This volume delves intensively into religion and the influence of gender. Gilman suggests that through the development of secular ethics, religion can be directed not to the anticipation of a mythical afterlife, but instead to the transformation of the present. She demonstrates the ways in which a male driven ideology has produced a religion focused on death, discouraging any attention to the improvement of life on earth. Here, Gilman offers new thoughts that advocate a collective change of view.

Why is religion still around in the twenty-first century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to help address these questions. These questions took on a new urgency for Pagels when dealing with unimaginable loss—the death of her young son, followed a year later by the shocking loss of her husband. Here she interweaves a personal story with the work that she loves, illuminating how, for better and worse, religious traditions have shaped how we understand ourselves; how we relate to one another; and, most importantly, how to get through the most difficult challenges we face. Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as her own research, Pagels opens unexpected ways of understanding persistent religious aspects of our culture. A provocative and deeply moving account from one of the most compelling religious thinkers at work today, Why Religion? explores the spiritual dimension of human experience.

Explores the theme that women are objectified as sexual and reproductive bodies by symbolic beheading in myths and by such practices as veiling, head coverings, and cosmetic highlighting. Shows how women's heads link them to speech, identity, and mind, all characteristics classically reserved for men, and how beheading women reduces them to mute and anonymous flesh. Most of the examples are drawn from Oriental, classical Greek and Roman, and early Christian contexts, but some modern cases are also examined. The seven essays were presented at a panel of the American Academy of Religion, date and place not noted. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere represents a rare opportunity to experience a diverse group of preeminent philosophers confronting one pervasive contemporary concern: what role does or should religion play in our public lives? Reflecting on her recent work concerning state violence in Israel-Palestine, Judith Butler explores the potential of religious perspectives for renewing cultural and political criticism, while Jürgen Habermas, best known for his seminal conception of the public sphere, thinks through the ambiguous legacy of the concept of "the political" in contemporary theory. Charles Taylor argues for a radical redefinition of secularism, and Cornel West defends civil disobedience and emancipatory theology. Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen detail the immense contribution of these philosophers to contemporary social and political theory, and an afterword by Craig Calhoun places these attempts to reconceive the significance of both religion and the secular in the context of contemporary national and international politics.