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Religion News

2013-10-26T22:38:36-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Trust issues? The answer might be rhythm

Last updated on: October 26, 2013 at 10:38 pm By Connor Wood

Why do religions have rituals like bowing or praying in time with a group? Recent research from New Zealand shows that moving or chanting in sync helps people act more generously – especially if they’ve worked hard to stay in time with each other. Read more

Religion and ethics

Scientific study of religion

2014-12-14T19:15:15-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A friendly reminder: Science isn’t reality. Reality is reality.

Last updated on: December 14, 2014 at 7:15 pm By Connor Wood

The complementary opposite of science isn't religion, but embodiment. Despite their incredible effectiveness, scientific models and ideas are not reality. Only reality is reality. So stop trying to capture the entire world with theories, and get in your body instead. Read more

Atheism

Editorial

Most Popular

Religion and perception

2014-01-03T16:33:45-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why Are There Atheists?

Last updated on: January 3, 2014 at 4:33 pm By Connor Wood

Certain aspects of personality orientation may naturally lead some people to religious belief and others to nonbelief; compared with religious believers atheists tend to be less social, more individualistic, and less socially conforming. At the same time, atheists’ characteristic suspicion of authority and skepticism of tradition may make them the natural choice for producing novel and creative solutions to problems. Read more

Atheism

Modern culture and religion

personality differences

2014-12-14T19:16:15-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Civil Religion: It’s What America Needs

Last updated on: December 14, 2014 at 7:16 pm By Connor Wood

As political battles reach new heights, and the fabric of the nation seems stretched to its breaking point, civic religion – responsible, earnest, and humble, fully aware of our tarnished history – might be exactly what we need. Read more

Editorial

Ideology and religion

Modern culture and religion

2013-10-08T12:46:35-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why conservatives hate Obamacare

Last updated on: October 8, 2013 at 12:46 pm By Connor Wood

Conservatives worry that offloading social responsibilities to an impersonal, systemic platform will corrode the collective bonds of daily, local life. But they aren’t very good at expressing this fear, and progressives aren’t very good at understanding it. Read more

Editorial

Modern culture and religion

Most Popular

Religion and ethics

affordable health care

2013-09-18T00:12:33-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ritual reduces life’s noise-to-signal ratio

Last updated on: September 18, 2013 at 12:12 am By Connor Wood

Our world is filled with unspoken social conventions that transform messy, continuous information into clearer, binary data. Ritual is one of them. Anthropologist Roy Rappaport claimed that ritual, the "cybernetics of the holy," simplifies and streamlines social information so that there's less noise in the signal of culture. Read more

Religion and perception

Scientific study of religion

cybernetics of the holy

signal-to-noise ratio

traditions

wedding

2013-09-05T01:21:02-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ritual creates tribes…and tribalism

Last updated on: September 5, 2013 at 1:21 am By Connor Wood

In a lot of ways religion is a Catch-22. It primes us to be strongly bonded to the people around us, which is one of the single biggest predictors of personal happiness, health, and life satisfaction. But the stronger our tribes get, the more outsiders look like enemies. The solution to this Catch-22 is to learn as much as we possibly can about religion, ritual, and their place in human life. Read more

Costly investment theory

Evolution

Religion and prejudice

2013-08-27T15:05:30-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Calling an End to the Culture Wars

Last updated on: August 27, 2013 at 3:05 pm By Connor Wood

Connor Wood argues that conservative and liberal thought are both invaluable: conservatives are experts on how to build and maintain small communities, while liberals focus best on big-picture and abstract problems. Do we need both to survive? Read more

Editorial

Ideology and religion

Modern culture and religion

2013-10-27T09:55:47-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Steven Pinker: Stop bashing religion. You’re hurting science.

Last updated on: October 27, 2013 at 9:55 am By Connor Wood

If you force people to choose between traditional meaning and objective knowledge, they will choose meaning – and I don’t blame them. So, Dr. Pinker, please, get off your smug horse and stop bashing religion, spiritual beliefs, and traditions when advocating science. Our descendants will thank you. Read more

Atheism

Editorial

Modern culture and religion

2013-08-16T14:14:37-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The “Religion vs. Creativity” Debate Rages On

Last updated on: August 16, 2013 at 2:14 pm By Connor Wood

Even in the most integrated, holistic community, where everyone shares the same basic cosmological assumptions, some people are going to be more willing to rock the boat and generate new ideas than others.…In a large-scale, cosmopolitan culture like our own, novelty-seekers don't necessarily have an intact web of culture to keep them engaged, and they may be more likely to fall victim to the kinds of self-destructive behavior that tightly-knit communities work against: alcoholism, drug abuse, and reading Charles Bukowski. Read more

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Ideology and religion

Modern culture and religion

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