IN THIS ISSUE

Humanist
NEW

Volume 121 No 6 November/December 2006 EDITOR Caspar Melville DEPUTY EDITOR Pádraig Reidy COMMISSIONING EDITOR Laurie Taylor ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sally Feldman DESIGNER Paul Anderson CARTOONS Martin Rowson Judy Walker EDITORIAL OFFICES 1 Gower Street, London WC1E 6HD Tel 0207 436 1151 Fax 0207 079 3588 Email info@newhumanist.org.uk SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Judith Walker judith.walker@newhumanist.org.uk 0207 436 1171 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

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DISPOSSESSED Linda Gordon on Dorothea Lange’s unearthed photographs of Japanese-American internment

CULTURE

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BOOKS NICK COHEN reads between the lines JONATHAN DERBYSHIRE wonders if religion and science can get along STAN COHEN on Primo Levi’s report from the death camps AC GRAYLING explores the history of non-violence DANIEL MILLER says it’s all just so surreal MICHAEL BINYON seeks the face of God

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 NEW HUMANIST

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SLAPSTICK AND PRATFALLS John Mortimer tells Laurie Taylor why he’s still laughing

IN THIS ISSUE

CONTENTS
VOLUME 121 NO 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006
COVER STORY

COLUMNS

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DIARY Mick Gordon on his new play about religion DAVID HUME Julian Baggini nominates his humanist hero NEWS HOUNDED Naomi Sakr on a decade of al-Jazeera INFANTILE DISORDER Fundamentalism babyish? If only, says Michael Bywater KIDS UNITED Integrated education is Northern Ireland’s best hope, says Gary Kent

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FUTURE PERFECT
Transhumanists proclaim the possibility of escaping our biological limits. Anita Silvers assesses their case
FEATURES

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PEACE WARRIORS Ron Dudai in Tel Aviv meets the men of violence who’ve changed their minds
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REGULARS
EDITORIAL PARISH NEWS WINE CLUB LETTERS CONCRETE REASONING ENDGAME Speak up for Laurie Taylor

WHAT’S AN INFIDEL? Jonathan Rée consults the latest humanist dictionary

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HEAVEN SCENT As the new film Perfume is released Sally Feldman sniffs the spirit of the century TEACH US OUR RIGHTS A secular school in Uganda deserves our support, says Caspar Melville MORAL MAZE Stephen Eric Bronner urges an African solution for Darfur

Support secular schooling Read about our charity appeal on page 22

NEW HUMANIST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

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