Alas, my computer just started what I’m told will be a week long vacation at Microcenter. I’m still borrowing computer time with my housemates, so posting will slow but it won’t stop. (Spelling may suffer a little, since I find it really difficult to type on a Mac-style chiclet keyboard). I will be prioritizing setting up logistics for the upcoming Turing Test over keeping up daily posts, so if commenters have always longed to address my readers, now’s the time... Read more
UPDATE: I’ve expanded a response to a commenter in a new post: “Have Humans ‘Won’ Evolution?” Over at Patheos’s group blog on science and religion, Connor Wood is trying to explain why people have a visceral discomfort with evolution. He sees natural selection as the ultimate example of “nature red in tooth and claw” — a rigged game that pits us all against each other and suppresses the better angels of our nature. He writes: Once you start looking at evolutionary reasons... Read more
— 1 — As I announced earlier this week, the Ideological Turing Test is starting up again. (This is the contest where Christians and atheists see how good they are at imitating each other). I’ll be asking for feedback on specific questions soon, but right now I’d love feedback on general logistics in the comment thread of the post linked above. I think it’s going to be super! — 2 — As you may have inferred from my choice... Read more
In re the discussion of accepting gifts, a recent post by Eve Tushnet seemed apropos. (Note, she’s discussing her experiences working with women at a crisis pregnancy center, and I would prefer any discussion not be derailed by an argument about crisis pregnancy centers, since that’s not the part of the story I’m highlighting). I’ve been struck recently by how many of my clients are ashamed to go to their friends for help: both material or financial help, and emotional support, the... Read more
The first person to comment on my post about The Hunger Games and not seeing gifts as debts had a pragmatic concern: I don’t see this as moral progress. If more people would see a sacrifice as a debt the world would be a better place. I’ve got a (richly deserved) reputation as a not-so-soft paternalist when it comes to social policy, so I’m sympathetic to this critique. Isn’t there a benefit to chafing under a debt insofar as it... Read more
I really enjoyed the first iteration of the Ideological Turing Test for religion, which ran on this blog last summer, and I always meant to return to it at some point. At the end of May/early June, I’m going on vacation for two weeks, which strikes me as the perfect time to have a lot of interesting prewritten posts ready for you all to parse. I’ll open sign-ups soon, but today is only for discussing parameters of this year’s contest.... Read more
Mark’s got another post up today, profiling a gay friend he greatly admires, and I’ve got a few more things I’d like to respond to, but I’m going to take a little break. Judging by the comment threads, this hasn’t been a particularly helpful discussion. I’ve registered and explained my objection to the Nazi allusions, and I’m going to hold off on following up until I think I’ve got a better strategy for the discussion. It seems like, to have... Read more
The “Let’s Talk About How to Have Reasonable Discussions about Religion” post has over a hundred comments and the tone in some sections is pretty well summed up by one reader: I love this comment thread. Leah: My commenters are great and tend to argue in good faith and assume that others do the same. Commenters: NAZIS! People who disagree with me are NAZIS! NAZIS EVERYWHERE! NAZIS!! And speaking of which, today, I was frustrated by a post by Mark... Read more
This post contains vague spoilers for the Hunger Games trilogy. I’m speaking in generalities about the moral development of some of the characters, but do not discuss any specific plot developments. Consider yourselves warned. I really enjoyed the Hunger Games series (and had a great time dressing up for the movie) but I’m mainly pitched it to people in tragic terms. Unlike many other YA dystopian hero/ines, Katniss is marked and warped by the cost of bringing down her society.... Read more
Previously on this blog, I was really teed off by Laurence Krauss contemptuous comments about philosophy at the American Atheists National Conventions (and I agreed with one of the big critiques of his book). It looks like he’s been catching flack for the anti-philosophy comments, and he’s written an essay in Scientific American to clarify his position. I’m excerpting below the parts I found most relevant, but you guys should check out the whole piece. [In physics], I, and most... Read more
Unequally Yoked
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