Latest fromReligion and Beliefs

Star takes barbs for Passion play
As people relaxed at Easter weekend, Michael Sheen endured incarceration in a police cell, slept rough up a mountain and was crucified, then resurrected in front of hundreds of onlookers.

Research reveals link between religion, consumerism
A study by a New Zealand researcher has shown Christians are less likely to purchase a product if it is advertised in a materialistic or "showy" way.

New-time religion
Can Easter be celebrated online instead of going to church? Aleks Krotoski ponders the effect the internet has had on religion.

A time to imagine what might be
Easter story reminds us of the power of sacrifice and service for others

Pauline Hanson comes up short
Pauline Hanson has failed in her bid to be elected to the upper house of the NSW parliament.

Bangkok: Temple opens door to its mysteries
Chat sessions with monks provide a rare insight into their lives, says Kate Roff.

Spiritual leader on the run
A spiritual leader with close links to New Zealand has been convicted on 20 counts of indecency with children in the United States.

Anglicans cross about pizza firm's bun adverts
A pizza company has upset people over an advertising campaign that compares its limited-edition hot cross buns to Jesus.

Jada Pinkett Smith believes in love not Scientology
Jada Pinkett Smith refutes reports she is a Scientologist.

Australia a nation of intolerance: report
There is a current of anti-Muslim feeling in Australia that suggests an entrenched hostility often related to overseas events.

Judgment Day? Yeah, right
That was Skeptics Society chair Vicki Hyde's response to billboards claiming the world will end on May 21.

Irfan Yusuf: Witch-hunt has no place in civilised democracy
Sydney lawyer and author of Once Were Radicals: My Years as a Teenage Islamo-facist writes that republican-steered terrorism hearings entirely off the mark.

Saga of many families
Simon Sebag Montefiore tells Stephen Jewell about writing ‘the greatest story ever told’ and why the history of Jerusalem is the story of the world.

Jim Eagles: Broken can still be beautiful
I've always found ancient places of worship to be strangely moving. Probably it's because the dominant role of organised religion in bygone times meant the greatest talents of the age were harnessed to make these churches.

Polygamists share flaw with fruit fly
Scientists have uncovered an odd fact about 19th-century Mormons: the more women in a household, the lower the birthrate.

Pakistan politician assassinated for speaking out
The murder of second official stops any immediate chance of blasphemy law reform.