March / April 2015

Is Islam Violent? The Answer Isn’t as Simple as Many Think

ALLOW ME to describe a familiar course of events. Somewhere in the world, extremists carry out a terrorist attack in the name of Islam. In the days and weeks following, a series of opinion pieces are published either attacking Islam for violence or denying it bears any responsibility. Critics may...

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Features

Up Front

Religious Nationalism

It is hard to believe that the conflicts currently ravaging the Middle East could get much worse, yet the refusal of numerous parties to make substantive compromises on key issues is increasingly likely to lead to...

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Columns

Reviews

Elsewhere in the Humanist:

What a Tiny Virus Can Teach Us

"WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER." If a pandemic can be said to have a slogan, this was surely it. Please, don’t take my word for it. Let’s ask Google. As a search term, “together” drifted along for the past year, until it...

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Elsewhere in the Humanist:

Philosophy in a Time of Pandemic

IN JANUARY Vintage Books published How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Own Personal Philosophy, edited by Massimo Pigliucci, Skye C. Cleary, and Daniel A. Kaufman. In the vein of Socrates and his dictum on the futility of...

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Elsewhere in the Humanist:

I Testify: Congress Must Push for the Repeal of Blasphemy Laws Abroad

On January 28, 2020, the testimony of Rafida Bonya Ahmed, a humanist activist and author, was presented before the United States House of Representatives in a joint hearing on “Ending Global Religious Persecution.” For the first time ever, a humanist was called...

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Elsewhere in the Humanist:

Populists and Progressives

“Do you believe in a citizen’s right to gun ownership?” “I do.” “Do you believe that the life of an unborn child should be protected?” “I do.” “And do you believe that religious freedom should be restored and expanded?” “I do.” “Then,...

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