Monthly Archives: March 2014

Hidebound, Unreflecting, Blind

Posted on 11 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Andrew Sullivan (that gay conservative Catholic author and blogger) has an ongoing thread about Christians who feel persecuted for not approving of same-sex marriage. His blog doesn’t take comments, as this one doesn’t, but he posts substantive responses from email. … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Hidebound, Unreflecting, Blind

Religion vs Cosmos

Posted on 11 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Tech writer Andrew Leonard writes in Salon about religious outrage against science. Watch out, “Cosmos”! The Holy Inquisition is not happy with you The best part: “Cosmos” is labeled “a glossy multi-million-dollar piece of agitprop for scientific materialism” as if … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Religion | Comments Off on Religion vs Cosmos

Cosmos Is Great So Far, but It’s Missing Something

Posted on 10 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The new Cosmos series seems to be just fine, so far. It celebrates science and our knowledge of the vastness of the known universe, and takes a legitimate stand against the religious resistance that would deny or trivialize this knowledge. … Continue reading →

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Billy Budd

Posted on 9 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Last night’s performance of Billy Budd by the Los Angeles Opera was… compelling. I know some Benjamin Britten music (especially “Four Sea Interludes”), but had never heard this opera — nor have I ever read the Melville novella, though I … Continue reading →

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Agnotology, Science Denialism, and Joan Slonczewski

Posted on 9 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A column in the business section of the LA Times this morning, by Michael Hiltzik, Cultural production of ignorance provides rich field for study [curiously the print edition that I read this morning has the title “Sowing doubt about science”] … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Agnotology, Science Denialism, and Joan Slonczewski

From Bible Stories to Science Fiction

Posted on 8 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Following up Thursday’s post, San Francisco Chronicle’s Mark Morford (via Alternet) explains the motivations behind the latest Christian movie, Son of God. There is tremendous money to be made endlessly reinforcing what the masses have already been told to believe, … Continue reading →

Posted in Films, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on From Bible Stories to Science Fiction

Being Wrong Over and Over Again

Posted on 8 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A film documentary about the discovery of the Higgs Boson illustrates the nature of scientific discovery, according to film critic Andrew O’Hehir: “Particle Fever” illustrates the great strength and resilience of the scientific method, with its time-honored propensity for proving … Continue reading →

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Today’s Favorite Song — Beck, Turn Away

Posted on 7 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly
Posted in Music | Comments Off on Today’s Favorite Song — Beck, Turn Away

More Links

Posted on 7 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

No essay today; some days several things I read on the several dozen websites I check daily relate, or one special item is worthy of response, and other days that doesn’t happen. I have however expanded the Links column considerably … Continue reading →

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Hollywood, God, Stories, and Cosmos

Posted on 6 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Lawrence Krauss, physicist and cosmologist and author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing, responds in The New Yorker about Matthew McConaughey’s reference to God in his Oscar award acceptance speech. Apparently there was a Twitter … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Hollywood, God, Stories, and Cosmos