Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origin of Rights
Book Description Where do our rights come from? Does “natural law” really exist outside of what is written in constitutions and legal statutes? If so, why are rights not the same everywhere and in all eras? On the other hand, if rights are nothing more than the product of human law, why should we ever […]
Rhinoceros
Ionesco’s Rhinoceros is a play hailing from the “Theatre of the Absurd” during 1960s France that deals with issues of conformity, socialization, and the dissemination of memes in a metaphor that quite literally invokes the “herd instinct.”
Reviews of Creationist Books
A collection of book reviews of creationist books. A very handy reference!
Resurrection Reconsidered: Thomas and John in Controversy
Description Resurrection Reconsidered is an eye-opening exposition of the various views of resurrection among early Christians that centers on the protracted debate within early Christian circles concerning a foundational aspect of the Gospel of Thomas and its related literature: the concept of the body and resurrection. It traces the background of this idea in the […]
Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman : The Classic Story
“My soul would be an outlaw,” begins the storyteller in this short tale of the timeless war between Conformity and Rebellion, in the guise of the Master Timekeeper (a.k.a. the Ticktockman) and the renegade Harlequin. In a completely regulated society, where being a minute late here and there shortens your life accordingly, the Ticktockman is […]
Rendezvous With Rama
At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredible, an interstellar spacecraft. Space […]
Religious Postures
Professor Wells examines such issues as fundamentalism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, David Friedrich Strauss, Wilhelm Tell, the evidence for miracles, the employment of Kantian and Hegelian metaphysics to defend religion, the alleged need for a religious foundation for ethics, the reasonableness of atheism, and the phenomenal success of religion in surviving its own refutation.
Religious Liberty in the Supreme Court
A collection of 25 leading constitutional law cases concerning the two religion clauses of the First Amendment, along with reactions to and commentary on these cases from journals of opinion. A great starting point for anyone interested in the church-state debate.
Religious Liberty and State Constitutions
The fact is sometimes overlooked that the state constitutions, some of which were written written before the federal Constitution, include explicit protections of religious liberty and church-state separation, some even more comprehensive and specific in their guarantees and prohibitions than the U.S. Constitution. All of the state constitutions deal with religious freedom and all support […]
Religion Inc.: the Church of Scientology
Synopsis not complete.
Religion Explained (Paperback)
What’s it all about? Though we might never answer the really big questions–with good reason–maybe we can understand why we ask them. Cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer tackles this topic in the unapologetically titled Religion Explained, and it is sure to polarize his readers. Some will think it’s an impermissible invasion of mental territory beyond the […]
Religion Explained (Hardcover)
What’s it all about? Though we might never answer the really big questions–with good reason–maybe we can understand why we ask them. Cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer tackles this topic in the unapologetically titled Religion Explained, and it is sure to polarize his readers. Some will think it’s an impermissible invasion of mental territory beyond the […]
Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement
According to Michael Barkun, many white supremacist groups of the radical right are deeply committed to the distinctive but little-recognized religious position known as Christian identity. In Religion and the Racist Right, Barkun provides the first sustained exploration of the ideological and organizational development of the Christian identity movement. In a new chapter written for […]
Religion and Science
Russell recalls the the conflicts between science and traditional religion during the last four centuries. Examining accounts in which scientific advances clashed with Christian doctrine or biblical interpretations of the day, from Galileo and the Copernican Revolution, to the medical breakthroughs of anaesthesia and inoculation, Russell points to the constant upheaval and re-evaluation of our […]
Religion and Morality
The authors explore different views on the relationship between religion and morality. They reject the claim that religion is incompatible with morality, but they also reject the claim that religion is necessary for morality. Highly recommended.
Reincarnation: A Critical Examination
Paul Edwards’ Reincarnation surveys the state of the evidence for and against reincarnation, from the more dubious claims that feelings of deja vu, LSD experiences, and the existence of child prodigies provide indirect evidence for reincarnation to the more widespread claims that “past life” hypnotic regressions and spontaneous “memories” of past lives in children provide […]
Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics
Philosophical defense of Christianity.
Reason, Tolerance, and Christianity: The Ingersoll Debates
This important volume contains three spirited debates, “Rome or Reason,” “Controversy on Christianity,” and “The Limits of Toleration,” between the great American freethinker Robert G. Ingersoll (1833 – 1899) and leading churchmen and public figures of his own day. The combatants are Cardinal Edward Manning; British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone; lawyer and Catholic activist […]
Reason for the Hope Within
Anthology of modern Christian apologetics.
Reason and Existenz
Written during the rise of German National Socialism, Jaspers’ Reason and Existenz attempts to systematize existentialist philososphy. Unlike Sarte’s notion that the future holds infinite choice, Jaspers argues (in agreement with his colleague Heidegger) that the future is a mere rehash of the past where every action has already been anticipated. Thus, for Jaspers only […]
Reading Bayle
Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) has been described by Richard Popkin as the key intellectual figure at the outset of the eighteenth century. Examinations of libraries from the period show him to have been by far the most successful author of the century, and his Historical and Critical Dictionary is in fact the philosophy best-seller of all […]
Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction
When clinical social worker Jack Trimpey introduced the concepts of Rational Recovery in 1986, it marked a major breakthrough in the field of alcohol and drug addiction. More than a philosophy or therapy, and not dependent on spiritual beliefs, Rational Recovery offers an aggressive self-help program to take charge of one’s behavior immediately. Now this […]
Rational Mothers and Infidel Gentlemen: Gender and American Atheism, 1865-1915
Calling themselves “Freethinkers,” self-proclaimed liberals organized across the United States after the Civil War to oppose endorsement of Christianity as the national religion. Heralding a trinity of science, rationalism, and progress, these atheists and agnostics advocated the complete separation of church and state. They were self-conscious prototypes of the modern, secular American and counted among […]
Rama Revealed
The long-awaited, New York Times bestselling conclusion to the epic Rama series. A massive starship of alien origin arrives at the end of its generations-long journey, at which time its human passengers confront a sinister evil, and discover the identity of their hosts–the Ramans–and their ultimate plan for humanity.
Rama II
Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed — or had existed — elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth’s best and brightest minds is assembled to […]
Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media
Rob Hardy writes for Amazon: “Bill Ellis is a folklorist, and an academic specializing in English and American studies. His book, [i]Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media[/i] (University Press of Kentucky) attempts a sympathetic understanding of how the Devil made one of his cyclic emergences and how folklore can affect society and […]
Rage Against the Veil: The Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident
Rage Against the Veil is a scathing indictment of Islam’s oppression of women. It tells the story of Dr. Homa Darabi, the first Iranian ever to be accepted into the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, who committed suicide in a crowded public square in Tehran in 1994 in order to bring awareness to the […]
Racing Demon
In conflict with government, torn with internal dissension on matters of doctrine and practice, the Church of England finds itself enjoying unwelcome publicity. David Hare’s play, which details the struggle of four clergymen to make sense of their mission in South London, opened to universal acclaim.
Questioning the Millennium
“In the bestselling short-history format of Longitude and How the Irish Saved Civilization, this elegant volume by the author of such well-known works as The Panda’s Thumb and The Flamingo’s Smile explores the rational and religious roots of human fascination with the millennium. 16 illustrations.”
