Doug Chaplin highlights a news article about a study which shows that fundamentalists don’t know the Bible better than others, and that reading the Bible more doesn’t lead one to vote for a particular party. Is anyone surprised…apart from fundamentalists?Liberal Pastor discusses what it means to be a Progressive Christian. I hope Mystical Seeker and Pluralist won’t stop exploring the cutting edge of such a faith. Pluralism Sunday has been scheduled.Sam Harris needs Christian volunteers. Vridar has been continuing a... Read more

Don’t fall for the following hoax/scam/phishing attempt. The IRS will send you your check, you don’t need to click on the link in this e-mail if you received it. The link goes to http://203.231.156.252:7722/refundsx/irfofgetstatus.htm Clearly that isn’t the IRS web site. Be patient. Your check will come. If you fall for this hoax, however, you might lose more than you get from the IRS… Over 130 million Americans will receive refunds aspart of President Bush program to jumpstart the economy.... Read more

This past week’s episode of LOST may not have had as startlingly obvious revelations as the episode immediately before it, but what it did reveal, and the hints that were subtly placed, are worth noting. Someone has said rather woefully that this might be the happiest we’ll ever see Kate and Jack. Presumably we witnessed the start of Jack’s downward spiral into medication and alcohol before the episode was over, but seeing Jack and Kate together, striving for a bit... Read more

Here’s a challenge to those Christians who denigrate scholarship as causing confusion and inappropriately asking questions and raising issues. Just read the Bible for yourself, without the aid of scholarship. Sounds simple, right? Sounds like just what you wanted to do? Not so fast… If you are going to do what I’ve challenged you to, then you cannot read an English translation of the Bible. Translations rely on all sorts of scholars and experts in both the original languages, the... Read more

The UK Magazine PC Advisor has featured a solution I came up with to Vista’s infamous problem of a black screen after login. Although I like to think this blog is mainly about religion, theology, Biblical studies, evolution, creationism, LOST and Battlestar Galactica, on most days the vast majority of visitors come looking for solution to this particular problem. Apparently the “black screen of death” is a widespread issue with Vista. If you are here looking for a solution to... Read more

This is the message Gaius Baltar proclaimed to adoring followers at the end of last week’s episode of Battlestar Galactica: God loves only that which is perfect, and thus “you are perfect, just as you are”. There would seem to be at least some truth in what Gaius proclaimed. If we cannot come face to face with our faults, and accept who we are, then we can hardly expect to accept the faults we find in others. But there is... Read more

If you are reading this, and are not a regular reader, you’ve presumably come here hoping that you may in fact be the next in line to a fortune. You aren’t. Lots of people get the same e-mail, which is an attempt to scam you out of personal information and eventually money. Think about it, please. What banker offers to split the money with you? What banker contacts you from a generic gmail address ([email protected])? What banker has tracked you... Read more

The producers of LOST recently commented on theories submitted by fans. Below are the ones that got an “A”. The last is particularly on the right track, apparently, in unspecified ways. Click the link above for the rest of the theories, the whole article, and more! [Also see here for a discussion of the hieroglyphics on Ben’s door] The diabolical experiment Matthew Abbadon (the thin man who recruited the freighter crew) gains control of Aaron. This brilliant boy is fated... Read more

N.T.Wrong tells how you can write about the evils of fundamentalism and win $5,000.Faith and Theology discusses the doctrine of Scripture and the case of Peter EnnsScience Avenger explains the difference between secular and atheistic.Playing Chess With Pigeons discusses the famous embryo drawings by Haeckel and the misunderstanding of them in creationist circles.John Pieret addresses the confident ignorance of those who quote these half-remembered half-truths.Pharyngula tells us what Sean Carroll thought of Expelled.April DeConick highlights the plight of Iraqi refugees,... Read more

I’ve gotten involved in a conversation with Nick Norelli about the couple who prayed for their child but did not seek medical assistance, with the result that the child died. Somehow we need to sort this issue out from a legal perspective. Parental negligence cannot be left open to justification by appeal to religion. From the perspective of Christianity, however, there should be no doubt that these parents’ action was utterly despicable. I submit three passages for the consideration of... Read more