Arguments are well developed and supported, with liberal use of examples. Makes it easy for me to understand complex subjects. Very neutral treatment of the people discussed.

A good long piece on the thinking of one scholar (S. Atran). This article delves into adaptive evolutionary biology, considering cognitive adaptations. It poses the question whether the human susceptibility to faith ("the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen") is adaptive in itself, or merely a side-effect of other cognitive adaptations. The article, wisely, avoids picking sides in religion vs. atheism, but recounts some of the arguments. But it could have been stronger in critiquing the triumphalistic fallacy underlying evolutionary biology. The fallacy is this: We humans are good, therefore traits we share in common are good, therefore we can assume that evolution (random mutation and mass suffering) ... More »

Practically tailor made for NewsTrust's Atheism and Faith discussion. This is an excellent article (and long - but fascinating if you have any interest in the current thinking of science on the matter of God) with depth to spare. It focuses primarily on two trains of thought within the field of evolutionary biology (adaptionists and byproduct theorists) and discusses how both of these fit within the context of the current religion/neo-atheist discussion (not NewsTrust's but society's).

A detailed account of the views and work of Scott Atran, as well as numerous philosophical trends on the evolutionary origins of religion. It is well worth a read for the diverse information the writer provided. The piece would have been far more interesting and balanced if the writer has probed deeper into the evolutionary origins and advantages of atheism, which predated modern science in many cultures around the wordl and was the dominant ideology in some, such as Confuscianism in China.

ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG demonstrates that you can write an inquiring piece on religion without ad hominum arguments or other logical fallacies. A fair examination of religion, faith, and human belief in the hope beyond reason.

This article is compulsory reading for those of us who have been watching the disputes that have erupted in the wake of Dawkins' recent book. Robin Henig has written an outstanding review of how and why religion, more importantly religiousness, evolved. Are we hardwired by evolution to be religious and believe in God? If so, what is the survival advantage that belief in God confers on us. The article does an exceptional job of going through the arguments, in clear and lucid prose. He concludes by quoting Scott Atran, the anthropologist who is most knowledgable on this issue, by saying that our need for religion and God may be the "tragedy of human cognition". I would rate this article as the best reponse to the "God Illusion" debates.