Much blood has been shed during human history in the name of religion. Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826) knew this all too well. Here are Jefferson’s very words: “Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned” (“Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVII,” 1781-1782). It Read more
Here’s a question for you. To what degree do you understand the key principles of the world’s major religions? Judaism. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism? And how did you develop that knowledge? Through school? Your parents? The media? Your church, perhaps? Or maybe through your own research? I’ll put up my hand and say that Read more
Our so-called ‘God’s own’ country is fast becoming anything but. A century ago New Zealand was one of most religious places on the planet, with the great majority of Kiwis, Pākehā and Māori alike, believing in some form of Christianity. Fast forward a few generations and not only Christianity, but belief in any form of Read more
In a recent episode of the CBS show Madam Secretary, there’s a scene where the Secretary of State’s husband—a renowned religion professor—is offered a position leading a special intelligence taskforce to track down Islamic terrorists. “Your religious expertise should be invaluable,” the president and his chief of staff tell Dr. McCord when they offer him Read more
Let’s imagine a circle like a large bicycle wheel. The circle has paths resembling spokes converging in the centre. On the outer edge, my path may seem at a distance from other paths, maybe even opposite; but as I progress towards the centre, the other paths come closer until all unite as one. The circle, Read more
Latest figures show an 18% increase in the numbers attending services in England’s Anglican Cathedrals between 2005 and 2015. On average 36,700 people,adults and children, attended cathedral services each week in 2015. Almost all of the increase in attendance over the past decade has been in increasing midweek attendance. But in 2015 attendance at Sunday Read more
Religion is big business. Just how big? A new study, published Wednesday by a father-daughter researcher team, says religion is bigger than Facebook, Google and Apple — combined. The article in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion said that the annual revenues of faith-based enterprises — not just churches but hospitals, schools, charities and even Read more
Tim Wilson is a changed man. In the past four years he has converted to Catholicism, met and married singer/songwriter Rachel, and had two “sparkling” children — Roman, 17 months, and Felix, five months — whose existence lights him up from the inside like a sky lantern. For those readers who might confuse fiction for Read more
The standard narrative of American religious decline goes something like this: A few hundred years ago, European and American intellectuals began doubting the validity of God as an explanatory mechanism for natural life. As science became a more widely accepted method for investigating and understanding the physical world, religion became a less viable way of Read more
The world is at war, but it’s not at heart a religious conflict, Pope Francis says. He was speaking, ahead of his visit to Poland, to reporters seeking his comments on the murder of a Catholic priest by French jihadists on Tuesday. As soon as the plane took off from Rome enroute to Krakow, Vatican Read more