Monthly Archives: August 2009

Attitudes toward assisted suicide

Previous post prompted me to look to the General Social Survey in regards to attitudes to assisted suicide broken down by demographic variables. The variable I used was DOCSUI, which asks: How much do you agree of disagree with the … Continue reading

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Slouching toward death (with a push)

Montana Court to Rule on Assisted Suicide Case: Robert Baxter was by all accounts a tough man. Even in the end, last year, as lymphocytic leukemia was killing him, Mr. Baxter, a 76-year-old retired truck driver from Billings, Mont., fought … Continue reading

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From Christendom to the West

Rod Dreher has an interesting post, Is religion necessary to Western civilization? There are many specific points where I agree, and disagree, naturally. Some reactions:

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A Whitewashed Sepulchre

Not content with being Britain’s most destructive prime minister in at least half a century, Tony Blair continues to irritate with a series of nauseating, preening and self-righteous lectures (often ‘faith’-tinged) on how he sees the world. Over at the … Continue reading

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We are all special (some more so)

Andrew’s post got me to thinking about inter-individual differences. I’ve had many religious friends who claim that if they didn’t believe in God they would happily rape & murder. Though frankly I have a tendency to keep my distance when … Continue reading

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The Urge to Believe

…In this case in the ‘Jesus of Siberia’.

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Over-egging the Pudding

Over at First Things, James Poulos writing about, I think, the need to find some sort of meaning in life, worries about (inter alia) the plight of the agnostic: …the failure of the agnostic to find repose, in faith or … Continue reading

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An atheist who favors Intelligent Design?

Over the past few days I’ve followed a slight controversy involving Intelligent Design proponent Michael Behe & John McWhorter (you can see the posts at ScienceBlogs, Michael Behe speaks on bloggingheads.tv affair, John McWhorter & Michael Behe bloggingheads.tv, 2 and … Continue reading

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Seniors hate government health insurance

H. L. Mencken is laughing somewhere. See data here.

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Jesus: Invisible friend or evolutionary adaptation?

I had never heard of the “Third Man” phenomenon until reading this fascinating Wall Street Journal book review.  People in extreme situations, such as explorers stranded on a mountain peak or shipwreck survivors, have reported the sensation of being accompanied … Continue reading

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