Category Archives: Religion

Scientific fidelity vs narrative; anti-gay bigotry and socialism; the ecology of faith; Valerie Tarico on religion; Hans Zimmer and conceptual breakthrough

Posted on Tuesday 18 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s one of several articles in the past week or so about why we should not nitpick the science in Interstellar: Slate: Back Off, Scientists: Don’t be so nitpicky about the technical details of sci-fi movies like Interstellar I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Films, MInd, Music, Psychology, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Scientific fidelity vs narrative; anti-gay bigotry and socialism; the ecology of faith; Valerie Tarico on religion; Hans Zimmer and conceptual breakthrough

EO Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence, part 2

Posted on Monday 17 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Second of several posts about Edward O. Wilson’s book THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, which as I described earlier both here on my blog and on Facebook, is a concise summary of this important scientist’s views on the big issues … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Evolution, Religion, Science | Comments Off on EO Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence, part 2

EO Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence, part 1

Posted on Thursday 13 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s the first of several posts about Edward O. Wilson’s book THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, which as I described earlier both here on my blog and on Facebook, is a concise summary of this important scientist’s views on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Evolution, Religion, Science | Comments Off on EO Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence, part 1

Fundamentalist Beliefs, the Real World, and Science Fiction

Posted on Thursday 6 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

“Those of us in the U.S. think we’re amazing at everything… mostly because we’re blissfully ignorant about how the rest of the world operates.” Here’s a fun video of a fundamentalist pastor from an Atlanta suburb whose mind is boggled … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, Thinking | Comments Off on Fundamentalist Beliefs, the Real World, and Science Fiction

Education and Faith; Reza Aslan and Religious Apologists

Posted on Tuesday 4 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s an article in Psychology Today about Why Education Corrodes Religious Faith. Well, of course it does; it’s all pretty obvious, but the article is a nice, concise summary for those who need it spelled out. (And an antidote, perhaps, … Continue reading →

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Apophenia, Religious Apologists, No True Scotsman

Posted on Tuesday 4 November 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I maintain a Word document where I compile links and quotes from online articles I intend to comment on in this blog, and as I post each one, I gray out the text of that section of the Word doc. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Religion | Comments Off on Apophenia, Religious Apologists, No True Scotsman

Arthur C. Clarke: Two Religious Explorations

Posted on Wednesday 29 October 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Arthur C. Clarke is, of course, the British SF writer (who lived much of his life in Sri Lanka) most famous for the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as several other of the most popular and … Continue reading →

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Heroic Individuals and Magical Thinking

Posted on Tuesday 28 October 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Two interesting article from today’s Science section of The New York Times. From science writer Dennis Overbye: The Leaky Science of Hollywood. The subject is the upcoming film The Theory of Everything, a biopic of Stephen Hawking, which is getting … Continue reading →

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Right Wing paranoia; Conservative propoganda; coming out Smart like coming out Gay

Posted on Friday 24 October 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Interesting links the past few days, with comments. 5 Years After Passage Of Hate Crimes Law, Religious Right’s Dire Predictions Still Haven’t Come True Well, of course not. This is just another example of the Christian Right’s paranoia, and an … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, The Gays | Comments Off on Right Wing paranoia; Conservative propoganda; coming out Smart like coming out Gay

Education, Inculcation, Smart Kids, Evolution and Religion, Value Voter Summit

Posted on Monday 29 September 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Two fine essays from this past Sunday’s New York Times. Frank Bruni: The Wilds of Education When it comes to bullying, to sexual assault, to gun violence, we want and need our schools to be as safe as possible. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Religion | Comments Off on Education, Inculcation, Smart Kids, Evolution and Religion, Value Voter Summit