The University of Chicago is offering grants for projects to study wisdom. Proposals are due by November 19.

FROM MIKE McCULLOUGH, A PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: My upcoming book, Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, is finally done. In this book, I use research from biology and the social sciences to argue that humans' capacity to forgive is every bit as natural as is our tendency to seek vengeance. I also argue that an evolutionary approach to understanding both of these basic human traits can reveal new ways we can go about trying to make the world a more forgiving, less vengeful place. The book will be in stores next April.

Dinesh D’Souza, author of the new book What’s So Great About Christianity and one of the country’s most prolific conservative writers, published an aggressive opinion piece this week in USA Today. According to D’Souza, modern critics of religion miss “the larger story of how Christianity has shaped the core institutions and values of the USA and the West,” including science, which he says “is based on an assumption that is, at root, faith-based and theological.” —Sara Kern

Norman Mailer’s latest book, On God, hits the bookshelves today. The legendary American author offers a unique system of belief in which God is an artist. “And like an artist," writes Mailer, "God has successes, God has failures.” In the book, a conversation with Michael Lennon, an emeritus professor at Wilkes University, Mailer presents his theology and vision of the universe, addresses a modified version of "intelligent design," and explains why technology is the work of the devil. New York Magazine has an excerpt. —Stephen Mapes

FROM KARL GIBERSON: Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing Bill McKibben for the first time, at Derby Academy in my hometown of Hingham, Massachusetts. He made a familiar point, but there was something about his pastoral sincerity and understated physical presence that drove the point home. Studies show, he said, that Americans’ self-reported “happiness” peaked in 1956 and has declined steadily since, despite our rapidly rising standard of living. This rising standard of living—bigger cars, bigger homes, bigger vacations—has squandered much of the world’s energy, created a dangerous political environment, and initiated global warming. But we are less content, having created a culture of affluence in which playing with expensive toys has replaced meaningful human interaction.
McKibben’s simple but compelling point: If we change our lifestyle to conserve energy, we will end up doing things that make us happier—shopping in local farmer’s markets, commuting on public transit with other people, carpooling, walking more. In short, we need to be more European, like we used to be. Not surprisingly, Europeans report a much higher level of personal happiness than we do—despite driving toy cars, taking the train everywhere, and living in tiny flats.

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has asked religious leaders to be "good stewards of God's earth" by focusing on environmental issues. "It is our responsibility to ensure that this planet remains clean and safe and livable for our children and for all of God's children," Obama said last weekend during a forum on religion and climate change. Obama is not the first candidate to link conservation and faith; Republican candidate Mike Huckabee has also publicly encouraged Christian stewardship of the environment. —Stephen Mapes

Ruth Feldman, a professor of clinical and child psychology at Bar Ilan University in Israel, has conducted the first study linking the hormone oxytocin to the special, strong bond between mother and child.