New Humanist Update

Just how influential are evangelicals in US politics? The Bush team turned them into a firmly Republican constituency but, as James Crabtree finds, a shift to the grassroots means the Democrats are wise to be courting the religious vote.

What do you do if a tantrik guru claims he could kill you armed only with mystic mantras? If you're Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, you challenge him to do so live on Indian TV.

There's plenty of irrationality in this issue, including Peter C Kjaergaard's report on the rise of creationism in Europe. You may have thought it's largely an American problem, but Europeans are adopting US tactics, assisted by a well-funded Muslim contingent.

Staying with Islam, on a recent trip to the Middle East Winston Fletcher embarked on an admirable quest to get sloshed in Syria. In the process he found that Muslim attitudes to alcohol are inconsistent to say the least.

As are Western attitudes to the trappings of civilisation, if the popularity of summer music festivals is anything to go by. Music journalist Andrew Mueller explains why he's happy to forego such pleasures as chemical toilets, mud, terrible acoustics and idiots with whistles.

Take a look at the rest of this issue, including Doug Ireland's look at the doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan and Sally Feldman's paean to high heels.

Israel is 60 this week and to mark the occasion we asked two Jewish writers to consider what the country means for them.

For Mike Marqusee, author If I Am Not For Myself: Journey of an anti-Zionist Jew, the founding of Israel should be remembered instead as a historic and ongoing catastrophe, and not just for the Palestinians.

Eliane Glaser, a secular Jew from London, has shares these reservations about the political and military state of Israel, but they cannot completely override her attachments to the Mediterranean country where her great-grandparents made their home.

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