http://dir.salon.com/topics/steve_paulson/?source=rss&aim=steve_paulson en-us Copyright 2007 Salon.com. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/06/24/evolution_of_god/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/06/24/evolution_of_god/index.html?source=rss In an interview with something to offend everyone, Robert Wright explains why religion has given us a fickle deity By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/04/14/jane_goodall/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2009/04/14/jane_goodall/index.html?source=rss In a surprising interview, the famous primatologist talks about her mystical experiences in the jungle and her ever-increasing passion for animal rights and cleaning up the "horrendous mess" of our environment. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2008/11/19/stuart_kauffman/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/env/atoms_eden/2008/11/19/stuart_kauffman/index.html?source=rss We should see the ceaseless creativity of nature as sacred, argues biologist Stuart Kauffman, despite what Richard Dawkins might say. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/atoms_eden/2008/07/21/james_carse/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/atoms_eden/2008/07/21/james_carse/index.html?source=rss The beauties of religion need to be saved from both the true believers and the trendy atheists, argues compelling religious scholar James Carse. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/04/28/ken_wilber/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/04/28/ken_wilber/index.html?source=rss The integral philosopher explains the difference between religion, New Age fads and the ultimate reality that traditional science can't touch. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/02/13/david_rieff/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/02/13/david_rieff/index.html?source=rss She wanted hope, a reason to believe she would survive cancer. In a candid interview, her son, David Rieff, discusses his mother's battle to live and his struggle to hide the truth. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/12/18/john_haught/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/12/18/john_haught/index.html?source=rss Theologian John Haught explains why science and God are not at odds, why Mike Huckabee worries him, and why Richard Dawkins and other "new atheists" are ignorant about religion. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/10/15/pinker_goldstein/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/10/15/pinker_goldstein/index.html?source=rss Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein, America's brainiest couple, confess that belonging to one of America's most reviled subcultures doesn't mean they believe scientists can explain everything. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/08/13/taner_edis/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/08/13/taner_edis/index.html?source=rss Turkish-American physicist Taner Edis explains why science in Muslim lands remains stuck in the past -- and why the Golden Age of Mesopotamia wasn't so golden after all. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/07/03/paul_davies/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/07/03/paul_davies/index.html?source=rss People are not the result of a cosmic accident, but of laws of the universe that grant our lives meaning and purpose, says physicist Paul Davies. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/05/15/lewis_wolpert/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/05/15/lewis_wolpert/index.html?source=rss The origin of religion is in our heads, explains developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert. First we figured out how to make tools, then created a supernatural being. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/04/02/elaine_pagels/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/04/02/elaine_pagels/index.html?source=rss The recently unearthed Gospel of Judas "contradicts everything we know about Christianity," says religious historian Elaine Pagels. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/02/20/ramadan/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/02/20/ramadan/index.html?source=rss Controversial scholar Tariq Ramadan explains why Mohammed had progressive views of women, why the Quran is a prescription for peace -- and why he is banned from Saudi Arabia and the U.S. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/01/31/king/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/01/31/king/index.html?source=rss Anthropologist Barbara J. King explains what our distant cousins can tell us about religion and why it's OK for scientists to believe in God. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/01/02/numbers/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/01/02/numbers/index.html?source=rss Ronald Numbers -- a former Seventh-day Adventist and author of the definitive history of creationism -- discusses his break with the church, whether creationists are less intelligent and why Galileo wasn't really a martyr. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/11/27/wallace/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/11/27/wallace/index.html?source=rss Ex-monk B. Alan Wallace explains what Buddhism can teach Western scientists, why reincarnation should be taken seriously and what it's like to study meditation with the Dalai Lama. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/10/13/dawkins/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/10/13/dawkins/index.html?source=rss Why are we here on earth? To Richard Dawkins, that's a remarkably stupid question. In a heated interview, the famous biologist insists that religion is evil and God might as well be a children's fantasy. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/09/20/newberg/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/09/20/newberg/index.html?source=rss Andrew Newberg discusses what happens in our brains during prayer, meditation and mystical visions. Yet understanding the brain, argues the neuroscientist, does not close the book on the nature of religious experience. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/08/07/collins/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/08/07/collins/index.html?source=rss Francis Collins -- head of the Human Genome Project -- discusses his conversion to evangelical Christianity, why scientists do not need to be atheists, and what C.S. Lewis has to do with it. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/07/07/harris/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/07/07/harris/index.html?source=rss Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith," on why religious moderates are worse than fundamentalists, 9/11 led us into a deranged holy war, and believers should be treated like alien-abduction kooks. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/05/30/armstrong/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/05/30/armstrong/index.html?source=rss Historian and former nun Karen Armstrong says the afterlife is a "red herring," hating religion is a pathology and that many Westerners cling to infantile ideas of God. By Steve Paulson Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:06:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/03/21/wilson/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2006/03/21/wilson/index.html?source=rss Sociobiology founder Edward O. Wilson explains why we're hard-wired to form tribalistic religions, denies that "evolutionism" is a faith, and says that heaven, if it existed, would be hell.