stephrdf

By Liam Stack Religious minorities in the United States are far more likely to have attended college or a vocational school than members of the Christian majority, according to a review of census and survey data from 151 countries released on Tuesday that found wide gaps in education among followers of the world’s major religions. …

By Lawrence M. Krauss Last week, the Space, Science, and Technology subcommittee of the House of Representatives tweeted a misleading story from Breitbart News: “Global Temperatures Plunge. Icy Silence from Climate Alarmists.” (There is always some drop in temperature when El Niño transitions into La Niña—but there has been no anomalous plunge.) Under normal circumstances, …

by Pragna Patel “We oppose any religious body – whether presided over by men or women – that seeks to rule over us.” So say more than 300 mostly Muslim women, but also others from different faiths who have been abused in their personal lives. These women are voicing their alarm, through a powerful statement …

from Maryam Namazie “We oppose any religious body – whether presided over by men or women – that seeks to rule over us.” So say more than 300 mostly Muslim women, but also others from different faiths who have been abused in their personal lives. From their own lived experiences, these women are voicing their …

How do you navigate the holiday season? Whether or not you personally celebrate anything this season, what advice can you offer to those whose secular identity makes a stressful time all that much more difficult? Our favorite answer wins a copy of A Brief Candle in the Dark by Richard Dawkins (no repeat winners). And …

“I think most believers are good people. Although religious doctrine is generally irrational, divisive, and irrelevant to human values, some religions have good teachings sprinkled in with the dogma, and many well-meaning believers, to their credit, concentrate on those teachings. Surveying the smorgasbord of belief systems, we notice that they occasionally talk about peace and …

By Antone Martinho I have recently decided to bring two small parrots into my home. They are celestial parrotlets, originally from Ecuador and Peru, and one of the smallest parrot species that can cohabit with humans. I call them Dandolo and Madeleine. They fit well into my apartment life in Oxford, despite the burgeoning beak-scars …

By Joe Connelly The Trump administration appears set to take a hard right turn on environmental policy, with climate change skeptic Scott Pruitt as boss of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., a possible Interior secretary. Pruitt is Oklahoma’s attorney general and a down-the-line ally of the oil and …

In 2016, the year of “Post-Truth,” it’s no surprise that there was a fair amount of junk science being tossed around. Like we do every year, we strived to debunk as much of it as we could. We also called out its most prominent purveyors. Now, we count down the worst of the worst. So here it …

By Joe Hallett His legend is otherworldly and now, at age 95, so is John Glenn. An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus after a remarkably healthy life spent almost from the cradle with Annie, his beloved wife …

November 28, 2016 Host: Josh Zepps This week we’re dusting off a favorite Point of Inquiry episode from three years ago: Josh Zepps’ conversation with P.J. O’Rourke – humorist, cultural commentator and bestselling author of sixteen books. Originally broadcast in December of 2013, this episode’s subject matter is remarkably relevant for this current political and …

By Tatiana Schlossberg TOKYO — At 12:30 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, the Ministry of the Environment offices here were almost completely in darkness, lit only by the silver-blue glow of computer screens. All of the government ministry offices are supposed to go dark for an hour in the middle of each day to save …