Category Archives: Religion

Links and Comments: Hand-Picked Truths and Moral Progress

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, taking the high road, an op-ed by NYT science writer George Johnson, in yesterday’s NYT Science section: The Widening World of Hand-Picked Truths. (The title in print was “The Gradual Extinction of Accepted Truths”.) This speaks to the increasing … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: David Barton; Jeffrey Tayler

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon calls out phony baloney historian David Barton: Meet the Tea Party’s evangelical quack: David Barton is Glenn Beck’s favorite “historian” The larger issue here, of course, is about *narrative*: about how people need to adjust and retell history in … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Derek Muller and the Beauty of Nihilism

Posted on Tuesday 18 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Via, a lovely video by YouTube vlogger Derek Muller, who runs a channel called Veritasium — “a channel of science and engineering videos featuring experiments, expert interviews, cool demos, and discussions with the public about everything science”. “The first principle … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Autism and the Perception of Reality

Posted on Tuesday 18 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Two recent items about autism. First, at Alternet, Florida Principal Tries to Quietly Ban Book to Appease Christians, Sets off Sh*tstorm Instead, in which said principal responded to a “handful of Christian parents” who objected to the acclaimed 2003 novel … Continue reading →

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James Morrow, THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP

Posted on Monday 10 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

James Morrow’s short novel The Madonna and the Starship is one of a handful of short novels or long novellas released by San Francisco-based Tachyon Publications in the past couple years, others including two Nancy Kress titles that both won … Continue reading →

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Stephen King, REVIVAL

Posted on Friday 7 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I enjoy Stephen King’s novels, but he writes too many of them (one or two every year) for me to keep up with all of them, and so I tend to get to only every third or fourth book, whenever … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Biblical Literalism; the Manhattan Option; the excessive optimism of 2001; Neil de Grasse Tyson explains everything

Posted on Monday 3 August 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Lee: So Wrong For So Long: On Liberal Biblical Reinterpretation Lee discusses the cognitive dissonance of those who espouse progressive social views while maintaining fealty to their Biblical-based religions. They rely on relativistic interpretation of scripture, as if the … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible

Posted on Monday 13 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a archival essay by Steven Weinberg, whose new book I just reviewed in previous post: A Designer Universe?. This is the essay in which Weinberg wrote this oft-quoted passage (though usually only its final line, here bolded): Where religion … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, Physics, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible

Links and Comments: Philosophical principles; social programs; narrative; FDS; religious conflict and the gullible

Posted on Wednesday 1 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve belatedly added a link to Adam Lee’s Statement of Principles, a set of philosophical positions that I mostly endorse (I reserve the right to quibble), in the intro to my Provisional Conclusions. \\ And speaking of Adam Lee, this … Continue reading →

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The Sixth Extinction and the Pope’s Encyclical

Posted on Monday 22 June 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Weekend Facebook post, amended: The Sixth Extinction: Curious this topic is in the news suddenly, all over the past couple days, since the idea has been recognized for years and the latest Pulitzer Prize winning nonfiction book, by Elizabeth Kolbert, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Religion | Comments Off on The Sixth Extinction and the Pope’s Encyclical