Worship is forced on 99 per cent of children without even asking what they think. For all their whining that they are "persecuted", the religious minority in Britain are in fact accorded remarkable privileges. They are given a bench-full of unelected positions in the legislature, protection from criticism in the law, and vast amounts of public money to indoctrinate children into their belief systems in every school in the land. ... [More]

Several American science organisations explicitly accommodate religious sensibilities. These organisations have considered it necessary to calm the fears of American religionists that science, particularly evolutionary biology, undermines religion. ... In my view, that is a deplorable step. ... [More]

In this witty book, Terry Eagleton argues that Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and their ilk are shockingly ill-informed about the Christian faith. ... The point of Eagleton's "Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate" is to defend the theory and practice of religion against its most ardent contemporary critics. ... [More]

Notorious non-believer Richard Dawkins will ironically be a godlike presence at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival as he beams in from England for a video interview. On the other hand, former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway will appear in the flesh. ... [More]

Quantum mechanics is remarkably weird: even though it is well understood mathematically and can produce accurate, ultra-precise predictions, nobody really knows what it means -- but quasi-religious interpretations are not warranted. ... [More]

Neurobiologist Steven Rose reviews Kathleen Taylor's new book "Cruelty: Human Evil and the Human Brain" and explores evolutionary explanations for man's capacity for cruelty. by Steven Rose Excerpted from The Guardian From Gaza to the streets of Northern Ireland, from... [More]

Channel surf around the television landscape, and it’s not hard to find experts earnestly discussing politics or economics or even home decorating. But you’ll rarely encounter anyone talking about spiritual matters, unless it’s a megachurch pastor with an 800 number scrolling across the screen. ... [More]

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have compiled the first-ever review of the neurobiology of wisdom – once the sole province of religion and philosophy. ... [More]

This is Holy Week. It started yesterday with Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Thursday, Good Friday and culminates this Sunday with Easter Day. One can no longer assume most people will be aware of this, let alone the events these days mark; in a recent UK poll, only 22% could identify what Easter was celebrating. ... [More]

Renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens clashed with Christian theologian William Lane Craig in a Saturday discussion over the existence of God. More than 4,200 people attended the sold-out event, moderated by Hugh Hewitt. Another 11,000 people listened to the debate via live feeds across 30 states and four different countries. ... [More]

To counter an atheist campaign currently running on city buses, religious groups are launching their own ads to spread a message that God does exist. ... [More]

Canada's science minister, the man at the centre of the controversy over federal funding cuts to researchers, won't say if he believes in evolution. “I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate,” Gary Goodyear, the federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. ... [More]

Richard Dawkins tells a crowd of 2,000 in Omaha, Nebraska that intelligent design promoters are "theocrats" who are losing their battle to try to get religion into schools, so they "are behaving like cornered ... animals." ... [More]

Program serves mainly to funnel tax money to religious schools and has not raised student achievement, watchdog group says ... [More]

Once we had evolved the necessary brain architecture, we could "do" religion, brain scans indicate. The research shows that, to interpret a god's intentions and feelings, we rely mainly on the same recently evolved brain regions that divine the feelings and intentions of other people. ... [More]

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey. ... [More]

A 2-year-old, it turns out, knows the difference between right and wrong. According to psychologist Judi Smetana, the sense of morality begins to develop early in humans. ... [More]

The New School For Social Research just concluded a conference on the Religious/Secular Divide in the United States. The Conference was held for two days, 3/5-6, to standing room only crowds at the Tishman Auditorium in New York City. ... [More]

His vast brow hangs over us all. His foamy white beard cascades down in the familiar Michelangelo Old Testament style. He speaks to mankind of ancient origins and end times. In this year of his double anniversary, are we in danger of turning Charles Darwin if not into God, at least into the founder of a secular religion? ... [More]

Anti-discrimination legislation is being used to limit freedom of religion "in unacceptable ways", says Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. ... [More]