Peter Manseau reviews Robert Bellah's Religion in Human Evolution.
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Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
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Why does Google matter?
by Jeffrey GuhinAmidst growing concerns about Google's power and its potential for monopolistic practices, I'm reminded of a 2008 article by Nicholas Carr about Google possibly making us stupid.
October 2, 2011
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Atheism and religious art
by Brandon VaidyanathanThe Guardian has been hosting a series of posts on the question of whether faith is necessary in order to appreciate religious art. A post by Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin highlights the recent work of atheist artist David Mach to contest the assumption that religious art is necessarily made by believers
October 3, 2011
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Call for writers for culture and women’s rights blog
by Annie Hardison-MoodyThe global feminist blog Gender Across Borders, in partnership with Violence is Not Our Culture: the Global Campaign to End Violence Against Women in the Name of ‘Culture,’ is seeking writers for an upcoming series on gender-based violence, culture, and women's rights. The series will run on October 27th and 28th, and will feature personal narratives, profiles, book reviews, journalistic articles, analytical pieces, critical essays, and editorials.
October 3, 2011
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What is evil?
by Jeffrey GuhinWhat is evil? The question is asked in very different ways in two recent articles. The first, by Ron Rosenbaum at Slate, asks whether, in the terms of neuroscience, evil can be said to exist. He's unsure about this.
October 4, 2011
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The Feynman Series: scientific…and spiritual (?)
by Amanda KaplanThis past February, the seven-part video series honoring Carl Sagan and his contributions to science was released, attracting the attention of scientists, spiritualists, and curious minds across the world. Now, Reid Gower, the maker of The Sagan Series, "has released a supplement...called The Feynman Series, featuring everyone's favorite bongo-playing physicist," Richard Feynman.
October 11, 2011
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RFP: New Directions in the Study of Prayer
by Taline CoxThe Social Science Research Council recently announced the launch of a new project and grants program entitled "New Directions in the Study of Prayer."
October 11, 2011
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#OccupyWallSt, spirituality, and faith
by John D. BoyOn September 17, protesters heeded the call to occupy Wall Street and set up camp in a semi-public park in downtown Manhattan's Financial District that is once again known as Liberty Plaza. In the roughly three weeks since the Occupy Wall Street protests began, several commentators have begun reflecting on the place of faith in the movement. The meditation area on Liberty Plaza is only the most overt of the influences of faith or spirituality on the protest movement.
October 12, 2011
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America’s “faith-friendly secularism”
by Charles GelmanAt the Rethinking Religion blog of Columbia University's Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, Joseph Blankholm responds to Denis Lacorne's recent presentation, at Columbia, of his latest book Religion in America (Columbia University Press, 2011), which explores the multiple and divergent narratives situating faith's place in the foundation and ongoing life of the American republic. Lacorne also examines how the United States' seemingly peculiar mixture of principled secularism and overt public religiosity has been understood, and misunderstood, by French philosophers and other observers of the American scene.
October 12, 2011
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Regulating religion
by Grace YukichWhere does the line lie between constitutional protection of religious exceptionalism and the need to enforce state laws ensuring fair treatment of employees?
October 21, 2011