Science, Religion, and the Big Bang. Interview: Salman Rushdie, Author Of 'Joseph Anton' Hide captionSalman Rushdie's other novels include Midnight's Children, Shame and Luka and the Fire of Life.
Syrie Moskowitz/Random House Salman Rushdie's other novels include Midnight's Children, Shame and Luka and the Fire of Life. The recent violence sparked by the film Innocence of Muslims recalls a very different controversy from more than 20 years ago: Taliban commander: “I was relieved at the death of Osama” Of all the militant groups waging insurgencies in the Muslim world, the Afghan Taliban movement is the only one that has experience of forming a national government.
The memory of the Taliban wielding state power has helped them and their backers to sustain their protracted armed struggle against the new state structures put in place in Afghanistan after the Bonn Agreement of 2001. But two other aspects of the Taliban’s political practice are remarkable. ‘The Storytelling Animal,’ by Jonathan Gottschall. These questions animate “The Storytelling Animal,” a jaunty, insightful new book by Jonathan Gottschall, who draws from disparate corners of history and science to celebrate our compulsion to storify everything around us.
There are several surprises about stories. The first is that we spend a great deal of time in fictional worlds, whether in daydreams, novels, confabulations or life narratives. When all is tallied up, the decades we spend in the realm of fantasy outstrip the time we spend in the real world. As Gottschall puts it, “Neverland is our evolutionary niche, our special habitat.” Salzburg to Lincoln Center, Spirituality Is on the Program. In Texas, young Hindus want to Americanize ancient faith. By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor Houston, Texas (CNN) – In many ways, 29-year-old Rishi Bhutada is a traditional Hindu, not so different from his Indian-born parents.
An officer at his dad’s pipefitting company, Texas-born Bhutada had an arranged marriage in India three years ago and then brought his wife back to his hometown, where they recently welcomed a son. Bhutada is a strict vegetarian and avoids alcohol, as do many observant Hindus. Promoting Hinduism? Parents Demand Removal Of School Yoga Class. Hide captionThird-graders at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., perform chair pose with instructor Kristen McCloskey last month.
Kyla Calvert for NPR Third-graders at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., perform chair pose with instructor Kristen McCloskey last month. During first period at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., Kristen McCloskey leads about two dozen third-graders through some familiar yoga poses. "All right, so let's do our opening sequence A," she says, instructing the kids.
"Everyone take a big inhale, lift those arms up. The Foundations Of Belief. Mormonism: A Scrutinized, Yet Evolving Faith. Hide captionThe historic Mormon Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City.
George Frey/Landov Mitt Romney refused to mix religion with politics in this year's presidential campaign, but that didn't repress people's curiosity about Mormonism. Atheism. Dawkins hate mail. ‘Free Will,’ by Sam Harris. But the last half-century has seen this ancient subject pulled down from its academic perch and into courtrooms, laboratories, real-world questions about moral responsibility, and even popular culture.
Sam Harris - Death and the Present Moment. Sam Harris Vs. Bill O'Rilley. War in the name of atheism. How to suck at your religion. Morgan Harris - Connolly on religion. A Catholic Reply to “How to Suck At Your Religion” An anti-religious (and specifically, anti-Catholic) webcomic is making the rounds on the Internet right now.
It’s part of a webcomic called The Oatmeal, and is called “How to suck at your religion.” I have to warn anyone clicking that link that it’s really offensive: profane, lewd, and blasphemous, all at once. From Minister To Atheist: A Story Of Losing Faith. Hide captionTeresa MacBain walks her dog, Gracie, at a park near her Tallahassee, Fla., home.
God In America - Inside the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America. I AM The Documentary. Moon by Björk on Spotify. Myth by Beach House. Republicans Or Democrats: The Choice Comes Down To Competing Myths : It's All Politics. Hide captionWhat does your vision of America look like?
Loud Red Creative/iStockphoto.com What does your vision of America look like? Early in his acceptance speech last night, President Obama laid out the voters' task in these words: Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes on Spotify. Is This Your Brain On God? Orfeo: A Dialog between Robert Hunter and Terence McKenna. This is Part OnePart TwoPart ThreePart FourPart Five (current) 14 Wacky "Facts" Kids Will Learn in Louisiana's Voucher Schools. Separation of church and what? Currier & Ives/Library of Congress Thanks to a new law privatizing public education in Louisiana, Bible-based curriculum can now indoctrinate young, pliant minds with the good news of the Lord—all on the state taxpayers' dime. Under Gov. Bobby Jindal's voucher program, considered the most sweeping in the country, Louisiana is poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to help poor and middle-class students from the state's notoriously terrible public schools receive a private education.
While the governor's plan sounds great in the glittery parlance of the state's PR machine, the program is rife with accountability problems that actually haven't been solved by the new standards the Louisiana Department of Education adopted two weeks ago. Genesis: Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter. The Hold Steady - "Cattle and the Creeping Things" Live. Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty. The Ten Commandments. Own Worst Enemy. Heretics. As Social Issues Drive Young From Church, Leaders Try To Keep Them : The Two-Way. On Friday, Morning Edition wraps up its weeklong look at the growing number of people who say they do not identify with a religion. The final conversation in the Losing Our Religion series picks up on a theme made clear throughout the week: Young adults are drifting away from organized religion in unprecedented numbers. In Friday's story, NPR's David Greene talks to two religious leaders about the trend and wonders what they tell young people who are disillusioned with the church.
According to the Pew Research Center, one-third of Americans under 30 have no religious affiliation. As Harvard professor Robert Putnam told Greene in the piece that kicked off the series, this trend among young people is tied to religion's association with socially conservative politics. Take Melissa Adelman, 30, a participant in a roundtable about religion that Greene had with six young adults. The Evolution of God - by Robert Wright. Newtown Tragedy: Would A Good God Allow Such Evil? Hide captionPeople gather for a prayer vigil at St. Rose Church in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14. In the aftermath of such tragedies, many people ask how a benevolent God and suffering can coexist.
Emmanuel Dunand/Getty Images People gather for a prayer vigil at St. Rose Church in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14. Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence. Robert Wright Interviews Jonathan Haidt. Humanism is an impossible dream. Reading to the end of a recent press release I discovered that the British Humanist Association proclaims that it is "the national charity representing and supporting the non-religious and campaigning for an end to religious privilege and discrimination based on religion or belief. It exists to support and represent people who seek to live good and responsible lives without religious or superstitious beliefs.
" I realised that though I know what this means clearly enough, it's actually an entirely impossible dream. American Mystic The Movie - Empire8 Productions. Snoop Dogg "Reincarnated" as Snoop Lion - Press Conference. The Fabric of the Cosmos: What Is Space? Curiosity with Stephen Hawking, Did God Create the Universe? Einstein & Faith. David Haskell Finds Biology Zen in a Patch of Nature. When Einstein Met Tagore.