coming up, kim lawsuiten's special report on faith communities and the rising heroin crisis. one grieving father criticizes a religious code of silence about drug abuse. also, an immigrant from bangladesh, almost killed after 9/11 by a hate-filled anti-arab attacker seeking revenge. as lucky severson reports, the9í victim has now devoted his life to encouraging mercy and forgiveness. major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lily endowment and indian

indianapolis based dedicated to religion, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america. designing customize individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. welcome. i'm bob abernethy good to have you with us. as we begin our 18th season on the air. there was an outpouring of grief this week over the death of steven sotloff. he was the second american journalist beheaded by islamic state militants. sotloff was jewish. isis released a video of his death as it did with journalist james foley who was beheaded two weeks ago. the killings drew outrage from muslim-american groups including the council on american islamic relations. >> the behavior is morally cruel

it is horrifying for us to see a group of terrorists, criminals, claiming to act as muslims. >> president obama denounced sotloff's murder and vowed to defeat isis. meanwhile, more reports of atrocities committed by isis surfaced this week. human rights watch charged isis with carrying out mass executions of up to 770 captured iraqi soldiers. officials with the christian organization sim announced this week that a third american missionary has been infected with the ebola virus. while working in liberia. dr. rick sacra volunteered to go back to liberia after learning his colleagues were infected. he was airlifted back to the u.s. the other missionaries have recovered after being treated with the experimental drug z-map. one of them, nancy whitebowl is

asked what was it that helpeder r her survive? >> was the drug zmap, was it the supportive care, was it liberian and u.s. medical people? was it those doctors and nurses that helped to save you? or was it your faith? and my answer touz? that quest is all of the above. >> meanwhile, u.n. officials are warning of a potential food shortage in west african countries hit by ebola. in liberia, an ebola patient cause add panic when he escaped quarantine to search for food in a market and was finally taken back into custody. in this country, millions of u.s. households continue to lack adequate access to food. according to a new report from the u.s. department of agriculture. the report said about 17.5

million households, or one in seven, experience food insecurity in 2013. those numbers were roughly the same as last year, anti-hunger groups such as bread for the world said the number of food insecure families is unacceptable, and urged elected officials to assist them. the u.s. justice department is launching a broad civil rights investigation into police practices in ferguson, missouri. and other surrounding areas. the probe comes after last month's police shooting of an unarmed african-american teenager, michael brown. faith groups are among those who have been calling for new police procedures nationwide. meanwhile, in ferguson, clergy and religious groups have been sponsoring new initiatives to help the community heal in the wake of brown's death and the subsequent protests. organizers of new york city's st. patrick's day parade

said they will allow a gay group to march in next year's parade. in previous year, the organizers had denied gays and lesbians permission to march under their own banner, which prompted boycotts and the loss of corporate sponsors. 9mb an important event nor many irish-american catholics and next year will you led by cardinal timothy dolan, the archbishop of new york. dolan says he supports the decision. the vaticans top official for doctrine dr. garhardt mueller this week renewed criticism of the largest umbrella group of american nuns. in 2012, the vatican called for significant changes at the leadership conference of the religious, lcwr, represents the majority of u.s. nuns. vatican officials accused the sisters of focusing too much on social justice issues and not

enough on upholding traditional teachings. some nuns that hoped relations would improve after the election of pope francis, but this week, mueller said his office is still trying to help the lcwr "rediscover their identity." he strelssed that his colleague are not massagen icht enistmass. w a special report. september is national drug and alcohol recovery month. u.s. facials say heroin abuse has been rising to epidemic ledges across the country, affecting small towns and people in the faith community as well. today kim lawton looks at the crisis and talks with one of the nation's most prominent evangelical leaders, rerverend richard cizik, whose own son died of a heroin overdose last year. >> reporter: for years reverend richard cizik has been one of

the most prominent evangelical voices advocating on issues from religious freedom to interfaith dialogue and climate change. now he's take up a new cause. one he never wanted. >> this has been my whole career, really, on so many public issues, but never did i imagine it would cut so close to home. or be so personal. or painful. >> reporter: on december 19, 2013, cizik's 23-year-old son richard cizik jr., richey, died of a heroin overdose. now cizik is urging the faith community and churching in particular to get more involved in fighting america's burgeoning heroin epidemic. >> the irony of it all, there is little if any community support and no one will talk about this. it makes me fearful for other families. >> reporter: richey died when he was brought up in the family's home in fredericksburg, virginia, about an hour outside of washington, d.c.

>> it was the effusive effervescent upbeat optimistic kid you'd love to have and never grot trouble. while he grew up from that baby in your hands to being 6'5". >> reporter: richey was close to his younger brother john. >> we hung out all the time, really. every day. if he was around here. >> reporter: but richey has a secret. after breaking his wrist in a skateboarding accident he took the prescription painkiller oxycontin then moved to heroin. the family found out about richey's addiction in the summer of 2013 when he passed out in a restroom. that led to drug charges. >> he said, dad, it's the worst thing you can ever imagine. if there's a place calmed helle this is it. i said, richey, we'll get you help. and so he wanted help. willingly went to rehab, and then came out he rabbrehab a di

kid. >> reporter: rich e spent six months in rehab and set to go to another in january. the family brought him home for thanksgiving and christmas. >> we thought that would be safe. it wasn't safe. we did the worse thing imaginable, brought him into our own home thinking would be okay for just a few day, but little did we know that there's a 90% relapse rate. rs >> reporter: richey had his cell phone back and without the family knowing it, richey's dealer got back in touch with him. >> just before christmas -- i came down to trim the tree, and said, richey, will you help me? he said i'm going out for breakfast. i said, i'll make you breakfast. >> he was beefing up, butting on weight, feeling great. after all, he was 6'5". he said, no, i'll go get breakfast. i said, okay. i'm going up to get a shower. the next thing i heard was the scream from his brother, and an

unconscious son. he died, here in our own home here. in my arms. with my son john right there with him and taylor, his girl friend as well, attempting to revive him unsuccessfully, of course. >> reporter: across the nation, the number of drug overdose stats has increased 118% since 1999. with more than 100 people dying from overdoses every day. according to the white house office of national drug control policy, those numbers represent a dramatic spike in the abuse of opioid drugs including prescription painkillers and increasingly heroin. >> we have more people in the united states dying of drug-related overdoses than motor vehicle fatalities and duneshots. from a public perspective we know we have a huge epidemic on our hands. >> acting director of the white house office, a job known as the

drug sore. a vast majority it of users started after using pain medicine. >> very pure, cheap heroin has been on our streets and addiction is a progressive disorder and people often move from one substance to another in essence to basically maintain their addiction. >> reporter: federal officials say the new heroin crisis is crossing race, age, gender and geographical lines. >> well, we've seen with this upsurge, it's really been a demographic shift. not only do we see younger users who are using heroin, but also much more suburban and rural use. >> reporter: fredericksburg, george washington's boyhood home, is one of the most historic small towns in america, but this seemingly idyllic small town has seen an explosion of heroin abuse as 21-year-old john cizik and his girlfriend taylor beats can confirméida rñ it's n hear about people doing it.

stad to say, but it's true. >> you see a lot in this town. good kids. >> you're only kidding yourself if you think it's not in your town. it's everywhere. >> reporter: toby larson is pastor of cizik's church, celebration anglican church in fredericksburg and said richey's death made him fail he had failed as a pastor. >> unfortunately, we're pretty goo pastoring people that have lost people, burying people. pretty lousy ten years earlier when problems started, and that's where you feel like, wow, where was i? where was everyone when we really needed to be there. >> reporter: larson and the entire congregation have been very supportive but many clergy don't want to admit it's in their pews. >> that prescription drugging ar

0 problem or there may be people in their congregation using drug, legal and illegal. know one wants to fess up. it's a code of silence and the surprise more parents who bury their children, their sons and their daughters. that is the price. just like we did. >> reporter: the cizik family decided to be open about the cause of death in richey's obitua obituary. >> we were told that this is one of the few times it's of been done. both by the people of the newspaper as well as others in the field, who have said to us, that's amazingly courageous. we said, well, we're just being honest. >> reporter: in the wake of richey's death, cizik is organizing a local task force to address the hair win crisis. heroin crisis. >> we're going to contact officials to raise the profile on the problem so people understand what the threat is, first of all, and then, of course what they can do about it. >> reporter: he says there is much that congregations can do. >> education.

it's an emphasis on prevention and treatment. these are all agenda items that i think ought to be part of the church's role in society. >> reporter: larson says faith leaders have an obligation to embrace those who struggle with addiction. >> ate of pastors don't want them in the congregation, or pretend they're not there. so like with richey, it was hard to get limb to church. him to church, because they feel like they shouldn't be there. i would say, welcome them. i mean, we need those people with those struggles in church. the fact is, they are there. >> reporter: botticelli says his office agrees that the faith community must be involved in anti-drug efforts. >> we know local problems require local solutions, and what we want to do is make sure that all leaders in the community, but particularly faith leaders, are part of the solution of their problem. >> reporter: as a recovering alcoholic8xñ> himself, but che

sa botticelli knows t. can bring faith and spirituality playing a pivotal role in that. we know faith leaders can not only help us prevent the issue bus support people with addiction. this is part of my own story. i've been in recovery for many, many years, and faith and spirituality has been part of my recovery for a long time. >> reporter: for cizik, a key priority for congregations is removing the saying that often accompanies addiction problems. >> we ought to have people who would love and care and simp thys and empathize enough to say my brother and my sister, i'm with you and will do everything i can to assist you, because love reigns. and there is no shame in this. >> reporter: cizik says the tragedy with rich hey had a profound impact on his faith.

>> even though or darined clergy ask themselves, why god, why me, why my son, why this? how could this happen to me? it deepens you. it gives you strength you never thought you had. i think it also gives you a concept of god that is different. not a god who has been silent or isn't there, but a god who at times allows us to go through pain for his purposes. and so what we're seeking is his purpose here. >> reporter: and he says he believes god has given himmed grace to speak out so that other families won't have to suffer the same loss. i'm kim lawsuiten in fredericksburg, virginia. as the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, this coming week, we have a story today from lucky severson about an immigrant from

bangladesh, rais bhuiyan, who was almost murdered by an anti-arab attacker seeking revenge for 9/11. despite his injuries and hardships the victim recovered enough to devote his life to encouraging mercy and forgiveness. >> i knew i was dying. and i was crying, and i remember myself screaming, mom, very, very loudly -- >> reporter: rais bhuiyan, a well-educated upper middle-class air force pilot gave up a life of privilege in bangladesh and moved to america, the land of his dreams. >> he had this sense that america was the triumph of everything that he could hope for. >> reporter: writing a book about race entitled "the true american." he says when rais moved to dallas the deeply devout muslim started working 12 hour days at a gas station and convenience store. >> the image coming to him, the

prophet muhammad in his islamic faith was a shep herd and that did not limit his destiny. why should working in a gas station limit his destiny? >> reporter: not long after rais bhuiyan was shot in the head. the victim of a hate crime. >> i knew at that time i was dying. i asked god, please, do not take me today. i am too young. i haven't seen anything. i haven't accomplished anything in my life. please, give me a chance to live, and i promised god that if you give me a chance to live, i promise i will do good things with my life. >> reporter: it was ten days after 9/11 raining cats and dogs, rais was behind the counter at buckner foods when mark stroman walked in wearing a hat, bandanna, sunglasses and holding a sawed off double barrel shotgun. rais had been robbed before and said, please, don't shoot me. you can take the money, and then he herd stroman say, where are you from?

>> and i felt a cold air flow through my spine at that time and i thought, he is not here for the money and i said, excuse me? without giving me any answer, he shot me from four to five feet away with a double barrel shotgun. >> reporter: he had 38 pellets lodged in this face but he was still alive. >> and i thought if i don't pretend i was dying, who knows. he might shoot me one more time. >> reporter: rais was one of three people shot in dallas within a few days of 9/11. the other died. the shooter, mark stroman, thought he was killing arabs. although none were. >> he was consumed by a feeling of the nation was under attack after 9/11. and that we were disrespected as a nation, by these arabs living wherever they lived. and that we had to take action -- he had to take action,

his mother kept telling him she regretted not having the $50 to have him aborted. by the time he was a teenager he had a parole officer. tom boston hired mark stroman several years ago, says he was a good employee at first, but was forced to fire him because of his racist views. >> i saw him go through his struggles in life. saw him trying to better himself. and then he just broke. i mean, he lost. >> reporter: tom boston knew one of the victim's mark had shot and killed and heard from a mutual friend that mark had been threatening violence against arabs after 9/11.

so reluctantly, he relayed his suspicion to a friend law enforcement, was immediately called in to look as a closed circuit video of the shooting. what was your reaction when you saw that tape? >> horrifying. >> reporter: a few hours later, mark wag arrested on his way to a mall and a mosque, apparently to shoot as many arabs as he could. he was convicted of murder and placed on death row. >> mark stroman was proud when he was arrested, and said you know, i did what everybody wanted to do, and you know, that there were a lot of us out there hunting for arabs, and i took revenge, and i'm a true american. >> reporter: meanwhile, rais lost almost everything. he still has 35 pellets in his face, has lost the sight of his right eye. the hospital kicked him out because he had no insurance. he lost his apartment, no money for food. lost his fiancee and his father suffered a stroke when he heard the news.

>> well, i guess that's the american dream. i have seen the bottom of this country, that can you not imagine that is there anything else you could go through? >> reporter: but he hung in there and now own as big house in the suburbs and is a systems manager at a high-tech company and oversees data centers in europe. when things started to go his way he took his mother from bangladesh on a pilgrimage to mecca. >> and while in mecca, it wasn't just one thing pap variety of things happened to him that made him almost feel that god was kind of tapping him on the shoulder. telling him something. >> and i thought about my shooter. i thought about my student that i was filled with violence an hate and still, you know, god could have taken my life that day. he took two other, but he gave me a chance to live and brought me up to this. why? there has to be a reason. and at that moment, those words of, if you save my life now i will do something for others,

that promise he had made to god when he thought he was dying, very strongly returned to him. >> and once i came back from pilgrimage i realized i need to forgive him in public and do something to save the life, because i strongly believed that if mark stroman was given the chance, the opportunity which i had in my childhood, he would have become a different person. >> reporter: rick halperin is director of the embery human rights program and worked tirelessly against the death penalty. >> when rais showed up, he was unwavering in his support to try and save mark. so i was happy to assist him. >> reporter: mark stroman was shot. he told various people that he could not believe that rey had dern this. he taped messages saying that this was the first act of kindness he'd ever known. >> it's rick hall brynn, thank you for all of have done for the cause. >> reporter: over the years halperin and stroman wrote letters back and forth and

professor halperin came to believe that stroman was a changed man. >> he had at least come to a point of understanding the pain that he was responsible for in the innocent family lives of those who survived his outburst near dallas. >> reporter: tom boston, stroman's old friend, doesn't think the conversion was real. >> mark was such a con man and very intellectual that he could con a con. he could make you think that he was smelling like roses, but in reality, he wasn't. >> reporter: rais has no doubt that stroman felt remorse, but was most concerned that he knew he was forgiven. he was only allowed to speak to stroman for a few seconds, shortly before he was to be executed. >> so i took that opportunity to talk to him for a few seconds, and i said, mark, you know for

shoe that i never hated you, i never -- you know, i forgave you, and he kept telling me that, rais, thank you very much, and what he'd been doing is amazing in respect to something like this. something that like, and at some point called me, i love you, bro, and at that point i could not hold my tears. >> reporter: stroman was executed on july 20th, 2011. rais gives lectures and speeches throughout the country continuing his message of forgiveness and mercy. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm lucky severson in dallas. that's our program for now. i'm bob abernethy. you can follow us on twit around facebook, and watch us anytime on the pbs app for iphones and ipads, and visit our website where there's always much more, and where you can listen to or watch every program. join us at pbs.org.

as we leave you, worship music from the celebration anglican church in fredericksburg, virginia. ♪ major funding for "religion & ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lily endowment and indianapolis based family foundation dedicated to its founder's interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america. designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company.

>> rose: welcome to the program. i am charlie rose, the program is charlie rose the week, just ahead, the latest on the fight against isis, a critical moment for russia and ukraine, and actress gyllenhaal takes on a a big role on the small screen. >> ♪ >> rose: we have those stories and more on what happened and what might happen. >> funding for charlie rose was provided by the following. >