Category Archives: Religion

Assorted Links, early March

Posted on Friday 3 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Politics, The Crazies, Science and Culture, Religion Jeff VanderMeer (and a coauthor) on DeSantis and students in Florida; David French on cancel culture and the now two Overton Windows; Amanda Marcotte on Republican hypocrisy; MTG’s confused timeline; bills to outlaw … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Assorted Links, early March

Leftover February Links, 1

Posted on Wednesday 1 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Politics, Science, Culture, Religion GOP, NYT and Biden; Evolution, Aliens and Balloons; Movie Credits, Awards; He Gets Us, Indoctrination Camps, Education

Posted in Culture, Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Leftover February Links, 1

Stickiness of Nonbelief

Posted on Friday 17 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

How nonbelief is stickier than belief. Plus: Fox News lied! Who would have thought? And: how UFOs and CRT go together; the number of respectable Republicans. \ OnlySky, Andrew Fiala, 15 Feb 2023: What the stickiness of nonbelief says about … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion | Comments Off on Stickiness of Nonbelief

Religious Presumptions, Divine Plans, Hollywood’s Worst

Posted on Saturday 11 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on links not yet used from the past week or so. Jerry Coyne responds to Timothy Keller’s presumptions about the metaphysical truth of Christianity and the need for a revived Church; The obvious evidence for lack of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Religion | Comments Off on Religious Presumptions, Divine Plans, Hollywood’s Worst

SOTU Address and Other Current Events

Posted on Wednesday 8 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Some things never change… NY Times, Round Table, 8 Feb 2023: Times Columnists Respond to the State Of the Union I’ll just list the contributors and their headlines. Frank Bruni: Biden showed himself to be a happy warrior. Nicholas Kristof: … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion | Comments Off on SOTU Address and Other Current Events

Varieties of Fantasy, and Book Notes

Posted on Saturday 4 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s three topics: A conservative’s take on a fantasy novel; A Le Guin fantasy novel; And insights into books by Heinlein and Brockman.

Posted in Book Notes, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Varieties of Fantasy, and Book Notes

Real News; Demagogues; Spirituality

Posted on Friday 3 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three themes for today: How science is the only news, per Stuart Brand; Demagogues and ideologues on the right; and Ross Douthat’s warning about spiritual experiences that don’t align with his own. Glancing through that John Brockman book The Third … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Real News; Demagogues; Spirituality

A Crisp, Sunny January Day

Posted on Monday 30 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Topics for today: Why China’s decline in population is a good thing; Yuval Noah Harari on identity; Moral panic and the right-wing mind; How climate change has been covered in textbooks since the 1970s.

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Psychology, Religion, Science | Comments Off on A Crisp, Sunny January Day

A Fundamental Theological Question, via Jerry Coyne

Posted on Saturday 21 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Only time for a quick post today, again, ironically about a fundamental theological issue. What is the essential difference between science and religion, between a way of thinking and a way of not thinking but merely conforming to community traditions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, Science | Comments Off on A Fundamental Theological Question, via Jerry Coyne

Self-Replacement?

Posted on Tuesday 27 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Today looking at an article about how conservatives worry about the “great replacement” (of US Christian whites by non-white, non-Christian immigrants) and how, ironically, conservative policies invite their being replaced, through simple natural selection. With comments at the end about … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Self-Replacement?