What's New Archive ● 2011 ● April
What's New on the Secular Web?
See also: Events & The News Wire
April 27, 2011
New in the Kiosk: Transcendence? (2011) by Michael D. Reynolds
Could it be that Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and a well-known critic of religion, believes in transcendence—and perhaps even in God? Author Lisa Miller of Newsweek International seems to think so. What are the facts?
April 16, 2011
Not new, but appropriate for the Easter season: Easter Quiz (2003 & 2008) by Donald Morgan
Think you know the details of the biblical story regarding the empty tomb and the Resurrection? You might be surprised.
April 15, 2011
New in the Bookstore: The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims (2008) by Andrew G. Bostom.
This book reveals how, for well over a millennium, across three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe—non-Muslims who were vanquished by jihad wars, became forced tributaries (called dhimmi in Arabic), in lieu of being slain. Under the dhimmi religious caste system, non-Muslims were subjected to legal and financial oppression, as well as social isolation. Extensive primary and secondary source materials, many translated here for the first time into English, are presented, making clear that jihad conquests were brutal, imperialist advances, which spurred waves of Muslims to expropriate a vast expanse of lands and subdue millions of indigenous peoples. Finally, the book examines how jihad war, as a permanent and uniquely Islamic institution, ultimately regulates the relations of Muslims with non-Muslims to this day.
April 5, 2011
New in the Kiosk: The Intractable Problem of Time (2011) by Tim DeLaney
The problem of time is a serious conundrum for Christian and other Abrahamic religions: God, since he must have always existed, evidently waited a very long time before creating the world. In fact, he waited for an eternity. How can this be? How can it be that the author of the universe and everything in it spent an eternity before creating the cosmos? This question is relevant both to theism and to Deism; it is central to the question of any deity whatever.