Garth Kroeker

In conclusion, religious beliefs—and organized group religion in particular—have been a part of human civilization for thousands of years. C...

One of the most useful ways to understand religion is to treat it as a way humans achieve social coordination. Steven Pinker’s recent work o...

There are many unanswered questions about how the universe works. Part of the wonder of science is appreciating that for every advance in u...

The combination of religiosity with narcissistic traits is not rare, and it can lead people to insinuate—or directly assert—that their belie...

Some religions feature unusual behaviours that are accepted as manifestations of divinity. One example is glossolalia (“speaking in tongues”...

In some cases, religious groups prescribe particular foods, particular styles of dress, and particular behavioural expectations that are onl...

Many religions have a view of the “end times”—what happens after death, and, in some traditions, how history itself will end. This is called...

Many religions have concepts of Heaven and Hell: Heaven an eternal state of perfect happiness, and Hell an eternal state of punishment. Reli...

Humans have engaged in all manner of atrocities, and despite the horrors of the past century, we see repeatedly—across earlier centuries as ...

Abuse is unfortunately common. It affects every type of community and family. I have seen numerous cases in which religious texts or element...

Humans have a far more richly developed capacity for imagination than other animals. We can carry internalized representations of important ...

Prayer may mean different things to different people. For many, it is a meditative act: a type of philosophical reflection with existential ...

A related religious metaphor is shepherding. Jesus is called the “Good Shepherd,” and there are many other biblical passages that liken God ...

Most religions have some form of sacrifice alluded to in their theology. Sometimes this involves literal offerings—killing and burning anima...

Humans have cognitive tendencies that make superstitious beliefs easy to generate—and hard to extinguish. Beliefs in spirits, ghosts, magic,...

Many religions and other spiritual practices operate partly like a business. There is marketing (proselytization, outreach), branding (symbo...

Over history, many wise people who wanted to use their intelligence and talents to learn about existential, philosophical, or scientific top...

Another interesting—but potentially troubling—angle on all of this is that people can sometimes latch onto a belief system whose claims are ...

The following is a lengthy discussion of evolutionary science. I think it deserves space here because it deals with the origins and diversif...