Lost in the maelstrom

In the ‘two cultures’ war, science has won out over the humanities. Science’s new rival is religion, and a new war rages: that between creationists and evolutionists. But this battle is futile. It is the humanities, not the sciences, which have the wherewithal to challenge blind faith. But to do this, the humanities must regain their value in our culture.

The New Humanist
Volume 124 Issue 2 March/April 2009

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Anglican amendment

If Britain really wants to integrate all its religious minorities, it must first separate church and state.

The Guardian
Wednesday 19 December 2007

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‘Beyond Criticism’

Dozens of holocaust memoirs are published each year, and they are received with reverence. Confusion reigns as to whether or not it is appropriate to assess them critically, as books, and reading them becomes a matter of duty and masochistic desire.

The London Review of Books
20 November 2008

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Let's not sentimentalise the Shoah

Holocaust testimony and memorial culture illustrates a profound ambivalence about the status of survivors and witnesses

The Jewish Chronicle
December 11, 2008

You can read the article here.

Be tolerant or else

In the wake of the supposed failure of the multiculturalist ‘experiment’, British political leaders are resurrecting the Victorian idea of tolerance as a ‘core British value’. But the tradition of Great British Tolerance is historically questionable, and to require immigrants and minorities to subscribe to such a nebulous concept is intolerably coercive.

The New Humanist
Volume 122 Issue 3 May/June 2007

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Paranoia or prejudice?

Reports of a rise of ‘the new anti-semitism’ are overstated and function as a way of deflecting criticism of Israel’s actions.

The New Humanist
Volume 119 Issue 2 March/April 2004

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Parenting is an imperfect business, learned on the job

Motherhood is increasingly idealised in our culture, rendering the ambivalent reality of bringing up children a taboo. Our reverence for the pre-eminently natural maternal bond undermines claims that mothers and fathers should be aiming for equality in childcare.

The Guardian
Monday 25 February 2008

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Stitch Up!

We are fetishising 1950s domesticity and presenting it as the modern woman’s choice.


The New Humanist
Volume 121 Issue 1 January/February 2006

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Backlash in disguise

The new fashion for old-fashioned, lavish weddings is a sign of our almost pathological desire to restore meaning to an institution that has lost its authenticity. But it’s also evidence of a resurgence of conservative, anti-feminist values.

The New Humanist
Volume 119 Issue 5 September/October 2004

Read the article here.