Friends like these
Attacks on New Atheism, especially from fellow atheists, are ill-advised, counter productive and play into the hands of the religion apologists, argues Ophelia Benson
Faith & Religion
Great pretender
Feminist icon, anti-Catholic fabrication – or just a woman battling in a man’s world? Sally Feldman uncovers the mysteries of Pope Joan
Film review: The Last Exorcism
This horror mockumentary is both charming and frightening, says Fred Rowson. But didn't somebody already do an exorcism movie?
Faith in the market
Useless tat has long played a part in Catholic life – and now the Church itself is getting in on the act, says Belinda Webb
Sins of the Father
Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson tells Matthew Adams why the Pope must take responsibility for the crisis in his Church
Mint on the breath
A corrupt priest, an abused child, a knife. The dreadful consequences of clerical child abuse unfold in a specially written short story by Mark Say
“To forgive, divine?”
Is forgiveness just for the devout? asks Eve Garrad
Stargazer
David Wootton, author of a new biography, uncovers evidence that Galileo really was a heretic
There will be blood
Butchery is always a messy business, but is religiously inspired ritual slaughter really worse than other methods? Physiologist Harold Hillman dissects the evidence
Q&A: Marilynne Robinson
She has won the Pulitzer and Orange prizes for her fiction, and been called the greatest writer of prose in the English language. With her new book she enters the…