Religion

By Steve Benen First up from the God Machine this week is a story about one faith group that appears eager to take the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby ruling in a new direction – one the ruling’s defenders probably aren’t going to like. The Satanic Temple has launched a campaign seeking religious exemption from laws that …

By Denise Hruby It was like a scene from a medieval witch hunt: a victim, accused of a crime that has never been committed, is surrounded by a mob. Terror ensues, before an inevitable death. On a balmy afternoon, Pov Sovann was sitting outside his house in a tiny town in rural Cambodia, chatting with …

By Dan Arel It’s not new for federal and state governments to issue tax breaks and incentives to religious organizations. In fact, George W. Bush and his famous “faith based initiatives” program gave certain religious organizations tax breaks if they performed non-religious duties, followed employment laws, and offered a service not based on a recipient’s …

By Sofia Resnick When a very pregnant Felicia Allen applied for medical leave from her job at Hobby Lobby three years ago, one might think that the company best known for denying its employees insurance coverage of certain contraceptives—on the false grounds that they cause abortions—would show equal concern for helping one of its employees when she learned …

By The Institute of Art and Ideas Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, Peter Atkins is one of the world’s foremost physical chemists, and the author of Galileo’s Finger. Here, we spoke to Atkins about the problems of religion, the future of the Human Brain Project and why the power of the scientific method …

By Brandon Ambrosino What if children didn’t have to be taught to believe in God? What if they were born with that ready-made belief somewhere embedded in their minds? That’s the thesis of a 2012 book by psychologist Justin L. Barrett called Born Believers. Barrett, currently a researcher at Fuller Theological Seminary, has spent his career researching …

By Why Evolution is True Philosophers have reproved me because, as a mere biologist, I have no right to criticize the teaching of philosophy of religion in colleges, nor to call for its end.  But I reject the idea that biologists have no standing to give such an opinion, just as I reject the notion that philosophers …

By Emily Shire   On July 22, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that two new cases of neonatal herpes had been diagnosed during July. One baby was found at 16 days old to have “pustular lesions on the penis and genital area,” and a 17-day-old was found to have “lesions …

By Terrence McCoy   If it began like the others, the first sign that Saraswati Devi would be murdered was an accusation delivered to a shaman. Perhaps she had offended someone. Perhaps someone had fallen sick and had wondered why. Perhaps a community well had suddenly dried and someone needed blaming. Perhaps they chose her because Devi was …

By Shadee Ashtari   Young children who are exposed to religion have a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction, according to a new study published in the July issue of Cognitive Science. Researchers presented 5- and 6-year-old children from both public and parochial schools with three different types of stories — religious, fantastical and realistic –- in …

By Why Evolution Is True There is no explicit statement in the Qur’an (I don’t know about the hadith) urging or sanctioning “honor killings,” but it’s now become a feature of Islamic culture, and has been justified on religious grounds (in Jordan, attempts to strengthen laws against honor killing were opposed and turned back by Muslim leaders for religious …

By Kathryn Pogin Much to the chagrin of women’s rights advocates, Hobby Lobby has won its legal battle — but claims of “victory” for religious freedom must be emended. Make no mistake: This is no victory for the freedom to exercise Christian principles. Though employers like Hobby Lobby are now free to deny women access …