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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Bones, Burials and Ancestors
Death is big business. This past year, Americans spent $15 billion on funeral related expenses. Americans are not outliers when it comes to death spending;... Read more
Posted on 25 May 2011 BIOLOGY, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Hindu Caste & Capitalism
Are capitalism and Christianity compatible? This is the bizarre question asked by Mario Gómez-Zimmerman in “The Capitalist Structures of Hinduism. Read more
Posted on 24 May 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, RELIGION -
Apocalypse Delayed
While in Africa the past month I heard only two bits of news. The first was that Osama bin Laden had been killed. Good riddance. Read more
Posted on 23 May 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY -
Oxford’s “Explaining Religion Project”
There is no shortage of research projects whose aim is to “explain religion” or the “evolution of religion.” In addition to the Evolution of Religion Project... Read more
Posted on 27 April 2011 BIOLOGY, DEBATE, RELIGION -
The Metaphysics of Heavy Metal
There are many ways to think and write about heavy metal music, but few have tapped its dark heart better than James Parker. Over at The Atlantic, Parker makes... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2011 CULTURE, SCIENCE -
The Sins of an Evolutionary Psychologist
In a recent essay on the cult of David Foster Wallace, Nathan Heller notes that DFW’s mature work deals with the crisis of contemporary pluralism: “how to... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE -
The Sins of Evolutionary Psychology
In 1902, Rudyard Kipling published his wonderfully imaginative Just So Stories. What child does not thrill to learn “How the Camel Got His Hump” or “How the... Read more
Posted on 20 April 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION, SCIENCE -
Supernatural Punishment Theory: History Free Zone?
Over at the Evolution of Religion Project, Dominic Johnson comments on the first target article which will appear in what promises to be a fantastic new journal... Read more
Posted on 19 April 2011 BIOLOGY, RELIGION -
Evolution of Religion Project: Is “Adaptation” Code for “Design”?
Several months ago I became aware of the “Evolution of Religion” project, which maintains a website here. I did not find it particularly interesting because... Read more
Posted on 18 April 2011 DEBATE, RELIGION -
Tricksters, Selfishness & Altruism
In evolutionary biology, few issues have caused more debate than altruism or what appears to be altruism. It is generally accepted that selection operates on... Read more
Posted on 16 April 2011 BIOLOGY, HISTORY, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Mountain Dwarfs and Earthquakes
Before there were materialist explanations of nature’s unpredictable fury, there were stories. These stories were not mere entertainment, but were attempts to... Read more
Posted on 14 April 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Religions as Metaphors
From time to time I find it salutary to make confessions, even if the acknowledgment brands me as a philistine. One such confession is that I love Ray Bradbury. Read more
Posted on 13 April 2011 BIOLOGY, RELIGION -
Gay Cavemen & Buried Shamans
This past week, British newspapers carried sensational headlines about an archaeological find in Prague: “First Homosexual Caveman Found” (The Telegraph) and... Read more
Posted on 10 April 2011 HISTORY, RELIGION -
Catholic Justices Serve Their Master Well
The Catholic boys club that is the United States Supreme Court really outdid themselves in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (April 4, 2011)... Read more
Posted on 07 April 2011 DEBATE, LEGAL, RELIGION -
Guns & Decline of Hunting Magic
This statement from an Inuit elder reveals the logic of hunting magic: Now that we have firearms it is almost as if we no longer need shamans, or taboo, for... Read more
Posted on 06 April 2011 HISTORY, RELIGION -
Shamans as Storytellers
It is a well known fact that in many pre-state or small-scale societies where shamanic practices prevail, shamans are expert storytellers and keepers of... Read more
Posted on 05 April 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Storytelling Gone Wild
Humans everywhere are inveterate storytellers. Because storytelling, in the form of narrative, is found in all cultures and is structurally similar — with agent... Read more
Posted on 03 April 2011 BIOLOGY, CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Stone Age Germans
At one elementary school in Germany, the fifth grade curriculum includes a unit on the “Stone Age.” As an anthropologist, I have to say this sounds great in... Read more
Posted on 01 April 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, RELIGION -
Upper Paleolithic Female Figurines
Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day researching Upper Paleolithic “Venus” figurines. These female figurines began appearing in the Danube corridor... Read more
Posted on 31 March 2011 CULTURE, HISTORY, RELIGION -
Extinction of Religion
The BBC’s Jason Palmer reports on a new study which suggests that “religion may go extinct” in nine nations (Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland... Read more
Posted on 27 March 2011 CULTURE, DEBATE, HISTORY, RELIGION