Abstract: In a world of continued and expanding empire, does sociocultural anthropology in itself offer grounds for moral and social criticism? One line in anthropological thought leads to cultural relativism and an awareness that a cloud of alternative possibilites surrounds any moral code. However...

Abstract: In this essay, I consider - in the context of our ongoing debates about capital punishment - the question, "what role ought religious beliefs play in a pluralistic democratic society that often presumes strict boundaries between matters of private faith and political life?" I suggest...