Monthly Archives: April 2009

Pakistan is already an Islamic State

Posted on April 30, 2009 by David Hume

So claims Ali Eteraz: Most people in the world, including some Pakistanis, live under the illusion that the country is secular and just happens to have been overrun by extremists. This is false. Pakistan became an Islamic state in 1973 … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 7 Comments

SR Case Against Gay Marriage (cont.)

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Bradlaugh

The comment thread here has me wondering how many conservatives we actually have reading Secular Right. •  The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868. The idea of gay marriage emerged from the lunatic fringe around 10 years ago, I think. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 174 Comments

Religious Left

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Bradlaugh

Why do we need a secular right blog? Well for one thing, because institutional religion, and religious institutions, are all too often cheerleaders for the multicultural Left. Case in point: Providence College. From a friend: Congressman Tom Tancredo will be making … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Gay marriage attitudes by the numbers

Posted on April 29, 2009 by David Hume

I know there are plenty of polls in regards to gay marriage, but I don’t ever see them broken out by religious attitudes. So I looked at the GSS at the MARHOMO, “Homosexuals should have right to marry,” variable for … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 10 Comments

A Secular Case Against Gay Marriage?

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Bradlaugh

New York Governor Dave Paterson made some curious remarks on the gay marriage issue yesterday. The gist of them, so far as I can understand it, was that (a) opponents of gay marriage are motivated by their religion, and (b) the present … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, law, politics | 162 Comments

The Pope visits L’Aquila

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

The Pope finally made it to L’Aquila today, the epicenter of an earthquake that killed 295 in Italy’s Abruzzo region on April 6.  Driving rain, cold, and mud continue to beset the occupants of the tent cities established for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Irrationality watch: Among the pandemicists

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Heather Mac Donald

There were over 100 auto fatalities a day in the U.S. in 2008, a number that was celebrated for being so low.   So far, there have been no deaths from the swine flu outside of Mexico, where 149 fatalities are … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

A non-secular past, present and future

Posted on April 27, 2009 by David Hume

In the comments below I engaged in a little bit of glib dismissal in regards to the contention that a secular society is not sustainable. The issue though need some elaboration. I agree with John Derbyshire when he says: Mark: … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 23 Comments

The World Values Survey

Posted on April 25, 2009 by David Hume

About six months ago I mentioned the General Social Survey. Have a question about public opinion & correlations? Poke around, don’t let your opinion or impression be the last word!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Atheism, religion and politics

Posted on April 25, 2009 by David Hume

At ScienceBlogs I look at World Values Survey data and compare secular and conservative East Asian nations to the religious but liberal United States. I conclude (after looking over data tables): My point here is rather simple: increased secularism in … Continue reading →

Posted in data | Tagged , , | 9 Comments