entire realm of the spirit is reducible to electrical synapse, then we can reproduce it eventually in a machine, because electricity is at the basis of the machine. i deny that premise. i think that there is more to human beings than reducible to

measurable stimuli, and in that regard i don't think that machines are ever going to be able to be human. >> reporter: undaunted by his critics and skeptics, kurzweil is so convinced that artificial intelligence will one day enable man to live forever he is doing everything he can to be around when it happens. >> well, here's to living forever. that's not just a salutation in our family. >> i want to live indefinitely, and actually i think we all do. people say, oh, i don't want to live forever, 100 would be great. when they get to 100, they don't want to die tomorrow. >> reporter: kurzweil is so determined to live "indefinitely." he takes as many as 200 supplements each day, says this regimen made it possible to reverse both his diabetes and his age. his most recent full-blown checkup results show he has the body and mind of a 40-year-old. kurzweil is 62 and striving for immortality. for "religion and ethics

newsweekly," i'm lucky severson in boston. >> since that story first aired, ray kurzweil turned 63. he's still striving for immortality. billy graham returned home this week after spending six days in the hospital being treated for pneumonia. the 93-year-old evangelist thanked those who prayed for his recovery. he said he was looking forward to seeing his home decorated for christmas and spending the holidays with his family. on our calendar, for roman catholics, december 12th is the feast day of our lady of guadalupe, which honors a 16th century vision of the virgin mary said to have appeared near mexico city. it's an especially important holiday for hispanic catholics. during this advent season, many congregations are rehearsing for the annual christmas pageant. for almost 2000 years, christians have retold the nativity story. it's been conveyed countless times in art, music and through

reenactments based on the gospel accounts. for churches, the christmas pageant is one of the best-loved traditions of the season. i took a look at some of last year's productions. ♪ ♪ silent night holy night ♪ >> reporter: at the first united methodist church of pasadena they're rehearsing for the annual christmas pageant. there's been a pageant here done by the children for as long as anyone can remember. the scripts vary from year to year, but the basic storyline never changes. it's about the birth of jesus. >> children tell the story that is always in one way or another the story of a baby being born who brings a new kind of hope and a new kind of life and a new kind of love to the places that that has gone away. everyone gets that. >> reporter: the christmas pageant is a tradition that is being played out by ud n gr aats ionsoscrthe spectrum this holiday season and it has for generations.

the pageants run the gamut, from small sunday school programs to large-scale broadway-style productions. there's usually a choir or some kind of singing. sometimes the participants are adults, but more often than not the pageant is performed by the children and documented by proud parents who these days are likely to post the video on youtube or facebook. john witvliet is professor of music and worship at calvin college in michigan. he says the christmas pageant is one way that churches actively connect with their history. >> it's participating in something that has gone on over time, a story that's been told for 2000 years, children who participate in a pageant just like their parents or grandparents did. >> reporter: interest in the circumstances of jesus' birth goes back to the earliest days of christianity. the story as described in the gospels was depicted in icons and other religious art. in medieval times, the nativity story was enacted on traveling wagons as part of religious

dramas about the life of jesus.s s st. francis of assisi is edited with popularizing the tradition. in a candlelit christmas eve service in 1223, he staged a reenactment of jesus' birth, and he included live animals, a tradition many churches continue to this day. >> what historians are a little less clear about is when christmas became such a child-centered celebration and when kids were involved in these dramatic reenactments in a significant way. ♪ >> reporter: at the heart of the christmas pageant is a fundamental tenet of incarnation, the belief that god took on human flesh in the form of jesus and was born as a baby. >> this is not a story of the high and mighty. it's a story of the humble origins of jesus and ultimately of, as christians understand it, a god who chooses to work through very humble, ordinary means. >> reporter: witvliet says it's

a story with universal appeal. nativity dramas can be found all over the world. >> what's wonderful is the way that different cultures bring their own insights to bear on telling the christmas story. >> i think you guy are old enough and you'll do your changes. >> reporter: but it can be a challenge for churches to come up with fresh ways to approach the familiar story year after year. this year's pageant at first united methodist is from the perspective of animals that might have been there when jesus was born. >> the animals are all squabbling, and then the wise old donkey just like told them that they had a gift to give to the birth of baby jesus. >> reporter: zoe perez has been in several pageants. last year she was a shepherd. this year she and her friend, maggie cole, have dual roles. they are birds, and they are also sheep. >> i think it is important to have pageants because they're fun. they don't take a lot of practicing. well, at least ours

don't, and they always turn out really good. >> so the angels says -- >> reporter: director pam marx believes embodying the characters helps, in her words, "burn the story" into the children's brains. the actors agree. >> the kids get to learn more, and the people that are in them get to learn more about like christmas and god, and the parents can be sure that their kids are getting what they need about -- what they need to learn about things like that. >> i'm the loudest. >> reporter: marx says it's not always a perfect production but, she adds, it always seems to work. >> remarkably enough it comes together, and i would say there are times when it's been a greater miracle than others, but it's always a miracle to me that somehow, wow, they told the story again. >> i sometimes think it's in the

lines that are forgotten and the bathrobes that the shepherds put on and in the halting rendering of these christmas songs that are not always sung perfectly in tune that some of the beauty of the christmas message is depicted and shown. >> reporter: first united methodist associate pastor debbie gara says children bring a special quality to the pageant. >> there are always the faces that we can't help but smile and feel warm about when we have all these hard places inside as adults. the children soften us in the telling of the story. the story of the telling of a baby child, of an infant, is something that warms everyone. >> reporter: but witvliet cautions that warmth and fuzziness shouldn't overwhelm the ultimate spiritual message of christmas. >> there's always danger in even in a variety of christmas celebrations and pageants that at the end of the day the kids pick up a message that is ultimately sentimental.

so there is a challenge for adults and those who mentor children to point them in a deeper and better direction. ♪ >> reporter: the message is what it's all about at evangel cathedral in upper marlboro, maryland, and so they do their pageant up big. the church calls this a broadway-style production that includes the modern day, the victorian era, and biblical times. there are live animals such as sheep, donkeys, alpacas, and yes camels, in the sanctuary, too. this year's 20th annual pageant has a cast of over 200, including some of the biggest names in gospel music like gold record artist marvin sapp and grammy award-winning superstars yolanda adams and donnie mcclurkin. >> because the story is an age-old story it can, you know, we've heard it in so many different forms and different ways, but here the production behind it makes this thing become alive, makes it more than just one-dimensional. you can see, you can feel, you

can hear, and it brings you into another place when you are watching it. >> reporter: congregation members here see the christmas pageant as an opportunity to reach out to the community and share their faith, and that's why these artists wanted to be part of the project. >> at the end of the day we're strongly letting people know and giving them the message that, you know, the real meaning of christmas is christ. we can put an "x" in front of it, we can try to do all that other stuff, but the true meaning of christmas is christ. >> reporter: and from the smallest children's program to the biggest extravaganza that's the ultimate story of the christmas pageant. ♪ i'm kim lawton reporting. >> some of the vintage christmas pageant photos and video in that

story were from our viewers who sent them to our facebook page. finally, now here's a big seasonal problem -- thieves like to steal the baby jesus from outdoor nativity displays. but there is a potential solution. brickhouse security has developed a small gps tracking device that can be attached to the baby jesus figurine. if someone steals it, the device alerts the owner with a text or e-mail, and authorities can track where it went. brickhouse is distributing the devices free to qualifying churches and other nonprofits. the program is called "gps jesus." it can be used for santa, rudolph or other holiday figures as well, but the baby jesus seems to be the most popular among holiday thieves. that's our program for now. i'm kim lawton. you can follow us on twitter and facebook, find us on youtube, and watch us anytime, anywhere on smartphones. there's also much more on our web site. you can comment on all of our stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are

also available. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, music from last year's christmas pageant at evangel temple in upper marlboro, maryland. ♪ >> major funding is provided by the lilly unendowment. a private family foundation, dedicated to its founders, interests and religion, community development and 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. bhv