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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Taking Scientology Seriously?
Over at The Chronicle, Seth Perry reviews two recent books on Scientology, Janet Reitman’s Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion... Read more
Posted on 05 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, RELIGION -
Swerving with Lucretius
It is nice to see Lucretius finally getting his due. In The Swerve: How The World Became Modern, Stephen Greenblatt pays homage to the Roman poet (and his... Read more
Posted on 04 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Entoptics Or Doodles: Children of the Cave
There was a time when Paleolithic cave paintings were construed primarily through the lens of “art,” an interpretive stance which assumes that at least some... Read more
Posted on 01 October 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Troubled Grandeur in This View of Life
In the celebrated closing of the Origin of Species, Darwin hits his lyrical stride with a paradox: Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the... Read more
Posted on 28 September 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
The Devil’s Dictionary
In The Devil’s Dictionary (online), great American cynic and writer Ambrose Bierce offers definitions that trouble common understandings and received wisdoms.... Read more
Posted on 28 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Moral Premise: Promise Keeping
Making and keeping promises is a hallmark of human behavior that many consider to be a cornerstone of “morality.” As such, it is often linked to religion. Read more
Posted on 26 September 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Etruscan Rite & Roman Religion
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” With this famous sentence, Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins his masterful critique of political power. Read more
Posted on 24 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Between Christian Rock & Science Hard Place
Yesterday on NPR, Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan conducted a fascinating interview (“Christians Divided Over Science of Human Origins“) with Daniel Harlow,... Read more
Posted on 23 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Open Access Articles on Neolithic Transition
As regular readers of the blog know, there are profound differences in supernatural beliefs and practices before and after the Neolithic transition. Read more
Posted on 22 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY -
Consciousness, Dreams & The Supernatural
The notion of binaries or opposites is deeply entrenched in Western culture and thought. Although it seems perfectly natural to perceive and categorize the worl... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Forgotten Founder: James George Frazer
The standard origins story of cultural anthropology includes two founders: Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) and Henry Lewis Morgan (1818-1881). Unlike most... Read more
Posted on 19 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Neolithic Death & Paleolithic Life
It is well known that the modern world religions which trace their origins to the Axial Age are centrally concerned with death. Some might call this concern an... Read more
Posted on 14 September 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Humans Naturally But Rarely Cooperative
A recent press release from Washington University in St. Louis touts a new book, Origins of Altruism and Cooperation, edited by anthropologist Robert Sussman:... Read more
Posted on 13 September 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, RELIGION -
China as Neolithic Exemplar
The actor David Carradine may have led a troubled life but he experienced no such trouble as Kwai Chang Caine, a Buddhist monk on the move in the old American... Read more
Posted on 11 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Exorcists, Creationists & Maccabees
Last night the Discovery Channel premiered “The Exorcist Files.” When initially announced, the show was touted as a partnership between Discovery and the... Read more
Posted on 09 September 2011 DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Smashing Dennett’s Spell
Several years ago I read Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (2006). It wasn’t easy. This is not because Dennett’s ideas and... Read more
Posted on 07 September 2011 BOOKS, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
No Bull: The Mithras Cult & Christianity
In his 1880 Hibbert Lecture on the history of early Christianity, Ernest Renan commented: “I sometimes permit myself to say that, if Christianity had not carrie... Read more
Posted on 05 September 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Mesopotamian Religion: Prelude to Axial Age
Between 800 and 200 BCE, a remarkable series of sages, mystics, and thinkers gave rise to the transcendental traditions that are known today as “world... Read more
Posted on 31 August 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Marines Teach “True” Islam in Afghanistan
It is always a sign of war going badly when the US mounts a “winning hearts and minds” campaign to go alongside conventional military operations. Read more
Posted on 30 August 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
The Zoroastrian Ethic & Spirit of Modernity
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), Max Weber sought to correct or temper Karl Marx’s view that religion was always a reflection or... Read more
Posted on 27 August 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION