Category Archives: Religion

Most Beliefs Aren’t About What’s Real, They’re About Conforming to Tribal Mythology

Posted on Monday 22 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Three more core principles today, illustrated by an essay by a “former creationist” and how she found “following the science” clashed with her culture — and how this conflict is born of ancient biology; How universities would like to teach … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Psychology, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Most Beliefs Aren’t About What’s Real, They’re About Conforming to Tribal Mythology

And Now It’s Jimmy Kimmel

Posted on Thursday 18 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Jimmy Kimmel pulled off air for comments about Charlie Kirk; With comments by Adam Serwer and Zack Beauchamp; And how a huge business deal is behind this; NYT in 1939 describing how Joseph Goebbels did the same thing. – – … Continue reading →

Posted in authoritarianism, Lunacy, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on And Now It’s Jimmy Kimmel

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 5 and last

Posted on Monday 15 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2; post 3; post 4) Comments first this time: The final chapter of this book asks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 5 and last

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 4

Posted on Saturday 13 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2; post 3) Summary: Chapter 4: Faith Strikes Back Faith sometimes claims that it can deduce … Continue reading →

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Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 3

Posted on Thursday 11 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1; post 2) Summary: Chapter 3: Why Accommodationism Fails This chapter explains why you can’t have your religion … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 3

Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 2

Posted on Wednesday 10 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) (Earlier: post 1) Summary: Chapter 2: What’s Incompatible? This chapter considers science, religion, their incompatibility, and their conflicts of method, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 2

Intellectual Vacuity, False Christian History, and Stories

Posted on Tuesday 9 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait, 9 Sept 2025: The Intellectual Vacuity of the National Conservatives, subtitled “The post-liberal American right set out to destroy the guardrails that restrained anti-Semitism, without giving any thought to what might happen next.” [gift link] This … Continue reading →

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Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 1

Posted on Tuesday 9 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why Science and Religion are Incompatible” (Viking, May 2015, xxii + 311pp, including 46pp of acknowledgements, notes, references,and index) For this next book, I’m going to split summary and notes up into multiple posts. And include some general comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Jerry A. Coyne: FAITH VS. FACT, post 1

And the Moon Rose Over an Open Field

Posted on Friday 5 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman, with graphs, wonders why the right rejects progress; Robert Reich on why we don’t trust Donald Trump — because he disregards the truth; Hemant Mehta on how the “nones” aren’t exactly “godless”; How Trump is a Russian asset; … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Music, Politics, progress, Religion | Comments Off on And the Moon Rose Over an Open Field

Margaret Atwood: THE HANDMAID’S TALE

Posted on Thursday 4 September 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Houghton Mifflin, Feb. 1986, hardcover, 311pp) This is the US first edition hardcover, which I bought when it came out (it’s the first printing too), though the book was published in Canada the year before, in 1985. It’s 40 years … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Morality, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Margaret Atwood: THE HANDMAID’S TALE