Category Archives: Religion

Links and Comments: Religious Freedom and Gay Animus

Posted on Friday 3 April 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve been busy the last couple weeks unpacking books and arranging the house, and so am backlogged with links and comments, including this past week’s news and many commentaries about the ‘religious freedom’ laws in Indiana and elsewhere. For the … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Slate on Rejection of Modernity

Posted on Wednesday 18 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on several items today. First, interesting article at Slate by Brad Allenby: The Return to Medievalism: Why is the world so troubled right now? Rejection of modernity and technology may be to blame. This consolidates many of my … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Pale Blue Dot; 10 Commandments; Evolution; Tribalistic thinking; Answers for Creationists

Posted on Friday 13 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I have a batch of links with notes from almost a month ago that I never got around to posting. Let me catch up. On the theme in recent posts of awe-inspiring graphics or videos, here’s a piece by Phil … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Evolution, Psychology, Religion, Science, Ten Commandments | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Pale Blue Dot; 10 Commandments; Evolution; Tribalistic thinking; Answers for Creationists

Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Posted on Thursday 12 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

First, an essay at Salon not just about Fox News and Bill O’Reilly but about Why the pundit’s fabrications are almost beside the point. Key point: there isn’t enough ‘real’ news to sustain a 24-hour new network. That is, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Fox News; Jonathan Haidt; Scientology; Paul Krugman; US and Israel

Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

Posted on Wednesday 4 March 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Several key posts from last week, that I want to capture before I’m on the road for another couple days. First, the viral dress thing is possibly the most widely circulated example ever of how you can’t always believe what … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Perceiving Reality; Controlling the Narrative

Links and Comments: Star Trek and Humanism; John Cleese

Posted on Wednesday 25 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple more links noticed in recent days, before I lose or forget them; my daily routine, as we settle and unpack in our new home in Oakland, will be a while getting back to have time for more considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanism, Personal history, Philosophy, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Star Trek and Humanism; John Cleese

Links and Comments: Oliver Sacks; A Pious American against Trains; Offending Religion

Posted on Tuesday 24 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Another link-dump, for now, i.e. some links and quick comments, without the more considered comments I might do under normal circumstances… after another busy week of moving-in and unpacking. The great author Oliver Sacks has this moving NYT op-ed about … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Oliver Sacks; A Pious American against Trains; Offending Religion

Links and Comments: Quotes; GOP and Evolution; Skeptics; Oklahoma history

Posted on Wednesday 18 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

During a busy week, this is a quick post to capture various quotes and links I’ve found in the past few days. Resources. Quote: Charles Bukowski: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Quotes; GOP and Evolution; Skeptics; Oklahoma history

Links and Comments: Still Climbing

Posted on Friday 13 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik, Obama and the Cruaders. Parsing faith, fanaticsm , liberalism, pluralism. Bad acts may rise from good causes: faith may never be the enemy; fanaticism is always the enemy. But faith has always been the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Morality, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Still Climbing

Links and Comments: Robert Wright on Brian Williams; Obama on Christianity; Children of Gay Parents; Republicans and evolution

Posted on Thursday 12 February 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Wright — author of among other books The Moral Animal (1994), one of the best books I’ve read about how evolutionary psychology affects human culture and relationships — offers his perspective, in New Republic, on how Brian Williams Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Psychology, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Robert Wright on Brian Williams; Obama on Christianity; Children of Gay Parents; Republicans and evolution