How Civilizations Die: an ambitious, brilliant book by Phil Lawler FROM Catholic Culture

At Amazon: How Civilizations Die by David Goldman

Malaysia court rules non-Muslims cannot use 'Allah' FROM The BBC

The Jesuits: 'God's marines' FROM The Week

The Mormon way of business FROM The Economist

http://www.economist.com/node/21554173

The Parable of the Bags of Gold FROM The Bible

"Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

Buddhism and the Blues By Hara Estroff Marano FROM Psychology Today

"He believes that psychology and neuroscience have gone about as far as they can go in understanding the mind and brain by measuring external reality."

In the name of godlessness FROM The Economist

"For Mr Blom, the modern, supposedly secular world has merely dressed up the 'perverse' morality of Christianity in new and better camouflaged ways. We still hate our bodies, he says, still venerate suffering and distrust pleasure."

Build the Ground Zero Mosque by Fareed Zakaria FROM Newsweek

"If there is going to be a reformist movement in Islam, it is going to emerge from places like the proposed institute. "

Michael Bloomberg delivers stirring defense of mosque [read speech only--in the shaded box or watch the video]

"This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions or favor one over another." -- Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City

Why Atheists Are More Intelligent than the Religious by Satoshi Kanazawa FROM Psychology Today

"Net of a large number of social and demographic factors, including education, more intelligent individuals are more likely to be atheistic than less intelligent individuals."

Buddhist monks use hip hop, alcohol to attract followers by Kyung Lah FROM CNN

"Tagai, or Mr. Happiness, as he prefers to be called, is delivering an ancient message to a hip hop beat."

Why the human race has needed religion to survive FROM The Economist

"In what way, then, does religion enhance a group’s survival? Above all, by promoting moral rules and cementing cohesion, in a way that makes people ready to sacrifice themselves for the group and to deal ruthlessly with outsiders."

Tibet's hopes soar for Panchen princess by Hamish McDonald FROM phayul.com

"Six years after the death of Renji's father, the Dalai Lama and his senior monks identified a boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in the Tibetan town of Naksu as his reincarnation.

Beijing moved swiftly. Six months later, its religious officials staged a ritual that selected another six-year-old, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the new Panchen Lama.

The Dalai Lama's choice, and his family, vanished. "

All Soul's Day FROM 123holiday.net

"Upon death, it is believed that souls have not yet been cleansed of sin. Praying for souls of loved ones helps to remove the stain of sin, and allow the souls to enter the pearly gates of heaven. Through prayer and good works, living members of the church may help their departed friends and family. There are three Requiem Masses that are said by the clergy to assist the souls from Purgatory to Heaven: one for the celebrant, one for the departed, and one for the pope. "

Lebanon's mixed marriages FROM The Economist

"It is the religious authorities that oversee marriage, divorce and inheritance. Couples from different religions, atheists and those who do not belong to one of the officially recognised religions— for instance, Buddhists, Hindus, Bahais and members of unregistered Protestant groups—cannot marry in their home country."

A treacherous path? Book Review FROM The Economist

"A pessimist’s view of what Islamic immigration may be doing to Europe."

France ponders a burqa ban FROM The Economist

"Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, 'a sign of subjugation…of debasement' that is 'not welcome on French territory.' "

Fewer confessions and new sins By David Willey FROM BBC News

The new mortal sins were listed by Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti at the end of a week-long training seminar in Rome for priests, aimed at encouraging a revival of the practice of confession - or the Sacrament of Penance in Church jargon.

Environmental pollution

Genetic manipulation

Accumulating excessive wealth

Inflicting poverty

Drug trafficking and consumption

Morally debatable experiments

Violation of fundamental rights of human nature

Woman jailed for tea-pot worshipping FROM Ananova

A woman has been jailed in Malaysia for joining a "tea-pot worshipping" cult.

Kamariah Ali, a 57 year old former teacher, was arrested in 2005 when the government of the Muslim majority country demolished the two storey high sacred tea pot of the Sky Kingdom cult.

For the sect, which emphasised ecumenical dialogue between religions, the tea pot symbolized the purity of water and "love pouring from heaven".

But in Malaysia, despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of worship, born Muslims such as Mrs Ali are forbidden from converting to other religions.

Oxford Probes Why People Believe in God

FROM The Christian Post by Nathan Black

The researchers will develop a "scientific approach" to why mankind believes in God and other issues around the nature and origin of religious belief. The study will also look into which religious beliefs are most common and most natural for the human mind to grasp.

Roger Trigg, acting director of the Ian Ramsey Center, said anthropological and philosophical research suggests that faith in God is a universal human impulse found in most cultures around the world, even though it's been waning in Britain and parts of Europe, according to The Associated Press.

"There are a lot of issues. What is it that is innate in human nature to believe in God, whether it is gods or something superhuman or supernatural?" he asked. "One implication that comes from this is that religion is the default position, and atheism is perhaps more in need of explanation."