It’s the faith, stupid!
Social scientist Olivier Roy has been tracking religion for three decades. Caspar Melville talks to him about his new book Holy Ignorance
Faith & Religion
Film review: Of Gods and Men
This depiction of the last days of seven monks murdered by extremists has been widely celebrated, but its questionable take on Christian devotion is ultimately dissatisfying, says Fred Rowson
Hot type
Andrew Mueller revels in the vituperative opinions of HL Mencken
Book review: Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong
Ophelia Benson finds Karen Armstrong's spiritual manifesto lacking in spirit and laughs
Careless talk?
Some secularists believe that any communication with believers amounts to collaboration. Paul Sims isn’t so sure
Bad Faith Awards 2010
Who gave the silliest sermon or pious pronouncement of the past year? Thousands of you voted and the results are in
Inside the mind of Scientology’s Messiah
Twenty-five years after his death, Michael Bywater revisits the sacred texts of the pulp science writer turned prophet L Ron Hubbard
The Blair-Hitch project
Hitchens debating religion with Blair in Toronto was a heavyweight contest worth staying up for. Matthew Adams keeps the scores
People get ready
A new exhibition of James Barnor’s photography provides a route-map of Afro-Modernism. Kobena Mercer gets it in focus
Science, God’s Philosophers and the Dark Ages
The claims made by James Hannam regarding the birth of modern science in the Middle Ages do not stand up to scrutiny, says Charles Freeman