Category Archives: culture

Sacred is a state of mind

Posted on September 15, 2010 by David Hume

In regards to the Koran burning, Randall Parker says: When someone says it sickens them to take some position I figure they are just striking a pose and signaling. Very few non-Muslim people are truly sickened by the idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 14 Comments

Response to Razib

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Ibn Sina

Preface by Razib: My friend Aziz Poonawalla responded to my previous post with a long missive, which you can read below. To the left is a photo of the both of us in late 2004 when I visited him in … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, debate, Science & Faith | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Islam, generalizations, barbarism, and structural conflicts

Posted on September 13, 2010 by David Hume

My friend Aziz Poonawalla left a somewhat irritated comment below as to my attitudes and generalizations about Muslims and Islam. I took notice, because I had a somewhat similar response from a Muslim friend on Facebook to another comment I … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, history | Tagged | 23 Comments

First Carter, Now O’Donnell

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Andrew Stuttaford

The New York Times’ op-ed page is generally not to be taken too seriously when it comes to the topic of Republican candidates, and this particular detail about Christine O’Donnell, the challenger in Delaware’s upcoming GOP primary may, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

The swastika is not offensive, and it is offensive

Posted on September 11, 2010 by David Hume

Hindu swastika causes a storm in Irvine: The swastika – also a feared and hated symbol from Germany’s Nazi Party – has ancient meanings across the globe that pre-date World War II. Derived from the Sanskrit word “svastika,” it can … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 17 Comments

On the vagaries of offense

Posted on September 10, 2010 by David Hume

Over at Discover blogs I posted on a new paper on the emergence of clothing lice in humans. To illustrate the shift from hairy, to naked hairless, to clothed hairless, I slapped together a montage which included Kemal Ataturk in … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 9 Comments

A misunderstanding of civility

Posted on September 8, 2010 by David Hume

At The New Republic a writer is confused that a professor of Islamic Studies in Delaware would say this: Along with the idea of God and prophets, the Quran is the thing that Muslims hold the dearest. My children have … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged | 39 Comments

Catholic Or Protestant?

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Bradlaugh

Well, I guess it had to happen. After fruit flies and flatworms, jellyfish and sea cucumbers, mice and sheep, genetic science has now advanced to the point where we can sequence the genome of an Irishman. Here, choosing a DNA … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, science | 5 Comments

The priorities of Pakistan

Posted on September 8, 2010 by David Hume

OK. You know that there have been floods in Pakistan which have displaced ~20 million. No worries, there’s still time to for suicide bombings aimed at killing Pakistani Shia (the Shia believe that the the descendants of Ali are the … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged | 2 Comments

Are conservative whites more racist?

Posted on September 7, 2010 by David Hume

I analyzed some GSS data over at Discover. The commenters were only cursorily engaging the data, and I don’t have much patience for long rhetorical back and forths which are already predetermined as to the nature of the conclusions of … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data | Tagged , | 15 Comments