By Tenzin Gyatso from The New York Times "Such tensions are likely to increase as the world becomes more interconnected and cultures, peoples and religions become ever more entwined. The pressure this creates tests more than our tolerance — it demands that we promote peaceful coexistence and understanding...

by David Munger from Seed Magazine "Medical writer Tom Rees devotes his blog Epiphenom to the scientific study of religion. Last week he examined a study on the relationship between intelligence and religious belief. Published in Social Psychology Quarterly , this study by Satoshi Kanazawa replicated...

By Sholto Byrnes from NewStatesman. "The rate of HIV infection in Kenya is one of the highest in the world, but safer sex is at last being adopted – and it is religious groups that are leading the way, in a new spirit of openness and acceptance. An example of this is how the Channels of Hope-trained...

by Umberto Eco in The New York Times "Almost by chance I recently happened to witness two similar scenes: a 15-year-old girl who was engrossed in a book of art reproductions, and two 15-year-old boys who were enthralled to be visiting the Louvre. The parents of all three were nonbelievers and the...

By Andrew Koppelman Commentary on A Secular Age by Charles Taylor RELIGIOUS FAITH today is one option among others. Many people—call them secularists—live without any transcendent source of value. Some, but not all, are militant atheists. A millennium ago, this would have been unimaginable. Everyone...

by Jürgen Habermas & Paolo Flores d'Arcais in The Utopian. "The Utopian is very proud to present this fascinating debate between Jürgen Habermas and Paolo Flores d'Arcais, making Habermas' response to d'Arcais - in which he argues for religion's role in the public sphere...

By Stephanie Schnorbus Most historians agree there was a shift away from Calvinism and toward Enlightenment thought during the eighteenth century. When discussing that shift in relation to children's literature or education, some historians use The New-England Primer as an example of unchanging Calvinism...

By Wesley J. Wildman Brains are amazing organs in all creatures with central nervous systems and especially in human beings. But they are not perfect. Without forgetting the larger success story of cognitive evolution, I want to explore the way that cognitive biases sometimes produce errors in both religious...

By Christopher J. Thompson To behold the heavens and gaze upon the infinite expanse of a star-studded sky, indeed to ponder any vista of creation's splendor is to be drawn not merely into the mystery of creation, the intricacies of cause and effect; rather, to ponder the mystery of things is to be...

Mei-Chuan Wang, Sharon G. Horne, Heidi M. Levitt, Lisa M. Klesges The study examined Christian women's religious beliefs and practices in relationship to their intimate partner violence (IPV) relationships. The religious variables included religious affiliation status, religious attendance, religious...

Excerpt: " Transhumanism is the view that humans should be permitted to use technology in order to re-make human nature, offered as the next stage in human evolution. It differs from posthumanism in as much as posthumanity is largely concerned with an ideal future where such transitions have already...

Perspective on wisdom, holism, and epistemics, a term used to describe the systematic study of subjective knowledge. This article is a commentary on the Neurobiology of Wisdom article in the same issue and journal. by James C. Harris, M.D. There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed...

A recently published review of J.L. Schellenberg's 2007 "The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism," Cornell University Press, 2007 by Jack Macintosh. Read the review

Available online: http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=bupp_28_3

One of America's foremost political theorists explores the connections between our political and ethical convictions, changing forever the way we understand the notion of "sovereignty." Throughout the history of human intellectual endeavor, one concept has cut across arenas as diverse as...

At a time when poor choices are being made by notably intelligent and powerful individuals, this book analyzes a form of reasoning and decision-making that is not only productive and prudent, but serves as well a beneficial purpose for society. A Handbook of Wisdom includes contributions from some of...