Although there has always been a fan base that has discussed science fiction worlds in detail, exploring the mythology, drawing connections between episodes/movies, and complaining about continuity errors, the present day provides far more opportunity to do that, with blogs, discussion boards, and countless other forums for interaction. IO9 has some speculations about connections between the Doctor Who episode The End Of Time and past episodes and characters from the show. One thing I learned in the process is that Richard... Read more

The DocArtz blog has a clearer picture of the LOST “Last Supper” image, as well as a careful discussion of its details and comparison both with Da Vinci’s most famous one as well as more recent imitations. Read more

Let’s start with Faithful Progressive’s post explaining that the personal God rejected by the “new atheists” isn’t the God he believes in. On a related topic, Martin LeBar has a post about Alister McGrath’s response to Richard Dawkins. Roland Boer thinks that John Loftus is still a theologian. John Loftus shared a thought experiment about the Gospels on his blog. I responded there that the scenario depicted was problematic. It is unfortunate that debates over the religious claims of conservative... Read more

It seems I've spent the day 'in the sidebar' today – writing comments and reading what others have written in comments here or on their own blogs. So let me encourage readers to check the Google Reader sidebar or the recent comments sidebar. I and others have written a lot of interesting things today – but this blog post isn't one of them! Read more

I tried to find a humorous headline for what is in fact a sad (or at least bittersweet) bit of breaking news. Apparently Jim West has decided to stop blogging. This has occurred before, if I’m not mistaken, and I suspect that if John Loftus gets too close to the number one slot, Jim may make a comeback to try and prevent that. In the mean time, others will seek to do the same… I do hope that, whether or... Read more

John Hobbins asks if I’m a pantheist. Well, am I? If I am, then so have been many mystics in the Abrahamic faiths, who have affirmed that there isn’t really any other reality than God or other place to be than within God. I prefer the term panentheism but it is admittedly a fine line. Joel and John seem to be having more constructive conversation – at last! IO9 asks about connections between LOST and FlashForward (something I’ve long wondered... Read more

 Read more

To end the old year/begin the new year right, I thought I’d provide a fun antidote (or at least supplement) to the atheist/Christian biblioblog rankings kerfuffle. Different systems assess different things and rank differently, which could potentially lead to arguments over who is really ranked this way or that. On the other hand, we’re all good at something. And so I thought I’d try to start a meme that gives bloggers an opportunity to say what they rank #1 in. For me, I... Read more

I’m not sure if this video is a useful illustration of the dangers of literalism. But it offers lyrics that literally describe what’s going on in the video for “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and I think you’ll find it funny: HT 3quarksdaily Read more