Volume 127 Issue 4 July/August 2012
- Editorial: Hope for heathens
- Without religion, can atheists have hope?
Cover Story
- Hope against hope
- One of the selling points of religion is that it offers hope in a heartless world. Does that mean those without religion are also without hope? Julian Baggini looks on the bright side
Columns
- A Green religion?
- Anti-science dogma is damaging environmentalism, says James Gray
- Ghost towns and checkpoints
- In the West Bank, Bidisha observes the psychological consequences of Israeli occupation
- The tax battle turns Biblical
- Those arguing for tax cuts are finding justification in the Old Testament. Martin Robbins reports
- Science needs philosophy
- The fad for using science to explain everything is misguided and dangerous, says Massimo Pigliucci
- Interfaith needs atheists
- Dialogue events play a vital role in engaging children in debates about religion. It's time more atheists were involved, says Stephen Shashoua of the Three Faiths Forum
Features
- True crime
- Campaigning death row lawyer Clive Stafford Smith’s latest book is a gripping real-life thriller, but the ending remains a mystery. Caspar Melville meets him
- Q&A: Iain Banks
- The author of 26 literary and science fiction novels, Iain Banks is a bestseller across two genres. New Humanist interrupted his writing to probe his views on life and the universe, and hear why he’s embarrassed for Homo Sapiens as a species
- Still reaching: New Humanist interviews John Amaechi
- He’s played basketball at the highest level and was the first major league sportsman in America to come out as gay. Now he’s a psychologist, an OBE and an outspoken atheist. Musa Okwonga gets the measure of John Amaechi
- Mormon momentum
- With Mitt Romney all but confirmed as the Republican nominee for the Presidency the US is having a bit of a 'Mormon Moment'. But will he attract the all-important votes from evangelicals who don't think Mormonism is a proper faith? Abby Ohlheiser reports
- Down with secularism!
- We all think it's a good idea to keep religion away from politics, don't we? Richard Smyth begs to differ
- Moral compass: a guide to religious freedom
- Is it legitimate to ban the burqa? Should an employee be allowed to wear a cross at work? Should gay marriage be legalised? Find your way through the ethical thicket with Kenan Malik's step-by-step guide to the logic of tolerance
- Who wants to live for ever?
- Thinking machines, eternal life, space colonisation, neon bunnies – no, not science fiction but soon-to-be-realised science fact, according to a new generation of futurologists. But who are they, and can they be serious? Adam Smith takes you on a whistlestop tour of this brave new world, with five of the most prominent groups. Illustrations by Martin Rowson
Regulars
- Ring of fire
- Visitors flock to the Poles to observe the natural wonder of the aurora. But they witness a mere fraction of what can be seen from space, explains Marcus Chown
- Endgame: Racing the Popemobile
- Laurie Taylor beats the Pontiff
Culture
- Fairest of them all
- Each retelling of Snow White holds a mirror up to contemporary attitudes to women. Sally Feldman ventures into the woods to find out more
- Self worship
- The Will Self Club have made the sesquipedalian writer their God, boast ridiculous robes and titles, and hold literary orgies. Cult, religion, or postmodern joke? Founder Sam Mills explains
- The cult of science
- In his latest book the great iconoclast Bruno Latour turns his gaze on religious belief, and unbelief, and argues that there is less difference between science and religion than atheists like to think. Does he convince? asks Jonathan Rée
Book Reviews
- Book review: The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus
- Philip Womack experiments with the new Ben Marcus novel
- Book review: I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits
- Mark Say on Anouk Markovits' novel about Orthodox Judaism
- Book review: Connectome by Sebastian Seung
- Moheb Costandi on the latest big idea in neuroscience
