The pastor of a tiny, fringe evangelical church in Florida on Tuesday rebuffed a plea for restraint from Gen. David H. Petraeus, who warned that a plan to burn the Muslim holy book could provoke violence against American troops and citizens overseas.

‘Instead of possibly blaming us for what could happen, we put the blame where it belongs – on the people who would do it,’ Pastor Terry Jones of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., told the Associated Press. ‘We should address radical Islam and send a very clear warning that they are not to retaliate in any form.’

Jones also said he was still praying over his decision and hinted that he might change his mind. ‘We understand the general’s concerns and we are taking those into consideration,’ he told WOFL-TV in Orlando.

A coalition of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders held a news conference in Washington on Tuesday to condemn Jones’ statements and other slurs aimed at Muslims nationwide.

‘The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Koran this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those […]

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The hallucinogen psilocybin appears to be safe and feasible to give to patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety according to a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry. The study reports it had a promising effect on mood. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in an illegal Class A drug in the UK called magic mushroom

Yet, in the USA, possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms is illegal because they contain psilocin and psilocybin, both Schedule I drugs.

Mushrooms that contain psilocybin are used both recreationally, and traditionally, for spiritual purposes, as entheogens – psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic or spiritual context – with a history of use spanning millennia

The authors write as background information in the article:

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that the psychological, spiritual and existential crises often encountered by patients with cancer and their families need to be addressed more vigorously.

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, research was carried out exploring the use of hallucinogens to treat the existential anxiety, despair and isolation often associated with advanced-stage cancer. Those studies described critically ill individuals undergoing psychospiritual epiphanies, often with powerful and sustained improvement in mood and […]

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WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday called for a $50-billion surge in spending on the nation’s roads, runways and railroads, his latest effort to respond to the stubbornly sluggish economy in a political climate turning against his party.

Speaking at a union-organized rally in Milwaukee, the president said his proposal would put construction workers back to work and rebuild deteriorating infrastructure.

‘It’s a plan that says, even in the aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can still shape our own destiny, we can still move this country forward, we can still leave our children something better – something that lasts,’ the president said, in a campaign-style speech that sought to make the case for his economic policies.

The Labor Day speech came as Democratic candidates were launching the final leg of their campaigns and, in many cases, facing a harsh assessment from voters frustrated by the pace of economic recovery. Polls show voters feel uneasy about the economy, unhappy with the rising deficits and willing to give Republican policies a try.

The White House will use this week to show it is reacting to that climate. The infrastructure plan was slated to be the first in a series of proposals […]

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The soul has never lacked for believers, including around 90% of the American public, according to pollsters. But science has remained aloof, basically for two reasons. First, the soul has been assumed to be a matter of personal belief, not objective knowledge. Second, science deals in visible, concrete things using objective data. But since the era of quantum physics began over a century ago, invisible things and fleeting events have entered science, so subtle that the realm from which they emerge is almost a matter of faith.

Now some scientists are willing to venture into the once forbidden territory of the soul, attempting to extract a theory that will allow for its existence. Redefined by the new field of quantum biology, the soul could be the link that connects individuals to the universe, a dynamic connection that could explain how consciousness came about, and why the cosmos itself seems to mirror our own intelligence and creativity. Below are components of an argument for a secular soul based on quantum physics and biology.

Consciousness and the Soul

The concept of life after death, or more specifically conscious awareness after bodily death, is generally referred to in the context of the ‘soul’; it is a […]

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A newly released study from the Gallup organization, based on surveys in 114 countries in 2009, shows globally 84 percent of people say religion is an important part of their daily lives. But what’s really interesting about the study is this:

‘Each of the most religious countries is relatively poor, with a per-capita GDP below $5,000,’ Gallup analysts state. ‘This reflects the strong relationship between a country’s socioeconomic status and the religiosity of its residents. In the world’s poorest countries — those with average per-capita incomes of $2,000 or lower — the median proportion who say religion is important in their daily lives is 95 percent. In contrast, the median for the richest countries — those with average per-capita incomes higher than $25,000 — is 47 percent.’

One theory about why this is the case is that religion plays a more functional role in the world’s poorest countries, helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families, the Gallup analysts say. And a previous Gallup analysis supports this idea, finding the relationship between religiosity and emotional wellbeing is stronger among poor countries. [See also: Why We Believe]

Anyway, here is what’s even more interesting in the […]

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