The Rise Of Monotheism; Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share And Follow The Golden Rule
The Rise Of Monotheism
Jonathan Kirsch’s new book, God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism, describes the fight between monotheism and paganism, with Roman Emperor Constantine securing the fate of the paganism that had held the Roman Empire together. Kirsch looks at the violence perpetrated by early Christians in the name of one God, a kind of totalitarian mentality under the guise of religion. Kirsch joins Larry Mantle to discuss the new book.
Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share And Follow The Golden Rule
Science writer and Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer joins Larry to talk about his new book The Science of Good and Evil in which he explains how humans transformed the moral sentiments displayed in many primate species---shame and trust, for instance---into ethical principles. This show, Dr. Shermer contends, how our morals and ethics are not products of divine origin but rather of our biological heritage and our cultural history.