Monthly Archives: August 2010

Why Obama is likely to be privately irreligious

Posted on August 21, 2010 by David Hume

The heritability of religiosity is modest in the American environment. In some environments, such as Saudi Arabia, a normal range in variation in religiosity obviously can not express itself. But under more relaxed conditions it seems that around half of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Obama’s Religion

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Bradlaugh

I had a go at this topic in last week’s Radio Derb: . . . there’s been some shock and horror expressed at the finding by a Time magazine poll that 24 percent of Americans think the president is a … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | 7 Comments

Obama the Muslim (2)

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Over in the Corner, I take a look at some smart commentary on the Obama-is-a-Muslim poll findings.

Posted in politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Obama the Muslim

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

The new survey from the Pew Research Center appearing to show that nearly one in-in-five Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim is as depressing as it is (regrettably) unsurprising. Missing however was any data on how many now think … Continue reading →

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Wisdom in Wisconsin

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Good news from the Wall Street Journal: Wisconsin is pushing to expand a controversial program that uses federal Medicaid funds to provide free birth-control pills, vasectomies and other forms of contraception to low-income people, an effort made possible by the … Continue reading →

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Having our way with the past, for it has no honor!

Posted on August 17, 2010 by David Hume

Ross Douthat’s new column, Islam in Two Americas is getting a lot of play. Douthat has to constrain his prose to make it suitable for a print column…I can almost see the excisions of nuance and subtly necessitated by the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged | 16 Comments

Yes, It Matters

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Here from Big Questions Online is an interesting piece by Michael Graziano, a Princeton professor who describes himself as a neuroscientist and atheist, but “not an anti-theist”. His starting point is (to me) pretty sound: I find religion to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

When a situation becomes an attribute

Posted on August 15, 2010 by David Hume

In my post below I made a distinction between a set of actions and behaviors arising from a particular situation, and those arising from an attribute. Psychopaths may behave totally normally and ethically in a situation where deviation from the … Continue reading →

Posted in history | 1 Comment

PayPal Visit?

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

Via the Daily Mail: Senior Vatican officials who will accompany the Pope on his historic visit to Britain will stay in a luxury hotel where rooms cost up to £900 a night – courtesy of UK taxpayers. The Government has … Continue reading →

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The historical uses of relativism

Posted on August 15, 2010 by David Hume

Since Andrew noted a revision of the name for the “Cordoba House,” I thought I would discuss something which has alway bothered me: the perceptions of Muslim Spain by both the opponents and proponents of the project. The opponents argue … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 10 Comments