Up Front

Thou Shalt Not Play God

by Thomas W. Clark

The Rational-Universe Theory

by P.G. Doloff

True Lies: The Dishonesty of Honesty Tests

by Benjamin Kleinmuntz

Now that polygraphs have been discredited, the "integrity industry" is trying to create a market for its latest innovation: pencil-and-paper "honesty tests." But are these tests any more scientific or reliable than their predecessors?

The Legacy of "Star Trek"

by Majel Barrett Roddenberry

The 1995 Humanist Arts Awardee looks back on the phenomenal success of the popular science-fiction show created by her late husband, and discusses the many profound ways in which "Star Trek" has influenced the world for the better.

Mutilated Humanity

by Ashley Montagu

How should we account for the remarkable human propensity to commit bodily mutilations, especially in the widespread social practice of make and female circumcision? The 1995 Humanist of the Year looks at the historical record and argues that the answer is a lot more complicated than you might think.

Requiem for a Freedom Fighter

by Frederick Edwords

The world recently lost one of its premiere advocates and activists for civil liberties, as well as one of the leading proponents of the humanist philosophy. Here we take a look back at the life, the struggles, and the triumphs of Dr. Corliss Lamont. (Click here to read the article)

Parallel Worlds: The Surprising Similarities (and Differences) of Country-and-Western and Rap

by Denise Noe

Despite their apparent dissimilarities, the worlds conveyed by country-and-western and rap music have much in common. Why, then, is rap so fiercely condemned while C&W is not? The answer reveals much about current American values.

Killing Women: A Pop-Music Tradition

by John Hammerlinck

Acts of violence against women are depicted again and again in American popular music--from the "murder ballads" of the pre-Civil War South to the blues and heavy metal, rap and country-and-western. Why is this imagery so widespread?

The Puritan Covenant II: Anti-Modernism and the "Contract with America"

by Jay Hatheway

Like their forebears, the "Republican revolutionaries" of today are trying to stem the tide of modernism and bring America around to the authoritarian principles of order and submission to God enunciated in the Puritan Covenant of 1630.

Departments

Letters

American Humanist Association Response to the "Contract with the American Family"

Watch on the Right

by John Swomley

Church and State

by Edd Doerr

Civil Liberties Watch

by Barbara Dority

Philosopher's Column

by Loyal Rue

Our Queer World

by Scott Tucker

First Person

by Carol Baum

Cover:

Illustration by Ron Chironna © 1995

Copyright © 2002, the American Humanist Association