Volume 119 Issue 6 November/December 2004

Cover Story

Love thine enemy: Not long ago, humanists could feel that theirs was the way of the future. But now, Dave Belden argues, we will need to relearn how to make common cause with religious progressives

Press for change: Despite the draconian restrictions placed on the lives of women in Iran, their position is gradually transforming thanks to a vibrant and varied womens media, say Gholam Khiabany and Annabelle Sreberny
Decent, honest and truthful?: Frank Jordans uncovers the spiritual loophole that allows healers, clairvoyants and mystics to advertise their bogus wares
Carolina dreaming: Fletcher Crossman assesses the chances of the Christian Exodus movement
Blood on their cassocks: Linda Melvern reveals the role of the Catholic Church in the Rwandan genocide
God of small meetings: Laurie Taylor asks for a show of hands. Wine will be served later
Charm offensive: Can doffing change the world? Pádraig Reidy joins Civilise the City in its march against vulgarity
PM tension: Relativism is still relevant, says Stuart Sim
Divine comedy: Popetowns associate producer, Stacy Herbert, on the farcical story of how the BBC bowed to religious pressure
Halo inflation: Behind the grand ceremonies attended by faithful pilgrims, says Raffaella Malaguti, there is a complex agenda and a Pope who has become the most prolific saint maker in history
'Yids, spicks and spades': It's Martin Rowson gone mad!

Domestic bliss!: As women become liberated from domestic drudgery, are they in danger of losing something fundamental? Lesley Johnson and Justine Lloyd reassess the housewife
Points of departure: More and more people are choosing humanist funerals. But what if you're after something a little more exotic? Sally Feldman suggests a new marriage of the secular and the sacred
The Golden Rule of Compassion: Laurie Taylor interviews Karen Armstrong: Karen Armstrong tells Laurie Taylor that religion is more about doing than believing
Shock and awe: Is the idea of 'the sacred' available to atheists? Richard Norman navigates the widely differing views at a recent humanist conference
Sailing to Byzantium: Anti-Enlightenment dogma is creeping into public life in Orthodox eastern Europe, says Christopher Lord

Throwing Up: Chris Paling is left queasy by Alice Walker
Smoke and Mirrors: Wendy Grossman learns a few tricks from Jim Steinmeyer
Private Urgencies: Sarah Lawson is wowed by a progressive poet
Legacy of Cruelty: Sally Feldman on a rich new novel by Jane Gardam
Spectre at the Feast: Jim Herrick enters the murky world of the ghost writer
Grounds for Optimism: Alison Ainley asks a philosopher what it's all about
Beats, rhymes and grime: As record companies play safe by producing bland supermarket pop, Caspar Melville hopes an unlikely contender - British hip hop - will succeed in bringing music back to life
Frontline Films: Mitchell Miller on two close-up views of the Arab-Israeli conflict
No More Manifestos: Colin Ward wants less talk and more action
'Witless Vulgarity': A new study of reality TV audiences challenges lazy assumptions about the shows and their viewers. Annette Hill wants the critics to take a fresh look