Monthly Archives: May 2010

Secular Right is back (sort of)

Hope you’re having a good holiday weekend. I decided to reinstall WP because we’ve had several hacks compromise the system over the past few years, and I am beyond stop-gap solutions with the previous install. So I deleted it and … Continue reading

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Missing the Hymn

An unbeliever can enjoy a good hymn as much as the next man, as many have testified.  (G.B. Shaw, D.H. Lawrence, Kingsley Amis, and E.O Wilson come to mind.  Not sure about Bert Russell; but the religious side of his … Continue reading

Posted in culture | 9 Comments

Thou shalt not blaspheme democracy

The Big Money has a story about Pakistan blocking Facebook because of the “Everyone Draw Muhammed Day!” page. My issue? The title, This Week in Despotism, Google Edition. Pakistan isn’t a despotism, it has a semi-functioning democracy, and, from what … Continue reading

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Rise of Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox

There was an interesting piece in Saturday’s Financial Times on how the rise in Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox population is a source of increasing tension within the country. Here’s a key extract Once a tiny minority, the community today accounts for at least 8 … Continue reading

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Spreading The Word

Via the London Times, an instructive tale from Uganda: When he arrived at Kampala’s Hotel Triangle for a three-day conference, the Rev Kapya Kaoma knew that he would not like what he heard. The clue was in the event’s title … Continue reading

Posted in politics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Life Goes On

Blind faith in progress is like most faith a mistake. Nevertheless, on the whole this  (via the Economist) seems to be good news:     Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith, the two American biologists who unravelled the first DNA sequence … Continue reading

Posted in science | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Dalai Lama, Marxist?

That a monk announces vaguely incoherent support for an millennial cult shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but these remarks by the Dalai Lama seem to have caused some annoyance:     NEW YORK (AFP)— Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai … Continue reading

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Are There Enough Jews on the Supreme Court?

There has been some muted comment about the religious composition of the U.S. Supreme Court after a Kagan approval: 6 Catholics, 3 Jews. Is this enough Jews, though?  Let’s crunch numbers. First permit me to switch from religion to self-identifying … Continue reading

Posted in law, politics | 41 Comments

Mumbo Jumbo Medicine, Taxpayer-Paid

Via the Daily Telegraph: Hundreds of members of the BMA [The British equivalent of the AMA] have passed a motion denouncing the use of [homeopathy], saying taxpayers should not foot the bill for remedies with no scientific basis to support … Continue reading

Posted in Science & Faith | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Atheists are “vincibly ignorant”

Joe Carter at First Things, The Vincible Ignorance of Atheism: Even as a fervent believer I can acknowledge that skepticism and atheism can be inspired by the reasons Hart lists. But I fail to understand how that makes them noble, … Continue reading

Posted in culture, Science & Faith | Tagged | 39 Comments