Behind the Scenes: GOD

Why God?

Last night our diverse panel of experts lead us on a provocative and enlightening journey exploring the role of God in people’s lives and the common language we have used across all cultures and time to make sense of the mysteries of life.

Let's take a look behind the scenes!

The evening began with the panelist meeting. Here, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Rev. Peter Gomes, and Christopher Hitchens along with Moderator Connie Schultz had the opportunity to meet and greet each other before the Forum got underway.

Next it's off to the YOUTH Forum press conference. Here, YOUTH Forum Members, who are high school students from around the state, have an intimate opportunity to ask the panel anything that is on their minds.

Once the Forum was underway, the stage was electrified with a spirited, enlightening, and eye-opening conversation about God and religion. Stay tuned to our YouTube Page for clips of the Forum!

Ever wonder what's happening back stage at intermission?

A group of Forum Subscribers, Friends of the Forum, and Sponsors gather backstage to sort through your great questions, in preparation for the second half.

The panelists grab a quick snack in the green room.

After the program ended, we had the opportunity to ask Christopher Hitchens just one more question backstage...

(Click Here to see a video of Christopher's water board experience)

Want more insight on what happened back stage? Check out Forum Valet Peterson Toscano's Blog!

It's your turn! Share your reactions to God, leave us a comment!

Rev. Peter Gomes on Comedy Central?

Check out God Forum panelist Rev. Peter Gomes getting "scandalous" on The Colbert Report a few months ago!

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Peter J. Gomes

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Colbert Report Tickets

Paul McCartney Appearance
More Funny Videos

(Click here if video takes too long to load.)

Get to Know the God Panleists!

The God Forum is less than a week away, which means it's time to do your homework and get to know the panelists!


Rabbi Harold Kushner is a spiritual leader and the best-selling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Check out beliefnet.com for a great archive of Kushner videos and resources.









Christopher Hitchens is a journalist and the best-selling author of God Is Not Great. Click here to listen to his interview on WNPR this morning!












Rev. Peter Gomes is a distinguished Baptist Preacher and Harvard Chaplain. You can listen to his archived sermons here.









The program will be moderated by award winning journalist and author Connie Schultz. Check out Connie's blog!

For more information on our panelists, visit our resource page

Questions for God

Here at The Forum, we believe that the more we seek to understand different perspectives, the better we will be.

That's why before every Forum we convene task groups composed of diverse members of our community to help us develop a thoughtful discussion outline for the Forum moderator. Since Forums are live and unscripted with no speeches or prepared remarks, we do not share these discussion outlines with panelists - just the moderator. Even so, Forums are always unpredictable due to dynamics between panelists, the skill of the moderator, and questions posed by the audience.

At our first task group meeting for our upcoming Forum, God: Big Questions...Bigger Questions, featuring Rabbi Harold Kushner, Rev. Peter Gomes, and Christopher Hitchens, we talked a lot about the questions many people have about religion, faith, and God, such as:

• What does it mean to be "spiritual" versus being "religious"? What's the difference?
• Who/what is God? How do you define God?
• How do we use God to make meaning? What difference does it make whether or not God exists, and how, if at all, does it affect how we live our everyday lives?

Now we'd like to hear from you!

What questions would you like to hear in a discussion about God? What topics or concepts do you think would make for a fascinating Forum with our panelists? Let us know! We welcome your thoughts.