IN THIS ISSUE

Humanist NEW

Volume 122 No 2 March/April 2007

EDITOR Caspar Melville

COMMISSIONING EDITOR Laurie Taylor

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sally Feldman

DESIGNER Paul Anderson

CARTOONS Martin Rowson Judy Walker

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Website www.newhumanist.org.uk ISSN 0306-512X Published by the Rationalist Association. Available on microfilm for libraries in the USA from: Proquest,300 Northzeeb Road, Ann Arbour,Michigan,USA RA ASSOCIATES VICE PRESIDENTS Baroness Susan Greenfield,Paul Kurtz,Laurie Taylor HONORARY ASSOCIATES David Aaronovitch,Peter Atkins,Lord Birt, Harold Blackham,Colin Blakemore, Alan Brownjohn,Colin Campbell,Philip Campbell,Noam Chomsky,Bernard Crick,Helena Cronin,Richard Dawkins, Sanal Edamaruku,Paul Edwards,Ekow Eshun,Winston Fletcher,Antony Flew, Michael Foot,AC Grayling,Stuart Hall, Tony Harrison,Simon Heffer,James Hemming,Christopher Hitchens,Eric Hobsbawm,Richard Hoggart,Ted Honderich,Linton Kwesi Johnson,Sir Ludovic Kennedy,Richard Leakey,Sir Michael Levey,Sir John Maddox,Haydn Mason,George Melly,Jonathan Miller, Edwin Mullins, Conor Cruise O’Brien, John Postgate,Claire Rayner,Amartya Sen,David Starkey,Ralph Steadman, DJ Stewart,Ian Stewart,Hazhir Teimourian,Claire Tomalin,David Tribe, Baroness Turner of Camden,Arnold Wesker,Francis Wheen,Lewis Wolpert

4 NEWHUMANIST

CONTENTS VOLUME 122 NO 2 MARCH/APRIL 2007

REGULARS

3 EDITORIAL I respect your ignorance

6 DIZZY BRUNETTE Robin Ince’s diary

7 PARISH NEWS

11 FACE VALUE Nicholas Phillipson on Adam Smith

39 POEM Booksby Nick Drake

40 YOURS SCEPTICALLY Readers’ letters

41 CONCRETE REASONING Chris Maslanka’s latest brain teaser

42 ENDGAME Laurie Taylor luvs skool

27NAUGHTY BUT NICE Could pornography be fun? asks Nina Power

BOOK REVIEWS

34MICHAEL BYWATER rediscovers a tragi-comic classic

WINSTON FLETCHER takes on Kasparov,and wins

MARTINA EVANS is haunted by the ghost of Poe

BRENDA MADDOX is swept off her feet by an astronomical biography

DANIEL MILLER is battered and brusied by Sven Lundqvist

MICHAEL BINYON is not blown away by the Windy City IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES

8SCHOOLS FOR SCOUNDRELS Francis Beckett reports on the great City Academy scandal

16SECRET OPENINGS Even rationalists could benefit from a little mystery,argues Laurie Taylor

22ANTI-GOD SQUAD Caspar Melville catches up with the militant atheists using the internet to build a movement

24DANCING WITH DINOSAURS The creationist denial of science is part of a growing political threat,warns Chris Hedges

30MIRACLE WORKERS Toby Saul finds out how you make a saint

32BAD VIBRATIONS Has string theory unravelled? AC Grayling reports 18 SLICE OF LIFE Can circumcision ever be rational,asks Sally Feldman

CONTRIBUTORS

Robin Ince (diarypage 6) is a comedian and comedy writer. His writing credits include Dead Ringers and The Now Showon Radio 4 and he's appeared on TV on Mock The Weekand The Late Edition. He's not at all narked by the success of his friend Ricky Gervais,with whom he is currently touring.

COVER STORY

12 HOSTILE TAKEOVER The secular future of Europe is in grave danger,warns Donald Sassoon

Francis Beckett,who exposes the City Academy scandal on page 8,is the author of ten books including a biography of Tony Blair. He writes regularly on education for the Guardian.

Nina Power,who writes on humanism and pornography (page 27),is a lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University,specialising in humanism and anti-humanism and continental philosophy.

Chris Hedges,who writes about the American Christian right’s assault on truth (page 24),was a foreign correspondent for nearly 20 years, including a spell as the bureau chief in the Middle East and the Balkans for theNew York Times. He is currently a fellow of the Nation Institute.

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