Cris
MY BLOGS
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Genealogy of Religion
http://genealogyreligion.net/
Exploring the Origins, History, and Future of Religion
LATEST ARTICLES ( 560 )
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Religion in America: The View from Britain
I always find it amusing when our British cousins, being a bit older and often wiser, look at the American scene and feel compelled to give us a gentle... Read more
Posted on 18 December 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY -
Give Us Our Daily Bread
Here are some last minute gift ideas for those who like inspiration with their daily carmelized bread: The seller suggests that quality is beside the... Read more
Posted on 17 December 2011 RELIGION -
Searching for the Elusive God Effect
Physicists may soon confirm the actual existence of the Higgs boson or God particle. It must exist or their models don’t work and the math is all wrong, which... Read more
Posted on 16 December 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Eating Bodies & Drinking Spirits
For historians and theorists of religion, one of the more useful exercises is to compare and contrast the religions of indigenous peoples whose economies or... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Scientists Sell Souls to Saudis
In today’s news we learn that Saudi Arabia is on the one hand buying Western academic prestige and on the other beheading a woman accused of practicing... Read more
Posted on 12 December 2011 DEBATE -
Lion-Man Or Lioness-Woman?
The Lion-Man figurine from Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in southwestern Germany is one of the oldest and most spectacular Paleolithic figurines. It is approximately... Read more
Posted on 10 December 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Altruism in Religionless Rats
No one who has ever kept rats as pets (as I have) will be surprised by a study that appeared in yesterday’s Science and is getting major media coverage. In... Read more
Posted on 09 December 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
“Theological Anthropology”
What is the meaning of this dubious concatenation? I’m not sure but am sure that it should be bracketed with scare quotes at all times. Read more
Posted on 08 December 2011 BIOLOGY, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
There’s Spiritual Power Inside a Woman
“I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart,... Read more
Posted on 06 December 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Known and Unknown
Jerry Coyne has been on a tear lately; even if I don’t agree with everything he says I admire his willingness to tackle the big issues and talk straight. He... Read more
Posted on 05 December 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE -
Universal Shamanism: The Japanese Context
In religious studies and popular usage, the term “universal” is used to describe religions which are open to all and transcend ethnic, geographic, political, an... Read more
Posted on 03 December 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Dreams, Trance & Visions
There can be little doubt that fluctuations in consciousness are a major contributing factor to beliefs in the supernatural. Although there are other aspects... Read more
Posted on 29 November 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Iroquois Religion & Group Level Selection
While browsing at my local bookstore yesterday and looking for a diversionary read, I serendipitously discovered The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Nazi (Christian) Theism
Almost immediately after the German surrender in May 1945, people began trying to explain what had happened. The horrors of the Nazi regime were such that almos... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Out of Symbolic Africa
When fully modern humans left Africa, their journey is often described as the “colonization” or “peopling” of the world. Characterizing things this way can... Read more
Posted on 22 November 2011 BIOLOGY, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Possibilities Paralysis
Since Erich Fromm published his classic Escape from Freedom or Fear of Freedom in 1942, the psychological study of freedom — or unfettered choice — has been a... Read more
Posted on 22 November 2011 DEBATE, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION -
Requiem for the Gods
When I hear atheists proclaiming their good news that gods are well and truly dead, I get the uneasy feeling they haven’t seriously considered or fully... Read more
Posted on 19 November 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Blooming and Buzzing
Wondering whether this election will herald the coming of a presidential prophet, Harold Bloom is in rare form in this masterpiece of compression on Romney the... Read more
Posted on 17 November 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
Animate Motion & Religion
While working on the Göbekli Tepe Series, a reader suggested some possible intersections with the work of Julian Jaynes. At her suggestion I’m reading The... Read more
Posted on 15 November 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Haeckel’s Mystical Monism
A place for everything and everything in its place. This is not just a mantra for those with obsessive tendencies. It also describes the drive that some have... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION