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Meta
Category Archives: culture
An “Urgent Need For More Exorcists” (Apparently)
The Daily Telegraph: A sharp rise in the number of people dabbling in Satanism and the occult is fueling a growing demand for more exorcists on both sides of the Atlantic. Speaking in tongues, levitating and vomiting nails may seem far-fetched to … Continue reading
The Clowns of Salem?
Once upon a time it was alien abductions, and not so long before that, the Satanic panic of the 1980s, a wave of hysteria that spilled over into some of the child abuse prosecutions of that era with sometimes appalling consequences. Now there … Continue reading
Ayahuasca and the D’Ohs of Perception
Cross-posted on the Corner: Madness, too much time in the desert or just the right hallucinogenic concoction all seem to be reasonably reliable routes to mysticism. Ayahuasca is (the New Yorker reports) “an intensely hallucinogenic potion made from boiling woody … Continue reading
Smashing The Spirit Level
The Guardian: When Morgan Maguire was growing up, she struggled to find a role model. As a young Catholic schoolgirl in Hanover, Pennsylvania, she was often teased about her love of history and scary stories, and when it came to … Continue reading
Eostre Debunked?
The Guardian (from 2011): Did you know that Easter was originally a pagan festival dedicated to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, whose consort was a hare, the forerunner of our Easter bunny? Of course you did. Every year the … Continue reading
Posted in culture, history, Religion
Tagged Attis, Christmas and other holidays, Easter, Eostre, Sir James Fraser, The Golden Bough
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Documenting Anti-Trump Sentiment on Blue Tribe Facebook
This will be fun. So, the anti-Trump hysteria has reached a fevered pitch, with the unsurprising adherence to Godwin’s law in full effect. “He’s Hitler,” proclaims people supremely annoyed by Donald Trump’s over-the-top rhetoric. (Meditate on that for a second.) See … Continue reading
Must-Read Interview with Sam Harris
The New Atheist’s interview with Salon – a publication largely hostile to the Bertrand Russell-style liberalism of Harris and his ilk – is better read at Harris’s own website, in its unedited form. (A portion of the interview that badmouths … Continue reading
Posted in culture, Religion, Science & Faith
Tagged Islam, new atheism, salon, Sam Harris
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Liberal Churches Most Discriminatory?
That’s according to new research on display in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion: This article reports the results of a nationwide audit study testing how Christian churches welcome potential newcomers to their churches as a function of … Continue reading
Posted in culture, Race, Religion
Tagged catholic, discrimination, evangelical, protestant
1 Comment
Perhaps a Bad Day to be Secular and Right
Oregon shooter Chris Mercer disliked organized religion and considered himself “conservative, republican.” This according to the Daily Beast. But then, an attempt to paint Mercer as a righty runs into problems. He also expressed sympathy for the race-card-playing black Roanoke … Continue reading
On ISIS, Enchantment and Authoritarians against Totalitarians
Over on his blog, Sam Harris interviews Mark Riebling, the author of Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler. The historical ground covered is interesting—how could it not be?—but these passages, in particular, caught my attention: Conservative, even … Continue reading
Posted in culture, politics, Religion
Tagged enchantment, ISIS, Islam, Jung, Myth, Syria, totalitarianism, Vladimir Putin
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