It's a really, really big "if."
My long-time friend Ed Brayton blogs over at Dispatches From the Culture Wars about various topics related to the “interface of religion, science, law, and culture.” A stalwart defender of civil liberties, he has come under fire from an indeterminate number of trollish posters accusing him of being insufficiently anti-Sharia and anti-Muslim for not being … Read more
Oh, I know there are sadder ones– Ugliest Tattoos is on my blogroll. But this one must be way up there: PZ Myers writes: I have a recommendation for his left arm, though—something from Leviticus 19. Lev 19:26 Eat not on the mountains, nor shall ye employ auguries, nor divine by inspection of birds. … Read more
Listening to Julia Sweeney’s “Letting Go of God” for a bit of thought-farming on the relationship between imagination and science. I know that the quote I’m looking for is toward the end, but am listening to the whole thing anyway because I like to listen to Julia Sweeney when I’m moody. She manages to discuss … Read more
To return to a Michael Pollen note for a bit (sorry), I came across a section of Omnivore’s Dilemma today that devoted some discussion to “opting out.” The context was home-schooling parents who also decide to buy their food from local farmers rather than from the grocery store, and Pollan described them as having “opted … Read more
Quoth Tucker Carlson on Tuesday: “I’m Christian. I’ve made mistakes. I believe fervently in second chances. Michael Vick killed dogs in a heartless and cruel way. I think, personally, he should have been executed for that. The idea the president of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs is beyond the … Read more
…ban all ads relating to religion. Well, that’s one way of going about things. I suppose this could be called an exercise in not rocking the boat.
…this time in my neighborhood. Well, not my immediate neighborhood, as the Dallas transit authority has refused these ads. But Fort Worth has not, and local clergy are raising a big stink: Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas thinks in the wake of the controversial campaign, the T should get rid of all religious ads.“We have … Read more
A disabled Afghanistan veteran was arrested today in my hometown of Wichita Kansas on charges of stalking members of the Westboro Baptist Church: Prosecutors charged [Ryan] Newell, 26, with five misdemeanors Thursday, including stalking and three counts of criminal use of a firearm in an incident involving the Phelps family of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church. … Read more
From CBC News: A debate over Sunday shopping has led P.E.I.’s transportation minister to suggest God had struck down the leader of the Opposition, who fell and injured herself after introducing a bill to allow Sunday openings year-round.Opposition leader Olive Crane introduced the private member’s bill earlier this week. It would remove Canada’s last restrictions … Read more
From Dispatches From the Culture Wars: The Southern Poverty Law Center has added several “mainstream” religious right groups to their list of hate groups for their zealous opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians, including the American Family Association and the Family Research Council. And the theocons are throwing quite a fit over it. … Read more