Recent Blog Posts
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Full of Sound and Fury: The Media Response to Dennett
This post previously published as an article in the journal Method & Theory in the Study of Religion in 2008. What is the best way for a well-known, unabashedly atheistic philosopher to have a discussion with the American general public about the value and nature of religion? It is not an easy question to answer.…
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Shame, shame, know your name
Reading about film critic Rex Reed criticizing actress Melissa McCarthy’s appearance using such sophisticated and erudite terms as “tractor-sized” and “female hippo” has me reflecting on moral psychology. You know, as I’m prone to do. Specifically it has me going back to what I know about the way shame and guilt function for both the…
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Quote of the day
From a site not fond of male feminism Misogyny-hurts-men-too edition: I’m a guy, and I need feminism. Not “men’s rights.” Feminism. Here is why. Everything that MRAs talk about that men can’t do or are socially punished for arise directly and immediately from misogyny. Not “misandry.” Misogyny. Whether I am expressing my emotions, playing with children, baking,…
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Forward Thinking: What Would You Tell Teenagers About Sex?
Libby Anne and Dan Finke at Patheos have started a project called Forward Thinking, which is a series of questions they put to bloggers to encourage them to think productively. The replies to these questions are then rounded up and a new prompt posted. This will be my first crack at it. Congratulations, teenager! You are…
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A particularly audacious heckler’s veto
To refresh: A heckler’s veto is when a group objects to something and uses the threat of their own disruptiveness or potential violence to get that thing removed or banned. Or, when someone else who opposes that thing uses the specter of some other (real or imagined) group’s potential disruptiveness or potential violence. Basically, the message is “Force these…
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Women who reject their own freedom
I’ll admit– I’m still surprised when I hear an anti-feminist argument coming from a woman. Women who don’t just reject the label of “feminist” but are actually opposed to specific freedoms for womankind, forcefully opposed, take me aback. I don’t understand how someone could want to be less free, and not just her but every…