Rare Kaon Decay Experiments

The status of rare kaon decay experiments is reviewed. With the current generation of experiments now finishing, several exciting new results are available. New limits in the search for Lepton Flavor Violation (LFV) will be discussed, as will new limits and measurements of the CKM matrix parameters. The next generation of rare kaon decay experiments and their contribution to determination of CKM parameters will also be discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, to be published in the Proceedings of the Workshop on Strange Quarks in Hadrons, Nuclei, and Nuclear Matter; Athens, Ohio, May 12-13, 200

Measurement of B(K -> pnn)

The experimental measurement of positive kaons decaying to a positive pion and a neutrino, anti-neutrino pair (pnn) is reviewed. Recent results from experiment E787 at BNL are presented: with data from 1995--97 the branching ratio has been measured to be B(pnn) = (1.5^{+3.4}_{-1.2}) \times10^{-10}. The future prospects for additional data in this mode are examined.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, invited talk at the 7th Conference on the Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics; Quebec City, Canada, May 22-28, 200

Did secularism win out? The debate over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

The debate over the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill marks the latest in a series of conflicts between secularism and religion in the public sphere. The failure of religiously motivated campaigners to alter the Bill's most substantive and controversial provisions, however, should not be seen as a victory for a homogeneous secular camp. Although campaigners motivated by religious belief were almost universally opposed to the Bill, secular campaigners reflected a more varied mix of opinion. Moreover, the degree of organisation and mobilisation shown by the religious lobby during the course of the debate, are a sign that attempts to secure a greater role for religion in the public sphere are likely to remain a prominent feature of British political life

Eperimental Results on Radiative Kaon Decays

This paper reviews the current status of experimental measurements of radiative kaon decays. Several experiments at BNL, CERN and FNAL have recently or will soon complete data collection; as a result, several new results are available.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX, presented at the 3rd Workshop on Physics and Detectors for Dafne, Frascati, Italy, November 16-19, 199

State religion and freedom : a comparative analysis

State religions form one of the main features of the international political landscape, but scholarly research into their dynamics and effects remains limited. This article aims to address this deficiency through a comparative examination of state religions and levels of political and religious freedom. The findings show that countries with a state religion have substantially lower levels of freedom across a range of measurements than countries with no state religion. The absence of any clear correlation to levels of human development, religious diversity and religiosity indicates a key causal role for the institutional mechanics of state religion itself

Do religious justifications distort policy debates? Some empirics on the case for public reason

Scholars engaged in debates about the use of public reason often view religious arguments as being out of bounds. Yet the real-world impact of religious discourse remains under-explored. This study contributes to research in this area with an empirical test looking at the impact of religious arguments on a particular policy debate. A survey experiment explored the effects of religious and secular cues with varied policy directions on the issue of assisted dying. The findings showed that secular arguments were considerably more likely to elicit a positive response, and that, while religious arguments were not a conversation stopper, they produced significant distortions in political perceptions among participants, though not necessarily along the identity lines critical to the public reason debate

Sticks and stones: the use of anti-secular discourse in Britain

The past decade has seen the rise of a strident anti-secular discourse in Britain. Based on the idea that a militant, aggressive and intolerant form of secularism wants to marginalise faith and drive it out of the public square, anti-secular rhetoric has found growing popularity among political and religious figures aiming to promote a greater role for faith in the public realm. The interests and motives behind this discourse, however, are substantively divergent, and the prospects of success are slim, writes Steven Kettell