Category Archives: politics

2008 Presidential election, votes by income & education

Posted on December 12, 2008 by David Hume

How the Rich Are Different From You and Me: Places that went for Obama are richer and smarter than places that went for McCain. The subhead is critical here: And it isn’t just about politics. The division is also between … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, data, politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

“Churchgoing” candidates who aren’t

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Walter Olson

Isaac Chotiner in the New Republic “Plank”, on revelations that Barack Obama isn’t actually a regular churchgoer despite carefully managed efforts to give the impression that he was: “If politicians want their religious lives to remain private, then they can … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Darwinian & Postmodern Conservatism

Posted on December 9, 2008 by David Hume

At Culture11 Ivan Kenneally asks, Is Darwinian Conservatism Postmodern?: Larry Arnhart is surely the best proponent of Darwinian Conservatism, and not just because he has a blog with the same name. In his view, an evolutionary biological account of nature properly … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, philosophy, politics | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

“Is it literally true, the Bible?” “You know, probably not.”

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Walter Olson

Do you think the self-imagined Republican “base” would mobilize against a candidate who talked that way? (via Althouse). (And, yes, I wish the reporter had pinned him down with “inerrantly” rather than “literally”. But still.)

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 92 Comments

Presidential Metaphysics

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Bradlaugh

Does Barack Obama believe in God? Does he, in fact, have a single religious bone in his body?  Steve Sailer, in his terrific new book about the President-elect, is dubious: Obama believes, more or less, in nothing. He is, asserts … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Who prays more, Democrats or Republicans?

Posted on December 8, 2008 by David Hume

Heather’s post about Democratic prayers for the bailout made me wonder about differences between the parties. The photos in the article show a black church, so I was skeptical that Democrats prayed as much as Republicans overall. I looked at … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

Back to the future for Newt?

Posted on December 6, 2008 by David Hume

Here’s a quick piece in TNR which reports that Newt Gingrich is going into culture-war mode. Michelle Goldberg obviously has a perspective which is at odds with Newt’s rhetoric, but didn’t he make a name for himself in the 1990s for … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged | 6 Comments

Brushfires

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Bradlaugh

We have at least started a few brushfires among the conservative blogs. There is some good argumentative stuff in the comments thread to Daniel Larison’s TAC post here.

Posted in politics | Tagged | 37 Comments

Dreher: problem today is “too much individual freedom”

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Walter Olson

“Crunchy conservative” Rod Dreher’s new USA Today op-ed is entitled “GOP’s path to victory still goes through God”, and at least he doesn’t shy away from telling us where he stands: Today, the greatest threats to conservative interests come not … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Why Secular?

Posted on December 2, 2008 by David Hume

I want to make something clear, again, so that it doesn’t crop up on the comments over & over: the point of this website (for me) is not to argue for the abolition of all religious sentiment.  Rather, it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds & Ends, politics | Tagged , | 21 Comments