Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Category Archives: Religion
Links and Comments: Republicans and Doing the Right Thing, Not; Religion as LARP
Adam Kinzinger; Pat Toomey; role playing games.
Links and Comments: Conspiracy Theorists, Psychology, and Beliefs
What does “belief” even mean? How can people claim to believe things that, to others, are transparent nonsense? Clearly belief has nothing to do with what, based on evidence and reason, is actually real. Belief can simply mean conviction to … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Links and Comments: Conspiracy Theorists, Psychology, and Beliefs
Links and Comments: Reality; Economics; Religion and Politics
Scientific American: Now Is the Time to Reestablish Reality, subtitled “We need to agree on the evidence—so we can disagree on what to do in light of it” On the occasion of the passing of the Trump administration, of course. … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Insurrectionists, the G.O.P., Evangelicals, Fantasies, and Lies
It’s always dangerous to characterize any entire group with some common trait; that’s the first step toward prejudice and bigotry. Yet there are more and more article and essays that find common traits among Republicans, as a group, or at … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Politics, Psychology, Religion
Comments Off on Links and Comments: Insurrectionists, the G.O.P., Evangelicals, Fantasies, and Lies
Links and Comments: Not Who We Are; Christians and Trump
First, those of my Facebook friends who have the fortitude to read right-wing sites indeed confirm my suspicion that insurrectionists are planning more violence, against all the state capitals, and on inauguration day. So then. Two articles about the claim … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Religion and Abortion
I’m fascinated by how the supposed verities of religion turn out to shift and sway with the times, especially with politics. The religious cherry-pick from scripture whatever they currently want to support, since it’s so easy to find in scripture … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Trying to Be Smarter; Faith vs Fact
NYT: How Do We Get to Herd Immunity for Fake News?, subtitled, “We need to match our focus on the supply of misinformation with a focus on the demand for it.” Yet the chorus of angst over misinformation has focused … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Christian Nationalism; Covid and Climate Denial
NYT: Trump or No Trump, Religious Authoritarianism Is Here to Stay, subtitled “Their unlikely ally may have lost the White House, but Christian nationalists still plan to win the war,” by Katherine Stewart. The 2020 election is proof that religious … Continue reading
The Afterlives, Part 2
I read a striking insight somewhere recently, but don’t remember where it was or who said it. The insight flips inside out the standard belief (at least among Christian faiths) that living a good life gets you into heaven, so … Continue reading
Links and Comments: Religion and Government; Sophisticated Believers; Religious Indoctrination of Children
NY Times, Wajahat Ali: If Amy Coney Barrett Were Muslim, subtitled “It’s not hard to imagine how conservatives would smear her religious beliefs.” For all that Christians complain that they are oppressed or victimized, in fact their religion so saturates … Continue reading



