Pope Benedict XVI, who has passed away, was dubbed ‘Green Pontiff’; here is why

Benedict’s statements and actions during his papacy reveal his deep understanding of green issues and connect with them

How Nanak used nature in his verses to drive home his point

Down To Earth speaks to musician and singer Rabbi Shergill about the poetry of Sikhism’s founder and its many allusions to facets of …

How to douse the flames

The challenge facing India today is in many ways the biggest challenge facing the entire world

No consensus on consciousness

Despite fanciful theories by psychologists, physicists, neuroscientists and computer scientists, consciousness remains an abiding mystery

Big gods came after the rise of civilisations, not before, finds study using huge historical database

A massive database, named after Seshat, the Egyptian goddess of record keeping, is helping researchers 

Valentine’s Day’s connection with love was probably invented by Chaucer and other 14th-century poets

Courtly medieval literature has an important part to play with Saint Valentine and his romantic associations

‘India needs to monitor mortality disaggregated by social groups to understand health disparities’

There needs to be data that links social groups to different behaviours and risk factors to mortality, says Sangita Vyas

The real bad news

The most prosperous regions and communities in India have a bias against the female sex. Religion-based data shows us the biggest development …

Sarna Dharam Code: Of Adivasi identity and eco-nationalism

Down To Earth speaks to experts on Adivasi culture about the recent resolution passed by the Jharkhand Assembly, asking for a separate religion …

Putting faith back in science

Pope Francis may have just succeeded in creating a kind of middle ground, albeit a slippery one

Church of England to explore gender-neutral terms for God — women clergy’s suggestions for replacing ‘Our Father’

Official Christian doctrine is that God has no gender; yet “He” is described almost exclusively in masculine terms

Religious leaders pledge to alleviate poverty

They also declared they would do all they could to support the new SDGs, aimed at lifting millions of people out of poverty and creating a …

Drugs and religion have been a potent combination for millennia, from cannabis at ancient funerary sites to psychedelic retreats today

The current ‘psychedelic renaissance’ is often called revolutionary for future of humans

Can FSSAI ensure safe food at places of worship without hurting religious sentiments?

India’s food regulatory body plans to implement Food Safety Management System (FSMS) to ensure quality of food in places of worship, but it …

Laws alone won’t end female genital mutilation in India: Mariya Taher

 Down To Earth speaks to Mariya Taher, the co-founder and United States executive director of non-profit Sahiyo on Female Genital …

COVID-19: Why social distancing does not work for Nigerian women

Religion holds an African woman responsible for all domestic chores, and saying no to husbands is not allowed, say Nigerian women 

Religion V environment

Mobocracy can’t be allowed in a democracy, says SC

The apex court asks the Parliament to draft a new legislation against lynching

Presumed ideals

Any utopia, whether founded on reason or faith, contains the seeds of dystopia within

A leonine tale for Holi: Could the Asiatic Lion have inspired the figure of Narasimha?

Religious iconography cannot be mapped onto modern taxonomy, say experts

Yule — A celebration of the return of light and warmth

Yule is celebrated by Wiccans and many other Pagans in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21

Religion v science: desperate claims

Rationalist analyses recent statements by Prime Minister Modi and the Pope

Of Saint Patrick and the serpents

As the Irish celebrate the feast day of their patron saint globally, some insights into why the Emerald Isle is ‘snake-less’ and how …

The Gambia may allow female genital mutilation again – another sign of a global trend eroding women’s rights

Proposed changes before parliament could permit medicalised female genital cutting and allow it for consenting adults

Hope is not the same as optimism, a psychologist explains — just look at MLK’s example

Long-term hope is a mindset that helps people endure challenges, tackle them head-on and keep their eyes on the goal