"Religion is the opiate of the people" -- Karl Marx had famously said. But can one's faith in God really ease pain? 'Yes', say scientists.

A team at Oxford University has based its findings on an experiment in which 12 Roman Catholics and 12 atheists were "tortured" with electric shocks as they studied two paintings -- Virgin Mary and Leonardo da Vinci's Lady With An Ermine.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Buddhist perception of the mind and existence as reflected in modern medical science was among the main topics discussed at the two-day Fourth National Conference on Buddhist Studies held at the All Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress Hall, Colombo 7 on August 30-31. The Buddhist Times and the Pali University of Sri Lanka organized the event in association with the Bodu Sahana Aramudala (Buddhist Relief Fund).

Guest of Honor was Professor Emeritus N.A. Jayawickrema.

Among the conference highlights was a talk on the 'Concept in Buddhist Philosophy and its Neurological basis' by Indian Neurosurgeon Dr. S.V. Prabhu, Neuro Surgery Department of the Western India Institute of Neurosciences, Kolhapur, India. He said that humans had a template for compassion and therefore the need was to make it a 'temple.' In the case of human emotions such as pity, sympathy, empathy and compassion the last was the most positive while pity was a negative feeling. Mirror neurons, he stressed, helped a person to feel another's emotions, like pain or pleasure.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

The British public has been misled in regard to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill, according to many Catholic Ministers of Parliament.  The bill passed this week in the UK allowing admixed embryos, “savior siblings,” and the role of a father during fertility treatment.

The vote on Monday, which supporters of the bill won by 336 votes to 176, included six Catholic Ministers of Parliament (MPs) voting against Edward Leigh’s campaign to avoid using animal-human hybrids in embryonic research.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.

The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Mary Wanamaker spends most of her time in real life. She works at Columbus State Community College in the mathematics department and is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, a newly restored Gothic Revival building in Capitol Square in the heart of Columbus, Ohio's capital and largest city.

At Trinity, Wanamaker serves on the vestry, chairs the hospitality and newcomer committee, and manages the church's website.

But in her downtime, this 49-year-old engages in "Second Life" -- an online, 3-D virtual world created by its residents. Here, she's a member of the Anglicans in Second Life and participates in virtual worship services at the Anglican cathedral on Epiphany Island, a "virtual cathedral" where the first worship service was held July 2007. So far it has developed into a congregation of 271 people from across the world. It features traditional Anglican architecture, with vaulted gothic ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows. But its construction is revolutionary -- it took only four months to build.   FULL ARTICLE LINK