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Tag Archives: robert wright
The Living Statue of Liberty vs. the Old Junos (and Jesus on the Cross)
Robert Wright has recently given up blogging at The Atlantic to write a book about Buddhism. His parting admonitions on foreign policy include these two sensible gems: [1] The world’s biggest single problem is the failure of people or groups to look … Continue reading
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Tagged God, henry james, history, Islam, Jesus, literature, philosophy, robert wright
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Robert Wright Claims History is Moving Toward More and More Non-Zero Sum Games
Every day, in a lot of ways, are we really getting better and better?
Love’s Labours Scorned: Robert Wright on the Quran
A careful student of religious texts, Robert Wright, in the New York Times this week, offers his considered judgment on the what the Quran is: [I]f you’re curious as to the reason for the Koran’s seeming ambivalence toward Christians and Jews: … Continue reading
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Tagged biblical interpretation, Christianity, culture, Islam, Jesus, Judaism, muhammad, peace, quran, religious dialogue, robert wright, social psychology
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My Predictions for the Human Future
My daughters are four and six, and barring a severe catastrophe (personal or civilizational), my guess is that they’ll have lifespans that might double that of the average person living today. By the time they hit about the age of 50 (around … Continue reading
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Tagged America, apocalypse, life, matt ridley, optimism, robert wright, the antichrist, The Book of Revelation, the environment, the future, the world
14 Comments
Is Islam a violent religion in the same way that it is a patriarchal religion?
In a recent New York Times essay, Robert Wright attempts to complexify the “jihadi intent” narrative for the Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, to which Jerry Coyne dismissively retorts: It’s social difficulties, mental illness, financial problems, and American depredations in the Middle … Continue reading
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Tagged 9-11, atheism, atheist, Islam, jerry coyne, Mohammad, Muslims, nonviolence, religion, robert wright, violence, women
49 Comments
The Universe’s Existence: Is it an Ontological Mystery or Just a Very Complicated Problem?
At the heart of the universe are three staggering paradoxes, and one of them, however absurd and inconceivable, must be true: either the universe made itself; or it has always existed; or some self-made or eternal telos is behind it Theists … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, astronomy, atheism, atheist, Genesis, God, negative theology, physics, Richard Dawkins, robert wright, the ontological mystery
5 Comments
Robert Wright on New Atheism’s Real World Impact
A piece on the New Atheist movement, written by Robert Wright, appeared this past week at Foreign Policy’s website: [T]he New Atheists’ main short-term goal wasn’t to turn believers into atheists, it was to turn atheists into New Atheists — fellow fire-breathing preachers … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, evolution, foreign policy, glenn beck, Islam, jerry coyne, Muslims, philosophy, psychology, religion, robert wright, rush limbaugh
3 Comments
America vs. Global Terrorism: What Happens When Ahab’s Pursuit of the White Whale Takes Place in Real Time?
Robert Wright, in the New York Times this weekend, articulated clearly his view of how the viral terrorism meme spreads, in an age of global communication, to psychologically susceptible people (like Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan): One reason killing terrorists can spread terrorism is that … Continue reading
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Tagged ahab, al qaeda, Islam, jihad, literature, melville, Politics, religion, robert wright, terrorism, white whale
1 Comment
Bill Moyers Talks to Robert Wright About the Evolution of God
I think it’s fair to characterize Robert Wright’s book this way: he has traced what he himself calls “the history of an illusion” to something less and less illusory. In other words, the history of religion, for Wright, is a … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, Christianity, evolution, God, Islam, Judaism, philosophy, psychology, robert wright
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A Good Question
At Christianity Today, Dinesh D’Souza reviewed Robert Wright’s book, The Evolution of God (2009), and asks a good question: Regretting the ‘problem’ passages that seem to justify violence in the Qur’an and also in the Bible, Wright speculates that ‘if … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, Darwin, dinesh d'souza, God, jerry coyne, John Lennon, Nietzsche, philosophy, religion, robert wright, the Bible
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A Recent Debate on Atheism v. Theism
And an interesting match up. Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris v. Robert Wright, Dinesh D’Souza, and a rabbi, Shmuley Boteach:
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, atheist, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, God, philosophy, religion, robert wright, Sam Harris
2 Comments
Telos and Contingency: Jim Manzi v. Jerry Coyne
Jim Manzi defends Robert Wright against atheist biologist Jerry Coyne’s thumbs down New Republic review of Wright’s new book, The Evolution of God, here. Money quote: [T]he evolutionary process does not add any incremental randomness to outcomes beyond what is … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, atheist, evolution, jerry coyne, jim manzi, philosophy, religion, robert wright, science
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Jerry Coyne, Robert Wright, and the Evolution of God
I’ve read the first couple chapters of Robert Wright’s new book, The Evolution of God, and I’m not interested in prejudging it as a whole before I’m actually finished with it, but so far it’s a very stimulating read. The book is densely argued, … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, atheist, evolution, God, jerry coyne, PZ Myers, Richard Dawkins, robert wright, templeton foundation, the evolution of god
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Orwellism Watch: Biologist Jerry Coyne Takes Down Robert Wright a Peg
Atheist biologist Jerry Coyne, in his recent review for the New Republic of Robert Wright’s new book, The Evolution of God, catches Wright out on an Orwellian euphemism that Wright deploys to describe Islamic historical setbacks on the road to greater tolerance: … Continue reading
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Tagged 1984, atheism, atheist, biology, evolution, George Orwell, jerry coyne, orwellisms, religion, robert wright, skepticism
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Is Religion a Tolerant or Intolerant Human Phenomenon?
Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God, has a theory. He thinks that religions tend to be morally neutral in terms of tolerance—and that their ranges of tolerant expression are dependent on the contingencies that they find themselves in. Hence, for … Continue reading
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Tagged Christianity, evolution, God, Islam, projection, psychology, religion, robert wright, the evolution of god
4 Comments
Non-Zero? Are Religion and Atheism Morally Neutral?
Below, agnostic Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God, discusses religion and atheism with atheist John Horgan. Wright has a rather novel view of religion and atheism, seeing both of them as morally neutral, with their “demonic” sides only … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, atheism, Christianity, ecology, evolution, God, Islam, Judaism, religion, robert wright, scarcity, zero sum games
3 Comments
Are Things as Bad as They Appear?
In Robert Wright’s interview with Salon.com today, he was asked about the end of his recent book, The Evolution of God : At the end of your book, you say the great divide in modern thinking is between people who … Continue reading
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Tagged Albert Camus, alexander pope, atheism, evolution, existentialism, philosophy, Reinhold Niebuhr, robert wright, theism
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