Category Archives: Religion

Real News; Demagogues; Spirituality

Posted on 3 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three themes for today: How science is the only news, per Stuart Brand; Demagogues and ideologues on the right; and Ross Douthat’s warning about spiritual experiences that don’t align with his own. Glancing through that John Brockman book The Third … Continue reading →

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A Crisp, Sunny January Day

Posted on 30 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics for today: Why China’s decline in population is a good thing; Yuval Noah Harari on identity; Moral panic and the right-wing mind; How climate change has been covered in textbooks since the 1970s.

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Psychology, Religion, Science | Leave a comment

A Fundamental Theological Question, via Jerry Coyne

Posted on 21 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Only time for a quick post today, again, ironically about a fundamental theological issue. What is the essential difference between science and religion, between a way of thinking and a way of not thinking but merely conforming to community traditions, … Continue reading →

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Self-Replacement?

Posted on 27 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today looking at an article about how conservatives worry about the “great replacement” (of US Christian whites by non-white, non-Christian immigrants) and how, ironically, conservative policies invite their being replaced, through simple natural selection. With comments at the end about … Continue reading →

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Assorted Links from Recent Weeks

Posted on 23 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About George Santos’s fictional resume, Tucker Carlson’s year of being wrong, Avatar 2’s “ecological Indian” cliche, the hypocrisy of right-wing “free thinkers,” Thomas Frank on the lack of imagination of Democrats, DeSantis and vaccines, book banning, and two religious graphics.

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Hanukkah Kitsch and Christmas Shopping

Posted on 20 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I spent most of this afternoon Christmas shopping. I can make that align with this article about Hanukkah kitsch. New York Times, 18 Dec 2022: Potato Latke Cocktail, Anyone?

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Doom and Existential Dread

Posted on 11 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About the stages of the Republican Party’s terminal illness (doom); and about why conservatives disapprove of same-sex relationships more than any number of other supposed Biblical sins (existential dread); and my explanation for the latter.

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Ancient Apocalypse, Odds and Ends

Posted on 30 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The “Ancient Apocalypse” nonsense; Movie trailers; Political headlines.

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Change and Survival: A Refined Conception of Science Fiction

Posted on 29 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple items today have perhaps led me to a new formulation of the idea of “science fiction.”

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Some Unpleasant Political/Religious Posts

Posted on 23 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The haters are doubling down.

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