Volume 119 Issue 3 May/June 2004

Cover Story

Worthless values: Simon Hoggart says politics must be personal
Springtime for India: Michael Binyon weighs up the votes
Truly wonderful: Pádraig Reidy learns to love himself and his mother
The final cut: Jodie Reed cautiously applauds new legislation against a cruel cultural practice
Fighting talk: Laurie Taylor takes a walk on the wild side
The scandal of our time: Editorial
Where the atheists roam: Christopher Duva longs for a godless homeland

War on error: Stuart Sim argues we must fight fire with reason
Escape from Fallujah: Jo Wilding is in Iraq as part of a humanitarian effort working with traumatised children. She ended up escorting ambulances to hospitals in the besieged town of Fallujah. Here she tells of her departure from the city as US troops moved in to crush the Iraqi revolt, and her terrifying kidnapping by local mujahedeen
What's so funny about cross-dressing?: Our attitude towards transvestism says more about us than we realise, writes Charlotte Suthrell
Learning to fly: Laurie Taylor interviews Ralph Steadman: Ralph Steadman tells Laurie Taylor how he became such a bother
Market of opinions: The founder of the Gallup Organisation once said: "I could prove God statistically." How much should we trust these pollsters, asks Frank Jordans
Panic in the streets: Bill Durodie wonders what makes us all so anxious
Take it on the chin: Having banned the wearing of Muslim headscarves in schools, the French government is now considering excluding beards if worn for religious reasons. Sally Feldman wonders what other reasons there might be

Evolution with primates: Mark Pagel isnt just a third chimpanzee
The Moral of the Tale: Andrew Tudor on how cinema bears the Cross
Counterfeit liberals: David Bate analyses the surrealists dark view of humanism
Double Exposure: A poem by Fleur Adcock
Secular songs: Tony Russell sings the Blues
Upper-crust manouvres: Chris Paling joins high society
Practical philosophy: Jonathan Derbyshire enjoys a fresh look at Bertrand Russell
Riot of metaphors: Sally Feldman struggles with Jeanette Wintersons symbolic prose
Good God!: Julian Baggini on how modern French philosophy found God
Soviet antisemitism: Eliane Glaser learns about two extraordinary Russian matriarchs