Tag: religion & science
-
All in Moderation?
I could be frantically live-blogging from this year’s American Academy of Religion meeting in Chicago. I won’t, per se. But in a number of places here I have been hearing lots of talk about religious “extremists” and “moderates.” It goes without saying that nearly all of the thousands of AAR attendees—mostly academics in religious studies…
-
Agnostic Machinery
Just released today is the first of what will hopefully be a series of articles of mine about science and religion on Seed magazine’s online edition. “Agnostic machinery,” it’s called. The idea is this: I went and saw the Bill Maher New Atheist movie Religulous (aided by trusty friend Jake), noticed that the religion biologizers…
-
Where Went the Ancient Astronauts?
The Smart Set, an excellent web magazine of ideas and things, has just published an article of mine on “ancient astronaut” theory—the idea that all the gods that the ancients believed in were actually extraterrestrials with advanced technology. Ancient astronauts are an old hobby of mine, a delightful mix between my interests in religion and…
-
Face to Face
-
Half Asleep in Istanbul
I’ve just arrived in Istanbul, Turkey to begin a little more than two weeks in the Middle East. The mission: an article on science and Islam (plus the unexpected). I’m in a hostel overlooking the Bosphorus with Michael Jackson music videos playing, one after another. It was a spectacularly beautiful day to arrive at a…
-
Hitchens in “Conversation”
Christopher Hitchens has made it his business to debate whomever will come forward. The first page of Google results lists a considerable roster: Al Sharpton, Dinesh D’Souza, Chris Hedges, Tariq Ali, Stephen Fry, Shmuley Boteach, Alistar McGrath, Marvin Olasky, and Douglas Wilson. As a rule, Hitchens wins every time. He argues with a proverbially acerbic…
-
My Contribution to the Palin Mess
I’ve done it and (on my father’s suggestion, actually) put my knowledge of evolution controversies to “use” and written something for a political website about Sarah Palin. It goes a little something like this: When John McCain announced his intention to make a freshman — and female — Alaska Governor the next vice president on…
-
The Benefits of Conflict
The Economist has already shown its interest in following the fascinating recent scientific work about the origins and functions of human religiosity. This week’s article on the subject, “Praying for Health,” brings up challenging questions both for the study of religion and for the study of conflict. […]
-
Can Creationism Go on Forever?
AlterNet has just posted a review I did of Lauri Lebo’s The Devil in Dover, an account of the 2005 evolution trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. It was a real treat to do the article, since I wrote my college thesis on the Dover trial while it was going on. As another round of my usual…
-
Still Not Dead Yet, for Now, at Least
The last couple of days I’ve been working on a response to “God Is Not Dead Yet,” the current cover article of Christianity Today. Since I’m working on a project about proofs for the existence of God, I couldn’t help but want to tackle this meaty piece by the prominent evangelical apologist William Lane Craig.…