The Huffington Post currently has an article describing some controversy over the exclusion of religious clergy/material from the 9/11 memorial service. Bloomberg has pledged to maintain his position despite conservative religious group protests. A spokesperson for the Mayor said, “The ceremony was designed in coordination with 9/11 families with a mixture of readings that are …
Category Archive: General
Aug 26
Parade of Fools
A new nationwide Gallup poll provides insight about who the current frontrunners are for the GOP nomination. As you can see in the figure below, the only candidates I would ever support—Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman—didn’t even crack the top four. These two didn’t even make a respectable showing. Now, I don’t think Gingrich and …
Aug 19
Should the clay judge the potter?
I’ve never understood why people, especially Evangelicals, use this question as if it has force. The answer seems like an obvious “Yes,” but to clearly see why, let’s unpack the assumptions. First, let’s consider the analogy: the clay should not judge the potter. Humans (and I presume animals) are supposed to be the clay and …
Aug 09
A Mormon President
We have two Republican presidential candidates that are Mormon. In lieu of this, Joanna Brooks discusses here how Mormons aren’t so bad (she is a Mormon herself). She looks to dispel five myths people believe about Mormons. The campaigns by Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. for the GOP presidential nomination, along with the popular …
Jul 29
Atheist vs. Agnostic
I am an atheist. Let me be clear. I don’t believe in any gods or goddesses. I don’t believe in ghosts or ESP. I don’t believe in anything you might associate with the supernatural. Period. Yet, there is a move often made by theists. It goes a little something like this: Theist: Can you prove …
Jun 29
Human Sacrifice
Imagine a village in ancient times. This village is inhabited by a culture that is quite primitive when viewed through the lens of today. They don’t know much about how the world works. In good times, they are thankful to their local god for the bounty. In hard times, they feel they must have wronged …
Jun 09
Catching Up
I’ve been travelling lately, so I’m sorry if I haven’t kept up with the site over the past week or two. I did have some interesting site-related things happen, though. – I received a review copy of Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith. I wanted to complete my review …
May 03
Should we celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden?
I learned of Osama bin Laden’s death yesterday morning. I was immediately struck with a sobering thought: I hoped there wouldn’t be a retaliatory strike. As the day went on, I began to hear and read the reactions of others. The majority of emotions could best be described as celebratory. He may have been an …
Mar 08
E Pluribus Abruptio
There has long been a dispute over our country’s motto, and H. Con. Res. 13 aims to settle it. In one corner, E Pluribus Unum (roughly: out of many, one). It’s elegant, accurate, and using Latin makes us sound smart. In the other corner, In God We Trust. You’ve probably seen it on coinage and …
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