Daily Archives: August 9, 2009

PZ Myers: The Rush Limbaugh of Atheism?

I certainly understand why people like PZ Myers’s style. It is easy and uncomplex, and impatient with nuance. It’s what makes Fox News so popular. And it may well draw a crowd of young people. Myers is ever on the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Stanley Fish on the Cross of Doubt

The religions I know are about nothing but doubt and dissent, and the struggles of faith, the dark night of the soul, feelings of unworthiness, serial backsliding, the abyss of despair. Whether it is the book of Job, the Confessions … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Emily Dickinson on Telling the Truth

And, implicitly, on how to make art: Tell all the Truth but tell it slant— Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightening to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Blog’s Enemies (and Friends)

Because I’m an agnostic, the “enemy” at this blog (if I am to have “enemies”) is really the person who wishes to avoid worry and nuance with regard to his or her intellectual positions. Give me a person who is vulnerable and … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Really Sure You Want God to be Dead?

If atheism were to achieve its “godless humanity” wish, what Huxlian Brave New World might arrive with this advent? If you’re an atheist, doesn’t this give you just a little bit of pause? Or is atheism simply a matter of truth for you, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Atheist Universe? Is Naturalism a More Parsimonious (Simple) Assumption to Make about What We See Around Us than Supernaturalism?

As an agnostic, I’m not so sure that I can agree with atheists that the most parsimonious explanation (that is, the simplest explanation) for the universe is naturalism. I would suggest that getting to an objective definition, a priori, of what … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quote for a Sunday

Henry David Thoreau (from Walden ): To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Great Divide

I know which side I’m on. I’m with Barack. (Hat tip to Kurt.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rush Limbaugh Wants President Barack Obama Dead, Doesn’t He?

Rush Limbaugh has been persistently promoting, at his website and on the air, this psychopathic image of Barack Obama as a zombie cannibal blood-mouth malevolently committed to bringing socialism to America: Limbaugh’s attempt to link Barack Obama’s character to Heath … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Red Brick and Clay

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

They Go There

This today from The Hill : The Secret Service may investigate a fax sent to a Democratic lawmaker that depicts President Barack Obama as the Joker and warns of “death to all Marxists.” The black-and-white fax portrays Obama in makeup similar … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

They Demonized President Kennedy Too

The day prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, the far right was demonizing him as a traitor to his country. See the flyer being distributed around Dallas in the run-up to his visit there in 1963 here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment