faith & ideas: all articles

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Here we host debates on values, ethics, philosophy, spirituality, religions, and belief systems. There has never been a more important time to understand ourselves and one another better.

Tuesday 4th March

Turkey’s “Islamic reform”: roots and reality

Mustafa Akyol, 4 March 2008

A group of theologians in Ankara is filtering early Islamic texts in light of modern reason...is this "reformation"?

Friday 22nd February

Sharia: practice of faith, politics of modernity

Sami Zubaida, 22 February 2008

The theology and history of Islamic law are important, but more must be known about its practice

Friday 15th February

Australia’s apology: the shadow on the sun

Tim Rowse, 15 February 2008

The new prime minister's official apology to the "stolen generations" of indigenous Australians may have made a political trap for itself

Thursday 14th February

Multicultural citizenship and the anti-sharia storm

Tariq Modood, 14 February 2008

When a careful lecture on legal pluralism is drowned in prejudice, it’s time to restate the principles of a shared civic space

Islamic law in a secular world

Roger Scruton, 14 February 2008

An argument over sharia highlights the difference between Christian and Muslim visions of law

Wednesday 13th February

Rowan Williams: sharia furore, Anglican future

Theo Hobson, 13 February 2008

England's leading churchman exposes a larger national-identity crisis

Tuesday 12th February

Rowan Williams and sharia law

Tina Beattie, 12 February 2008

"Dumb down" or be damned? When a debate about religion and law is hijacked by fury, everyone loses

Thursday 20th December

The end of postmodernism: the “new atheists” and democracy

Tina Beattie, 20 December 2007

The science-religion "war" is dust. The real argument is over power and justice

Thursday 25th October

Secularism confronts Islam

Olivier Roy, 25 October 2007

The debate about Muslims and the west must connect ideas to living realities

Thursday 18th October

Muslim liberals: epistles of moderation

Faisal Devji, 18 October 2007

A letter to Christian leaders reveals Muslim liberals' intellectual vacuity

Wednesday 12th September

The irresponsibility of "irresponsible speech"

Flemmin Rose, 12 September 2007

A cartoon-war veteran responds to Birgitta Steene's article on Sweden's "roundabout dog"

Monday 10th September

The Swedish cartoon: art as provocation

Birgitta Steene, 10 September 2007

A "roundabout dog" with a Muslim theme inflames public passions

Friday 31st August

Arab Christians: a lost modernity

Tarek Osman, 31 August 2007

Arab Christians were agents of progress in the Arab and Muslim world. What happened?

Friday 17th August

Science and mysticism: a tainted embrace

Yves Gingras, 17 August 2007

Scientists who indulge religious-mystical fantasies in the interest of popularisation betray their profession

Tuesday 10th July

Islam(s) and politics: post-traumatic states in Algeria

James McDougall, 10 July 2007

“Mosques have never been so full, nor hearts so empty”. In war’s painful aftermath, Algerians are seeking new accommodations between religion and politics

Thursday 21st June