Parents who complain that a mandatory public school course contradicts their religious views have taken the provincial government to court. The "Ethics and Religious Culture" class covers Quebec's Catholic and Protestant religious heritage, as well as other faiths represented in the province, including Judaism, Native spiritualism, Islam, and Hinduism. ... [More]

In a session on religious freedom on Wednesday, Muslim scholars from around the world debated how apostates should be treated according to Islamic law. ... Some participants did not support of the beheading of apostates, but several were adamant in refusing a lighter approach toward apostates in the name of freedom of religion. ... [More]

Berliners voted on Sunday in a referendum on religious education in schools that goes to the heart of how Germany's sizeable Muslim minority is integrated into modern society. ... [More]

The U.S. imprisons more people than any other developed nation. The majority of Americans support the death penalty. We’re willing to put minors on trial as adults and execute mentally ill offenders. So why, given our eye-for-an-eye system of punishment, wouldn’t Congress pass legislation that would give law enforcement officials another tool to get the bad guys off the streets and into prisons? ... [More]

The common religious belief in a "supreme being" is a psychological and social construction. Religion is made up, an invention given credibility simply because a lot of people agree with it. It is the product of primitive human societies which required a way to explain reality and create social rules. ... [More]

Some here in the West have reacted with shock in response to the new Afghanistan law that gives Shiite men permission to rape their wives, even though President Hamid Karzai claims that we're simply misinterpreting this law. In other words, we've lost something in the translation. I won't pretend to know if that is the case or not, but I don't think it's too big of a stretch to believe that women's rights are once again being compromised. ... [More]

Francie Billotti-Wood should have been in church today, volunteering in the nursery at the Holy Family Catholic Community parish, her priest said. Instead, she and her slain family were a focal point of prayers and remembrances at a Mass at the church in northwest Maryland. ... [More]

Individuals may be idealistic, smart and articulate – until they join a group. Individual Thais are among the gentlest, warmest, and most gracious people you could ever meet; groups of them were throwing petrol bombs at each other in the capital of Bangkok earlier this week. ... [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]

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]

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]

What we secularists want to know is what kind of world we can hope for even if we accept every claim science makes and reject every miracle tale. Religious language and symbols, and even religious stories, may help us imagine and hope for a better world. ... [More]

Two years ago, Jesme Raphael abandoned a 26-year career as a nun in southern India. Now she has published her memoirs, cataloging lurid details of bullying, sexual abuse and homosexuality. ... [More]

A new nationwide study of anonymised credit-card receipts from a major online adult entertainment provider finds little variation in consumption between states. ... However, ... states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds. ... [More]

To watch the 5 o'clock news every night, you'd think man was born to be destructive, violent and antagonistic. But that's just not the case, argue numerous prominent researchers who will gather at Washington University in St. Louis March 12-14 to discuss the nature of human sociality. ... [More]

Washington University biologist discusses the "sacred nature" of sustainability, as seen from the perspectives of 'ecomorality' and religious naturalism ... [More]

Pope Benedict XVI called for prayers today as part of his public opposition to the father of 17-year coma victim Eluana Englaro, who seeks the legal right to allow stopping artificial life support for his daughter. ... [More]

"Inalienable dignity of the human being" must be the guiding principle of science, says the pope -- while praising French opposition to "death with dignity" legislation. ... [More]

The Church warns that Britain's Human Rights Act is often used to defend secularism. ... [More]