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Monthly Archives: September 2011
Youcef Nadarkhani Execution Watch: Where’s President Obama on This?
In a recent Washington Post opinion piece on Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor under a death sentence for apostasy in Iran, Jordan Sekulow describes Nadarkhani’s attorney as: . . . a brave Muslim who has been sentenced to nine years in prison and banned from … Continue reading
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Tagged free speech, freedom of religion, human rights, Iran, Islam, muhammad, Muslims, president obama, save youcef nadarkhani, youcef nadarkhani
2 Comments
Youcef Nadarkhani: Christian Pastor Sentenced to Death for His Apostasy from Islam
If normative Islam is, indeed, a religion of tolerance and peace, I would like to hear from American and other Muslims on a recent death sentence handed down, by an Iranian court, on a Christian pastor who refuses to recant his … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, Christianity, Iran, Islam, Jesus, muhammad, Muslim, muslim americans, religion, the prophet
2 Comments
The Hair Cosmos: Ancient Greece Had a String Theory
The Greek word cosmos is related to the Greek word for comb. I stumbled on this curious little piece of etymology in a book on art appreciation from 1965 titled, The Book of Art: How to Look at Art (vol. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Adam, art, cosmos, evolution, Genesis, gnosis, hair, life, physics, string theory
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Ayn Rand Against Religion in Conservative Politics
In thinking about Emile Durkheim’s three Ps of sociology (power, prestige, and property), it occurred to me that the contemporary Republican Party has its own three Ps that it’s committed to advancing: plutocracy (rule by the rich); Pentacostal-style revivalism; and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atheism, Ayn Rand, christianism, conservative politics, God, Jesus, libertarianism, objectivism, pentagon, plutocracy, war
1 Comment
Let My People Go: Reconsidering the Tea Party
I have of late been rethinking the meaning of the Tea Party to American politics. My first take was dismissive: this movement is the same type of Herderian nationalism that, last century, brought Hitler and his merry band of crazed … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ayn Rand, conservatism, Exodus, liberalism, libertarianism, Moses, tea partiers, tea party, the soul, virginia postrel
3 Comments
Neutrino Speed-of-Light Watch: Physicist Dave Goldberg Says Special Relativity Could Be Wrong. All Wrong.
The Los Angeles Times today quotes physicist Dave Goldberg as saying that, if neutrinos can indeed go faster than the speed of light (as some Italian researchers appear to have discovered), then Einstein’s famed theory of special relativity is wrong. All wrong. “Basically, all … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged block universe, einstein, neutrinos, physics, relativity, science, speed of light, theories
3 Comments
Neutrino Speed-of-Light Watch: Stephen Hawking Refuses to Comment Yet
Concerning the Italian researchers’ discovery that neutrinos may be exceeding the speed of light, this is at Reuters today: “It is premature to comment on this,” Professor Stephen Hawking, the world’s most well-known physicist, told Reuters. “Further experiments and clarifications … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged albert einstein, black holes, einstein, holographic universe, physics, speed of light, Stephen Hawking
8 Comments
Dr. Shaul Chorev is Worried that the Arab Spring Could Turn into a Nuclear Fall
Dr. Shaul Chorev is head of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, and the Jerusalem Post, reporting on a speech he gave this week in Vienna, had a couple of paragraphs toward the end of the article that are quite unnerving: Chorev also called … Continue reading
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Tagged alarm, arab spring, Iran, Islam, Judaism, kittens, nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, nuclear weapons, syria
3 Comments
Neutrinos Faster than the Speed of Light: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
Or, as the New York Times put it today, “Incredible claims require incredible evidence.” The reference is to the mind-blowing (apparent) discovery that there are neutrinos that can outpace the speed of light. Here’s more from the New York Times: According … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged critical thinking, einstein, epistemology, lizard lick towing, physics, science, speed of light, truth
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Lucretius: Atheism’s John the Baptist and the Progenitor of a Hell Realm
Below is a great (and very contemporary sounding) atheist quote from Lucretius’s On the Nature of Things. Atomism and evolution have always been the poison pills at God’s bedside (or, at least, the religious believer’s). Have you swallowed their implications yet? As an … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, atomism, God, hell, Jesus, lucretius, philosophy, psychology, the Holocaust
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I Saw Contagion and Got My Flu Shot
But not in that order. I actually got my flu shot on Monday and saw Contagion on Tuesday. My wife and kids also got their flu shots this week. As to the movie, it’s a must-see that is well informed … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged contagion, death, disease, fitness, flu, flu shot, health, life, plague, vaccination
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The Religion Tree
Using the metaphor of a tree, in the following poem I try to boil down the essence of the human predicament (which I take to be suffering, change, and death) and the response of each major religion to it (including the atheist … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, God, Hinduism, Islam, Jesus, Judaism, poems, poetry, taoism
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Listen to Reason? The Laws of God vs. the Laws of Man
Below are some public mug shots of Amish men serving brief sentences in a Kentucky jail. Their crime? They refused to put yellow reflectors on their horse-driven buggies when using public roads. Their religion does not permit them to display … Continue reading
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Tagged America, amish, civil disobedience, determination, discipline, God, Henry David Thoreau, Jesus, michelle bachmann, notes from underground, religion, Sarah Palin
21 Comments
My Meal with a Muslim 2011
Well, I had my lunch with a Muslim yesterday (I’ve decided to leave his name out of this post). And I must say that, despite getting on famously in conversation, there are enormous ideological gaps between the two of us. I came … Continue reading
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Tagged America, atheism, dialogue, God, have a meal with a muslim day, Islam, Jesus, muhammad, Muslims, religion, ummah
5 Comments
Jonathan Wells on Whale Evolution
Some thought-provoking observations on whale evolution by biochemist Jonathan Wells (a Berkeley graduate and vocal skeptic of strict philosophical naturalism): In the case of the Durrett and Schmidt (2008) paper, evolutionary biologist Richard von Sternberg has applied the equations employed in that … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, biology, Charles Darwin, creationism, Darwinism, evolution, natural selection, strict naturalism, whales
7 Comments
Let the 30-Year-Old Die!: The Christianist Party Shouts for Crucifixion
This is a must-see. It’s the Republican audience’s reaction to a debate question directed last night to Ron Paul by Wolf Blitzer. The gist of the question was the following: Should society let an employed 30-year-old experiencing a catastrophic health crisis, but lacking insurance, die? … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged America, Ayn Rand, christianism, crucifixion, health care, health insurance, Jesus, obamacare, Republicans, Ron Paul
25 Comments
