What's wrong with religion? Ask a bishop
Plenty of people outside religion believe they know what's wrong with it, but we decided to ask an insider – the former bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway, whose excellent new memoir Leaving Alexandria (Canongate) details how doubts about his faith, frustration at vicious in-fighting and the church's repressive attitude to sex led him to leave organised religion behind. Here's what he told us.
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- As we reported back in April, Sanal Edamaruku, leading Indian rationalist and scourge of fakirs and charlatans, is facing prosecution for blasphemy in India, after the Catholic Church made complaints about his myth-busting to the authorities. We have been in touch with Sanal and asked him to clarify what's happening, what... Read full post Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku vs the Catholic Church - lend your support
From the Archive
To tell the truth (Spring 2001)- Is belief in religion and belief in science the same kind of thing, asks philosopher Daniel Dennett
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In the May/June 2012 issue
- Q&A: Shazia Mirza
- Taboo-busting comic Shazia Mirza has combined an international reputation for close-to-the-bone gags with a belief in Islam. But now she faces her greatest challenge as she submits to New Humanist’s very own inquisition
- Curiouser and curiouser
- It means both inquisitive and odd, and drives human discovery. Philip Ball traces a curious history
- The death of American secularism
- Who is America's leading secularist? Thats right, there isn't one. And if someone effective doesn't start speaking up for the seperation of church and state soon, it could be lost for good, argues Jacques Berlinerblau
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