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]

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]

Republican Congressman John Fleming said he was “disturbed” by President Barack Obama’s request to have the symbolic name for Jesus Christ – IHS – covered from a pediment that was visible behind him when he spoke at Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall on April 14. ... [More]

"Act of God" is filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal's exploration of lightning strikes. "When you think about it, the lightning bolt coming out of the sky is kind of the perfect metaphor for the paradox of being singled out by randomness ... it embodies this tension between meaning and chance and meaning and randomness," says Baichwal. ... [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]

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]

Muslim organizations are slowly and steadily stripping Arab Christians of their rights to speak on behalf of “Arab” issues. The conflicts are no longer secular. They are religious. Many Muslims, in fact, who are secular, are also being intimidated into obsequious silence by the religious extremists who dominate many of the discussions. ... [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]

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]

The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a “defamation of religions” resolution on Thursday, ignoring a mass petition signed by over 180 non-government organizations from more than 50 different countries. ... [More]

Among some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to "be fruitful and multiply." The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127, which says, "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that's a lot of kids. ... [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]

Bible scholar Bart Ehrman says that the Gospels are at odds with each other on important points regarding the life, death and divinity of Jesus. ... [More]

Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom believes that all religions throughout the world have a single, common basis in a single reality, a universal constant in every person's experience: the human brain. ... [More]