Volume 122 Issue 2 March/April 2007

Editorial: I respect your ignorance: Humanists are not dogmatists obsessed with belief, says Caspar Melville

Cover Stories

Hostile takeover: A powerful coalition is trying to define Europe as Christian. And, warns Donald Sassoon, they must be stopped at once

End Game: Smarty pants: Laurie Taylor finds he's too clever for his own good

Bad vibrations: AC Grayling reports on the battle for the soul of a science
Miracle workers: The Vatican is fast-tracking Pope John Paul's canonisation. But, as Toby Saul discovered, he has still got something to prove
Naughty but nice: Contemporary pornography is a hideous distortion of the joys of sex. Yet, argues Nina Power, it could all have been so different
Dancing with dinosaurs: The Christian right is on the rise in America – thanks to the disastrous effects of globalisation, writes Chris Hedges
Anti-God squad: Caspar Melville speaks to the Rational Response Squad, America's new web-savvy atheist activists
Slice of life: For some it's barbaric, for others a religious imperative. But why, asks Sally Feldman, is circumcision still the most frequently performed operation in the world?
Secret openings: You don't have to be religious to experience inexplicable moments of epiphany, argues Laurie Taylor
Schools for scoundrels: Religious groups are rushing to take advantage of the Blair government's new education policy, reports Francis Beckett. And guess who's paying for it?

Raise the roof: Moses Kamya thanks New Humanist readers for their generous donations following the construction of a new classroom block at the Mustard Seed school, Uganda
Diary: Comedian Robin Ince is blinded by science
Thinker: Adam Smith: Nicholas Phillipson explains why the ideas of Adam Smith are still common currency today

Murder City: The Bloody History of Chicago in the Twenties by Michael Lesy: Michael Binyon is not blown away by the Windy City
Terra Nullius: A Journey Through No One's Land by Sven Lundqvist: Daniel Miller is battered and bruised by Sven Lundqvist
The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Herschel's Astronomical Ambitions by Claire Brock: Brenda Maddox is swept off her feet by an astronomical biography
The Blackest Bird: A Novel of History and Murder by Joel Rose: Martina Evans is haunted by the ghost of Poe
How Life Imitates Chess by Garry Kasparov: Winston Fletcher takes on Kasparov, and wins
Karoo by Steve Tesich: Michael Bywater rediscovers a masterly comic tragedy