We Question, Therefore We Live

Religion, Science, and Evolution 
by Gordon M. Burghardt, Ph.D.

Santa Claus and Jesus as Transitional Objects

Tonight Santa Claus will be visiting many children and millions of people around the world will be attending churches commemorating the arrival of Baby Jesus, symbolically but with all the trapping of anticipating a real birth. I want to make the claim that Santa Claus and Jesus are actually involved in quite related rituals. Read More

Santa Claus and Jesus as Transitional Objects

Tonight Santa Claus will be visiting many children and millions of people around the world will be attending churches commemorating the arrival of Baby Jesus, symbolically but with all the trapping of anticipating a real birth. I want to make the claim that Santa Claus and Jesus are actually involved in quite related rituals. Read More

A Necessary Dialogue

After a hiatus, I will be regularly writing this column covering issues in science, evolution, religion in the context of both historical and current issues. In the course of these reflections I will discuss some enduring, as well as ‘modern' aspects of the interaction between the ‘scientific temperament' and spiritual and religious commitments. Read More

Was Voltaire a Protoevolutionist?

In my inaugural column I used a poem by Voltaire to suggest the problems in viewing a benevolent and all-powerful God as a source of human protection against undeserved tragic events. The Lisbon earthquake helped undermine the view that informed, thinking individuals should continue to stick to a simplistic set of religious dogmas and rhetorical formulas. Read More

Earthquakes cause mental destruction too!

 Did a poem born from tragedy help change our religious consciousness? Read More

Gordon M. Burghardt, Ph.D.

Gordon M. Burghardt, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee.

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Books by Gordon M. Burghardt, Ph.D.

Image of The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits (Bradford Books)
The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits (Bradford Books)
Image of Iguanas of the World: Their Behavior, Ecology and Conservation (Noyes Series in Animal Behavior, Ecology, Conservation, and Management)
Iguanas of the World: Their Behavior, Ecology and Conservation (Noyes Series in Animal Behavior, Ecology, Conservation, and Management)
Image of The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition
The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition