State churches are a really bad idea, and they always have been. Now that Norway is almost a completely post-Christian culture (only 2% of the population attends services), there’s no reason for them to pretend any more. In an unprecedented move, the Norwegian Parliament has voted to abolish the state-sponsored Church of Norway with a [...]
PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis, and it simply refers to medicating someone before they get sick. I’ve had to do this myself by taking antibiotics prior to dental work. It’s not uncommon. The search for a magic bullet to prevent HIV infection is driving people to try radical solutions that may, in fact, make matters worse. [...]
Today’s Gospel reading is John 16:5-11, which includes a remarkably enigmatic passage spoke by Christ during his long discourse at the last supper. Here is the full text of the reading: 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have [...]
I love it when my obsessions come together. Dassault Systems, Harvard University, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have collaborated to create what they’re calling the “most detailed” 3D model of the Giza Plateau, and it does look quite impressive. They’ve made an effort to avoid the videogame feel of some 3D flythroughs and [...]
Dan Savage really is a nasty little creep. After using his bully pulpit to call the Bible “bulls**t” and mock teenagers who quietly left his talk, he decided he liked all the extra attention he got for attacking religion. In his circumscribed little world, there is no good or bad press: just people paying attention [...]
In the absence of a Monday Morning Chicken (there were no good pictures this week), you get this little News of the Weird Item: Hawks protecting their nest have made mass attendance a risky proposition at St. Joseph’s Church in Mishawaka, Indiana. Although things started out peacefully enough, the birds have become territorial and are [...]
Disney Research (Pittsburgh) has developed a touch control system, called Touche, that not only expands the normal range of touch input, but also allows anything be used as a touch controller. The video demonstration is alternately daffy and fascinating, ranging from negative reinforcement for people who try to eat breakfast cereal with their hands (?!?) [...]
In the Aceh district in Indonesia there are about 120,000 Christians, but they’re only allowed to have 1 full church and 4 house churches. That’s clearly not enough to serve the Christian population, so people meet in “unauthorized” places. Now the Indonesian government, prompted by Muslim hardliners, are sealing off these smaller houses of worship. Another Christian house [...]
The Louvin Brothers are one of the great close harmony brother acts in the history of traditional American music. The lyrics of “Satan’s Jeweled Crown” are interesting since Ira was, indeed, a drunken, womanizing, brawling racist who once allegedly took at a swing at Elvis for singing “n***er music”. Be that as it may, he [...]
In honor of Salvador Dali’s birthday today: Christ of St. John of the Cross. Dali’s painting was inspired by a sketch done by St. John while he was chaplain of the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila. One day, while praying in a loft overlooking the sanctuary, he was struck by a vision, and hastily [...]
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