Copycat Anti-Religion

Last updated on: March 18, 2020 at 5:08 am By James F. McGrath

Religions borrow from one another. So do scientific theories, political ideologies, musicians, and all human cultures and their expressions. We also have a great many shared symbols as human beings, which means that not every similarity indicates borrowing. Failure to recognize the last point is what Sandmel famously called “parallelomania.” One instance of borrowing and of deep similarity of outlook and system across a wide diversity of details is, rather ironically, the meme that will not die claiming that Jesus... Read more

Academics and Freedom of Speech

Last updated on: March 9, 2020 at 5:58 pm By James F. McGrath

An interesting exploration of the significance and freedom of speech. Here’s an excerpt: Consider science. I think that science has been more successful than anything else at dragging us closer to the truth. And I think in certain ways science is a model of a kind of market place of ideas. The core idea is that anyone and everyone can contribute and that all the ideas and information are available to everyone. No one mandates anyone else’s opinions about, for... Read more

Learning Online (not) for the First Time

Last updated on: March 16, 2020 at 10:19 am By James F. McGrath

I blogged recently about faculty transitioning courses online on short notice. For some faculty this will be particularly challenging as they have never taught online before. The first time is always hardest, and so those colleagues need even more support than they normally would shifting to online teaching, which is even then usually a significant investment of time and input. In talking about this, I think many may forget that there are also large number of students for whom this... Read more

#CFP: Female Perspectives on the Future: Science Fiction by German-Speaking Authors

Last updated on: March 13, 2020 at 8:09 am By James F. McGrath

This call for papers will be of interest even if you’re not thinking of presenting, just to find out more about who is writing sci-fi in the German-speaking world. Frauen schreiben keine Science Fiction. Dass dem nicht so ist, ist eine Binsenweisheit. Trotzdem hält sich hartnäckig die Ansicht, dass Science Fiction ‚eigentlich‘ Männersache sei. Geht es doch um Technik und Pioniere, die ins Unbekannte vorstoßen. Selbst Kenner des Genres können häufig nur eine Handvoll Autorinnen nennen: Natürlich Mary Shelley, der... Read more

Handwashing for Nerds, Geeks, and Other Science Fiction Fans

Last updated on: March 13, 2020 at 6:17 am By James F. McGrath

There are many musical versions of the recommendation and tutorial for handwashing, trying to ensure that people spend enough time on the process. At this point the aim is no longer functional but primarily aimed at humor. But whether you need the actual tutorial at this point or not, or ever did, if you are a science fiction fan then these two tutorials – one derived from Star Trek and the other from Dune – will be useful or at... Read more

Keep Calm and Teach On (Moving Your Course Online on Short Notice)

Last updated on: March 13, 2020 at 8:04 am By James F. McGrath

Many, many universities and colleges are shifting to online teaching in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Those of us who have taught online in the past know that the preparation to deliver a quality course in this format is laborious and takes time. But sometimes circumstances require us to (as an article in the Chronicle puts it) go online in a hurry, or as their new tutorial phrases it, preparing for emergency online teaching. Inside Higher Education also has an... Read more

TELA at #AARSBL19

Last updated on: March 7, 2020 at 3:31 pm By James F. McGrath

Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity was involved in multiple sessions at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting in San Diego in November, including the one with a panel focused on the Mandaean Book of John that I already blogged about some time ago, and from which Jim Davila shared his review of an important recent book by Michael Stone. Here is a brief glimpse of another of our sessions, based on notes I took during the presentations. In our open... Read more

Inerrancy is for Slavery

Last updated on: March 4, 2020 at 8:45 am By James F. McGrath

There is a narrower as well as a broader sense in which the statement in the title of this blog post is true. In the narrower sense we can see very clearly how inerrancy comes up even today when anyone dares to suggest that slavery is inherently wrong. The response that it is accepted in the Bible and thus cannot be inherently evil is not just an ad hoc response. Inerrancy was developed by groups like the Southern Baptists (who... Read more

The Doctor’s Respect for Religion

Last updated on: March 9, 2020 at 8:01 pm By James F. McGrath

Max Curtis has an article on the Tor website about faith and religious symbolism in recent episodes of Doctor Who, with the title “Doctor Who’s False Gods and Cyber-Zealots Face a Devout Doctor.” In it he writes: There’s a reason why fanatical extremists have been ideal foils for Jodie Whittaker’s most devout of Doctors, and it’s not simply that the character and her travels have been recast in a religious light. More than ever before, she’s built on a sense... Read more

#CFP Anthrodecentrism: Humans as Footnotes in Time and Space

Last updated on: March 3, 2020 at 8:23 pm By James F. McGrath

CFP: ‘Anthrodecentrism: Humans as Footnotes in Time and Space’ Conference day 12th June 2020 Catholic University of Paris This study day will consider changes in understanding of space and time that challenge traditional ways of situating ourselves as humans at the centre of our own world. In the Western world, our centrality was first called into question by the scientific exploration of the cosmos. The vast universe uncovered by Copernicus and Galileo came to supersede the reassuring geocentric model imagined by ancient... Read more

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