When it comes to terrorism, liberals are often accused of “seeing the world as you want it to be, not as it is.” It’s now time for liberals to accuse conservatives of the same when it comes to guns. So…
Fewer Prayers, More Action
Tag: Religion
The Norden
Recently, through my various wanderings about YouTube, I came across a most excellent Finnish TV program, The Norden. The show explores various aspects of Nordic societies (prisons, police, religion, gender, work, and family values) through the eyes of a foreigner. The episode…
A World Without Borders: A Pale Blue Dot
Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and…
This Island Earth
Some mornings, when the air is particularly clear, or the sunrises particularly grand, I take a brief moment to reflect on the grandeur of mere existence. I don’t do it enough, but how could I possibly give All of Existence its due credit…
In Support of Religious Moderates
On Wednesday, twelve French citizens lost their lives at the hands Muslim extremists. It was clearly an act of terror, intended to stop future satire or criticism of Muslims or the Islamic faith. These are the facts, but as a society,…
The Strange Places I’ve Called Home: Part 3, Knoxville
Check out my first two parts of my “Strange Places I’ve Called Home” series: Milwaukee, and South Florida. At first blush, Knoxville seems like an odd fit for a boy like me. It is conservative and religious, and I am…
Finding Dog
In the beginning, Man created gods. The gods were jealous, capricious, and spiteful. In fact, the gods were a lot like Man, but that’s quite besides the point. The gods quickly made a hash of things. They started requiring man…
Belief in an Information Age
Why do we believe weird things? Moreover, how do we persuade others (or ourselves) to move off of a long-held belief when new evidence comes to light? These are questions that are never far below the stream of my consciousness,…
A Win for Rational Thought: The Fight Over Marriage Equality
Update: This post was originally published April 1, 2013. Today, June 26, 2015, The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. This is a great day for humanity, not just same-sex couples. It is also a great…
Religion and Politics
In all of the hoopla over the recent pick of Paul Ryan as the Republican nominee for vice president and the subsequent convention, one fact has been largely overlooked: the Romney-Ryan ticket is the first major political party ticket without…
Creationist Korea
After nearly two years in Korea, and another one yet planned, the reader might assume that I generally like this quirky little country of 50 million people, perched precariously on the edge of Asia. The reader would be quite right…
Atheist Me: What’s the Big Deal?
This is a follow-up to two posts that I completed in January 2012 on my Atheism. Within a few days of releasing my post first post on Atheism: “Atheist Me: Coming to the Conclusion,” I received the following facebook message from…