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Monthly Archives: April 2011
Christopher Hitchens to Kate Middleton: Save Your Soul! Run!
At Slate, Christopher Hitchens sums up the royal wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William perfectly. He sees it as a form of sadomasochistic theatre in which a human victim, in this case Prince William’s bride, has been added to an altar … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged abraham and isaac, atheist, Christopher Hitchens, England, fairy tales, fishbowls, iphigenia, kate middleton, love, public relations, royal wedding, the oresteia
1 Comment
A 3-D Film to See Before You Die: Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
It appears that Werner Herzog has produced a once-in-a-lifetime/not-to-be-missed film that, to be fully appreciated, must be experienced in a large movie house. It’s a 3-D documentary titled Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Its subject is Chauvet Cave in France, which Andrew O’Hehir … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged art, chauvet cave, chicago, documentaries, europe, film, France, life, Los Angeles, movies, new york, werner herzog
2 Comments
Max Keiser on the “Blind Cult of America”
Max Keiser’s money program is uneven in quality and alarmist catnip for gold bugs, but this recent episode is mildly entertaining (though I don’t like his anti-intellectual populist posturing against Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman). Max Keiser presents himself as a truth-teller bravely … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged America, cults, depression 2.0, economics, gold, max keiser, money, Paul Krugman, social psychology, the economy
1 Comment
Checkmate: Death and Determinism are the Two Absolute Truths of Atheism
It’s sometimes asserted that atheism admits of no ultimate or absolute truths, but in the “D Girl” episode of the Sopranos (Season 2) is a rather nice exchange between Tony Soprano and his therapist, Dr. Jennifer Malfi, that suggests otherwise. The exchange concerns … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, determinism, Dostoevsky, existentialism, francis crick, freedom, naturalism, nihilism, science, tony soprano
17 Comments
China vs. America: Advantage the United States (Because of Its Mind Wells)
If a recent projection is to be believed, China and the United States will be at gross domestic product parity sometime around 2016 (each country with a GDP in the 18-20 trillion dollar range). And because China’s growth is likely … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, conscience, economics, feminism, free speech, freedom, Harvard, mind wells, Saudi Arabia, silicon valley, United States, women's rights
7 Comments
Michio Kaku on the God Particle (the Higgs Boson) and String Theory
A fascinating clip:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged God, higgs boson, michio kaku, music, philosophy, physics, science, string theory, the god particle
19 Comments
Chris Hedges 101: Resisting the Moloch of American Plutocracy
In his most recent TruthDig column, former New York Times war correspondent, Chris Hedges, observes that reform in America via personality-based electoral politics has “become a form of magical thinking.” He is, of course, alluding to the hope that accompanied Barack … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Allen Ginsberg, America, banks, Chris Hedges, equality, feminism, freedom, justice, moloch, peace, plutocracy, Politics
1 Comment
Ultimate Meaning: Pope Benedict and William Wordsworth Have a Theory
I don’t think much of the pedophile shielding (and enabling) Pope Benedict, but in his Easter homily this year he laid out the atheist v. theist divide with succinct eloquence: If man were merely a random product of evolution in some place on the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, atheist, critical thinking, life, philosophy, poetry, pope benedict, psychology, warrant, William Wordsworth
5 Comments
Dearborn Free Speech Watch: ACLU Supports Pastor Terry Jones’s Right to Free Speech Outside of an Islamic Center
Great news! The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief in favor of Pastor Terry Jones’s right to speak outside of an Islamic Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The following was in the Detroit News on Friday: The ACLU’s brief … Continue reading
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Tagged America, feminism, free speech, freedom, human rights, Islam, Martin Luther King, muhammad, Muslims, terry jones, the first amendment, Thomas Jefferson
3 Comments
Dearborn Free Speech Watch: Pastor Terry Jones, Islam, and the First Amendment
I thought that what Pastor Terry Jones did in Florida recently (burn a Quran) was within his rights, but a tactically stupid move. On matters of religion and culture, you don’t needlessly provoke war-torn, illiterate, and impoverished people thousands of miles … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, atheist, free speech, freedom of religion, Islam, Jesus, muhammad, Muslims, protest, the constitution, the first amendment, Thomas Jefferson
2 Comments
Was Jesus the Only One to Rise from the Dead on Easter Weekend?
Not if you believe Matthew 27:51-53. Have you ever noticed what it says? Immediately after Jesus’s death, Matthew has this very, very strange Night of the Living Dead story that he includes in his gospel. Matthew says that there was, immediately … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, Easter, eggs, evidence, history, Jesus, John Macarthur, the resurrection
55 Comments
Something Good about America: Not Oil Wells, But Mind Wells
Notice in this 60 Minutes segment that Indian geniuses are not flocking to oil-rich Arab countries where a conformist religion like Islam dominates the culture. Instead, they come to Enlightenment-based secular California, to Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is a mind well … Continue reading
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Tagged America, brain drains, California, India, mind, mind wells, oil, reason, science, silicon valley
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Plutocracy Watch: Mortgage Paperwork Fraud is Rampant and Goes Unprosecuted
This recent 60 Minutes segment is very dispiriting. Notice how easy it is for large banks to shift responsibility (and so avoid criminal prosecution). It’s yet another example of mortgage lenders engaging in buck passing and (im)plausible deniability: speak no evil, see … Continue reading
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Tagged 60 minutes, America, banks, dishonesty, fraud, housing, mortgage fraud, obscenity, outrage, real estate
1 Comment
Critical Thinking Tip #7: Try Using Aristotle’s Method of Definition to Get a Handle on What You’re Pondering
Critical thinking gets turbo-charged wherever terms are clearly defined. And it was Aristotle who first noticed that, if a definition is to be any good, it should say something general and something specific. Aristotle designated these two components the genus and diaphora … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, aristotle, atheism, critical thinking, genus, logic, philosophy, reason, species, specimen
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Republican Governor Rick Perry Calls on Texans to Pray For Rain
Reuters reports that the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has called on Texans to pray to God for rain, and quotes him as saying the following: It is fitting that Texans should join together in prayer to humbly seek an … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, critical thinking, God, gods, nihilism, prayer, reason, rick perry, social psychology
1 Comment
Who’s the Pillar of Salt Here?
Imagine yourself a teen or young adult church member in America, but you have doubts. What happens when you express them? At Christianity Today, Drew Dyke, the author of Generation Ex-Christian (Moody), shares his disturbing interview discoveries: Almost to a person, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged agnostic, agnosticsm, apologetics, atheism, atheist, de-converts, doubt, ex-christians, Jesus, Lot's wife, skepticism, the Bible
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The New Left Behind Series: Atlas Shrugged the Movie, Part 1
Living within an hour’s driving distance of Hollywood, Ca., it wasn’t difficult locating a nearby theatre to have a looksie at Atlas Shrugged the movie, Part 1. I did that this weekend. I’d love to say, like Sam in Sam … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, atlas shrugged, Ayn Rand, film, Jesus, left behind, movies, Nietzsche, philosophy, rapture, rush limbaugh, tim la haye
4 Comments
Blogging a Great Debate: Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig at Notre Dame (Accompanied by the Ghost of Nietzsche)
Sam Harris recently debated William Lane Craig at Notre Dame, and here it is. The first eight minutes are devoted to the moderator’s introduction, then Craig goes first. The topic is moral reasoning: __________ Here are the highlights that I took … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, love, morality, Nietzsche, philosophy, Sam Harris, the problem of evil, william lane craig
7 Comments
Debating the Future of Islam in Egypt
The birth pangs of a new Egypt: a Hitler-like religious fanatic (living in London!) argues with an Enlightenment influenced liberal over the future of Egypt: Hat tip: Concerned Christian.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Allah, cairo, cairo university, democracy, Egypt, God, Islam, liberals, muhammad, religion, the Enlightenment, Voltaire
7 Comments
Prometheus Unbound 