Clip 5: Islam and jihad (Templeton Foundation)

A conversation between Robert Wright, author of "The Evolution of God," and Ross Douthat, New York Times. For more information about Templeton Book Forum events, please visit http://www.templeton.org/events/book_forums/

For centuries, faithful followers of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have looked to their holy texts for spiritual guidance, social and political mandates, and answers to humankind's burning questions about the workings of the universe. But what if these believers have been overlooking the most important message in their Scriptures?

In The Evolution of God, Robert Wright argues that there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Drawing on recent scholarship in archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, he challenges a range of basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Evolution of God explains why spirituality has a role today; why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest; and why the prospects for religious harmony are brighter than they may seem.

Robert Wright is the author of The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are (1994) and Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny (2000). A contributing editor at the New Republic, he has also written for TIME, Slate, the Atlantic, and the New Yorker. He is the editor-in-chief of Bloggingheads.tv and has taught philosophy at Princeton University and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ross Douthat recently joined the New York Times as an op-ed columnist. Formerly a senior editor at the Atlantic, he is the author of Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (2005) and, with Reihan Salam, Grand New Party (2008). A film critic for National Review, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, GQ, Slate, and other publications.

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