No place to call home: on Richard Dawkins’ academy, atheists in church, and the emptiness of scientism
Edward Hopper, Dauphinee House, 1932. It’s good to have a home, physical and otherwise. Image source: Museum Syndicate Back in September, I wrote an article for Religion Dispatches about Richard Dawkins’ refusal to teach atheism — his own view — to kids. Of all the things out there with my name on it, it is [...]
Keep Austin somewhat less weird
Lucky LaRue, Altoids That Bite, 2009. At the South Austin Popular Culture Center. This is the kind of weirdness we like. There are kinds not so likeable. Used with permission of the artist. Image source: redbubble.com it hurts a bit that I’ve never been to weird Austin, Republic of Texas. Alas for me: Everyone I [...]
On detachment: what religion can learn from science
Tamara Grizjuk, Detachment, 2002. From 29 November – 20 December, Ms. Grizjuk’s work will be on display at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. I believe it will be her first show on this side of the Atlantic, so go check it out if you can. Image source: ARTmine. Used with permission of the artist [...]
On depression and “Buddhist science”
Not depressed: HHDL’s call for “Buddhist science” may make sense. Image source: buddhachannel.tv Several years ago I went on antidepressants. It was one of the most difficult, drawn-out, painful decisions I have ever made. When I finally did, though, there was very little pain and a lot of relief. Several days before my first prescription [...]
Kim Frabicius on the literal and the literary
William Hogarth, The Distress’d Poet, 1737. Why is the poet distress’d? Perhaps the answer can be found in the following from Walker Percy: “Science works better, this is the age of science, scientists are the princes of the age, while artists and writers are the frantic Lazaruses at the feast, hungering for crumbs like the [...]
More on the 9/11 cross
Photo by Mario Tama As we all know, American Atheists have filed a lawsuit against those who plan to display a cross-shaped piece of wreckage at the 9/11 memorial. This is an artifact that brought comfort to many Americans, most particularly New Yorkers and those who were involved in the cleanup of Lower Manhattan. And [...]
From the Dept of Too Funny to Not Share: Jon Stewart on atheists’ Ground Zero suit
It’s a few days old, but still plenty funny. We can’t believe that Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, said that atheists might want to install a symbol of an atom at Ground Zero “because we’re all made of atoms.” Susan Jacoby, an atheist of a less publicity-seeking kind, wonders if he’s being deliberately obtuse. [...]
Mind the gaps
Illumination from the Codex Aemilianensis, 992. In the tenth century we had no reason to suspect Adam and Eve had not been actual people. Now we do. Image source: University of Florida God lives in the gaps. And the gaps must be getting downright cozy for God. The God of the gaps fallacy runs deep. [...]
Farewell to an era
STS-135 lands during the predawn hour yesterday morning at Kennedy Space Center. Despite the problems with the shuttle program, its demise makes me a bit wistful. Image source: NASA Well, that’s it for the Space Shuttle. The first one launched in 1981, when I was 13. Now I’m 43, and no one can say where [...]
Is it showtime for the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
They have the deity. They have the art. Will the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster make it to prime time? Image source: Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Unlike some Christians, I have always found great humor in Pastafarianism, the faux (or not) religion centered on the mythology of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). [...]
