Political cartoons illustrate the cultural zeitgeist– literally– while also offering critical commentary on it. An editorial cartoonist has a vast arsenal of tools at her disposal, allowing her to create visual metaphors, transmit brief but powerful narratives, elicit emotional responses, and present compelling arguments to persuade, inform, and potentially bolster […]
Read MoreReligion is and isn’t special
Passerotti, God the Father The primary reason, it seems, that people are now telling Dan Savage that he shouldn’t have apologized– even in as qualified and precise terms as he did– is because it gives the impression that one should not criticize religious beliefs. And if one does so, and […]
Read MoreHave we evolved to reject evolution?
Following on the Pope post, there are various theories about whether people might reject evolutionary theory because it contradicts their intuitions. One was described by developmental psychologist Paul Bloom in an article he wrote for Natural History magazine entitled “In Science We Trust.” Bloom, who lays out a theory of […]
Read MoreSome thoughts on religious anthropomorphism for Easter
Michael Blume writes concerning the “personification of the universe” model of religion: Religious traditions seem to derive their motivational, cooperative and then reproductive potentials from the belief in superempirical agents – ranging from deceased ancestors to various spirits, angels and demons to gods, bodhisatvas and alien visitors from outer space […]
Read MoreSuppositions
Human nature, by Junior Lopes Here are a few…let’s call them suppositions I’ve reached in the process of doing a very cultural degree program followed by a very cognitive one: 1. Perspective always matters. None of us are truly objective, because we speak from a perspective by necessity. But by […]
Read MoreSue Blackmore decides that religions are not, in fact, viruses of the mind
Sue Blackmore is one of the go-to voices in the UK on matters of religious thinking and consciousness. She is, believe it or not, an atheist with a PhD in parapsychology. Originally a firm believer in the paranormal, she reached the conclusion in the course of her study that it […]
Read MoreSome random musings on “forever”
When I lived in Denmark, a friend told me that no one there receives a prison sentence longer than fourteen years, regardless of their crime. I’ve since learned that that’s not true, but the idea still baffles and appeals to me, and that has nothing to do with the specific […]
Read MoreWho do you admire?
At The Daily Dish, Conor Friedersdorf contemplates the results of a recent Gallup poll asking Americans which men and women they most admire. Barack Obama won out for men, whereas Hillary Clinton came out on top for women. Friedersdorf thinks the fact that politicians make up the majority of people […]
Read MoreAAR 2010
Thousands of smiling, mild-mannered people with blue tote bags have descended on the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. This is the 2010 American Academy of Religion conference. I’m posting from my room in that hotel, using the wireless internet that they made me pay for on top of the room […]
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