Monthly Archives: May 2015

Parallels Between Darwin and Buddha: Evolution and Dependent Origination

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

Buddha’s theory is Darwin’s. I had an aha moment yesterday: Buddha’s theory of suffering and its cessation can function as a trope–a metaphor–for evolution. Buddha’s insight tracks Charles Darwin’s. Buddha was Darwin before Darwin. Put another way, Buddha discovered how … Continue reading →

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Buzz: Stephen Greenblatt’s Adam And Eve Book Coming Soon?

Posted on May 25, 2015 by

I don’t see the book listed at Amazon yet, but in an interview last year, Harvard’s Stephen Greenblatt, an atheist, said his next book would be on Adam and Eve. He’s also been teaching a course on Adam and Eve at … Continue reading →

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Angry Yoga Instructor

Posted on May 24, 2015 by

And:

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Archbishop Romero, Liberal Icon Of The 1980s, Gets Canonized

Posted on May 23, 2015 by

This is a pretty big deal. Pope Francis has succeeded in getting Archbishop Romero of El Salvador canonized. Here’s a quote from an excellent summary, at The New York Times, of Romero’s life–and murder: Archbishop Romero was shot and killed … Continue reading →

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Is Atheist Sam Harris Sexy? Nagarjuna’s Opinion–And Thomas Aquinas’

Posted on May 19, 2015 by

Sam Harris is sexy, right? Perhaps you agree. But think again. How you answer this question says a lot about your orientation. Not your sexual orientation. Or at least not just your sexual orientation. It reveals something about how you … Continue reading →

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Three Things I Think Are True

Posted on May 16, 2015 by

At this point in my life, I think there are three things that are true–the first one being rather obvious: I am a limited being, embedded in the system I’m trying to explain. This means I cannot be wholly confident that … Continue reading →

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God Shadowed By Emptiness: Thomas Aquinas vs. The Buddhist Nagarjuna

Posted on May 14, 2015 by

Emptiness shadows theism. With regard to Thomas Aquinas’ method for grounding existence in being as opposed to change or emptiness (as the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna did), what I find interesting is how, despite himself, emptiness nevertheless shadows Aquinas’ theism. What … Continue reading →

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Holy Shit! The Atheists Really Are Coming!

Posted on May 12, 2015 by

From 16% to 23% of the American population. That’s how fast the religiously unaffiliated have risen in America over the past eight years. Stunning. The Republican Party and the Internet have ruined Christianity in America. Republicans have politicized religion, and … Continue reading →

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Saturday Night Live: Is This A Representation Of The Prophet Muhammad–Or Not?

Posted on May 10, 2015 by

After Charlie Hebdo and Pamela Geller, Prophet Muhammad drawing is amusingly dealt with below by Saturday Night Live. In a picture drawing game, what could a blank canvas be inferred to be–but the Prophet Muhammad himself? So was the Prophet … Continue reading →

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How to Save Adam and Eve from Genetics and Darwin

Posted on May 10, 2015 by

Darwin and genetics have blown up the idea that Adam and Eve had a special creation physically. No new species tends to bottleneck down to two (unless perhaps two stray birds get isolated on an island and start a new … Continue reading →

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Why Gay Marriage Is Really Winning

Posted on May 5, 2015 by

Ed Feser’s Thesis. On gay marriage’s advance to date, the Thomist philosopher Ed Feser writes the following: “How have we descended into such Orwellian insanity?…Part of it has to do with the fact that what is at issue here concerns … Continue reading →

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Atheists Added to Madison’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Posted on May 3, 2015 by

Madison, Wisconsin recently added atheists to its non-discrimination ordinance. Here’s a quote from the AP article: Todd Stiefel, the president of Openly Secular, which helps non-religious people become open about their absence of faith […] said people who tell their employers … Continue reading →

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The Terrible Toos (Too Fat, Too Poor, Too Old…)

Posted on May 2, 2015 by

Too this, too that. Theatrical, but moving. Might bring tears. __________ Watching Jade Beall’s TED talk on body hatred recalled for me the general problem of human suffering described by John Koller in Asian Philosophies (2007, p. 9, fifth edition): … Continue reading →

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