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An atheist convention, attended by premier nonbelievers Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, inspires some reflections on the virtue of a positive, productive humanism, rather than the anti-theism that dominates the discourse.

India’s “Arab Spring” has been more like a summer of discontent, complete with hunger strikes and arrests, all in support of an epic fight against government corruption: “ India’s second freedom struggle.” Indian activists are not household names in America—unless you count Gandhi. But former “top cop” Kiran Bedi is a huge figure in her own country, and has lent her considerable status to the grassroots India Against Corruption campaign as the movement unfolds.

After Lowe’s bowed to pressure from a regional conservative Christian group and pulled its advertising from TLC’s All American Muslim, a satirical video began to circulate. RD interviews the masterminds behind it all.

Two current cases involving religious (in this case Islamic) symbolism show the perilous relationship between religion and politics in civil society.

Instead of worrying about making friends, pols should focus on greater transparency and separation of church and state.

On the eve of the vote for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, we contemplate the gulf between the incoherent story offered by the president’s party, and the compelling narrative—about systems of oppression, and the perils of a deeply entrenched status quo—of prophetic religion.

A disturbing story emerged this week of a scientist leaving his research out of fear for his and his family’s lives. What are our responsibilities in this area and what do our traditions have to say about it?

In which our intrepid writers let the ethereal sounds of Sigur Ros ripple and echo through them, and learn to speak “hopelandic.”

What does it mean that the World War II Memorial in DC drowns conversation in the roar of its fountains? A new book explains what our monuments reveal about the intertwining of sacred and patriotic in American civic culture.

It’s not hedonistic abandon that draws folks to the rock fest, but something else…