Category Archives: culture

Literal reductiveness, angelic and demonic

Posted on March 11, 2011 by David Hume

Sean, our resident Islam expert who advised me to go meet those Muslims whom I’ve never met, said something which caught my attention below: “What Islam is as a realized matter” is also a lot broader than “they support terrorists … Continue reading →

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Lexington, Concord Fought In Vain

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Bradlaugh

Andrew: The fame of C.S. Lewis’s “trilemma” argument has always been deeply baffling to me. The normal reaction of a thoughtful person (me, Martin Gardner, Richard Dawkins) on first hearing it is: Why couldn’t Jesus just have been mistaken? People … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, Religion | 11 Comments

Reading the Bible (or not)

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Reviewing a new book on the Bible for the New Republic, Adam Kirsch notes this: While there is no denying that the Bible remains central—Beal quotes polls indicating that “65 percent of all Americans believe that the Bible ‘answers all … Continue reading →

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Mere

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Much as I enjoyed the Narnia books as a child, I’ve never got the whole C.S. Lewis thing and I don’t intend to start trying now. Writing in the New York Times Mark Oppenheimer looks at the Lewis phenomenon and, … Continue reading →

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Queens, consorts, etc.

Posted on March 1, 2011 by David Hume

A recent criticism in The Atlantic of a glowing portrait in Vogue of the wife of the dictator of Syria made me wonder about something which has sometimes crossed my mind. First, as an aside I have to say that … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 13 Comments

Prince & bishop

Posted on February 20, 2011 by David Hume

One of the major back stories about Bahrain is the disjunction between the religious confession of the ruling family, and the populace. The elite and the monarchy are Sunni, while the masses are Shia. This is of a piece with … Continue reading →

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Using the master’s tools….

Posted on February 12, 2011 by David Hume

I have a post up at Discover, The academy is liberal, deal!, where I confirm that yes, academics are liberal, and second, that there’s no profit in changing this situation. A conservative weblog, Kronology, responded: Khan–like many pat-myself-on-the-back liberals–assumes “conservatives … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 13 Comments

Remember the babes!

Posted on February 10, 2011 by David Hume

I’m old enough to remember the “babe revolution” of 2005. How’d that work out? I know that most of my contemporaries are closely following events in Egypt while I’m busy running genetic analyses. Today a friend started IMing me about … Continue reading →

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Tolerance, Lost

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Andrew Stuttaford

Cross-posted over at the Corner. As so often, ‘blasphemy’ is the excuse. Via AFP: A Muslim mob burned churches and clashed with police in Indonesia on Tuesday as they demanded the death penalty for a Christian man convicted of blaspheming … Continue reading →

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Jon Huntsman’s great joke

Posted on February 2, 2011 by David Hume

Jon Huntsman’s 2012 Campaign Conundrum: Huntsman was extremely reluctant to discuss his Mormon faith, perhaps recognizing the irreversible damage it did to Romney’s 2008 effort among conservative Christians. He took pains to prove his ecumenical credentials, as it were, by … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 10 Comments