Most of the conversion stories I’ve read follow a general pattern: emptiness or unhappiness (even if it was only seen that way in retrospect), new exposure to a faith that not only fills the emptiness but speaks to you as though it was written just for you, a leap of faith, and a new pledged allegiance. Mine was no different, even if it failed to take for fairly obvious reasons. I was having my typical experience at summer camp (any... Read more
Telling someone I’m an atheist tells them very little about what I believe or why. My atheism is just the result of my answer to one question about one truth claim. Although I disagree with my Catholic boyfriend on many questions of religion, when we mix it up on matters of morality with our postmodernist friends (both atheist and Christian), we almost always end up on the same side. Therefore, I’d like to spend this week trying to paint a... Read more
While I’m gearing up for tomorrow’s kickoff of the new posting series (the topic is exploring the only religion I’ve ever wished I could join), I’ve been trying to do a bit of basic blogging housekeeping, and I have some questions for the readers. Some time ago, a Catholic blogger who had stumbled upon this site shared her disappointment with her readers. She was most put off by my Burden of Proof page, which I’ve since revamped (though I’ve buried... Read more
Quick Recap: Justin and RustBelt debated gay marriage, I butted in, Justin responded (twice). Justin’s most recent salvo is to ask me to weigh in yes or no on four hypothetical and then explain the consistent framework that led to my decision. Given some of the ambiguities that crept into his discourse with RustBelt when they were discussing legality versus morality, I’m going to give two answers for each scenario: Do I think the government should ban it? Do I... Read more
–1– This week I announced my revamped posting schedule for the blog, and the new series on the only religion I ever wished I could convert to will start on Sunday. In the meantime, I thought I’d use the 7 Quick Takes this week to give a rundown of what I get up to at school, especially as a belated apology/explanation for the sparse posts as school was kicking off. –2– First things first. I’m a senior political science... Read more
I quite appreciate how quickly he responded to the questions I raised in my last post. (I’ll also confess to being totally envious of how quick his post-turnaround-time is. Meanwhile, I’ve got a stack of epidemiology homework sitting by the computer looking at me plaintively). I’ll be responding sometime later today, but in the meantime, head on over and check out his responses: Pinging Leah Part 1: Justin responds to my questions on adoption and my free rider argument. “I... Read more
Reading over Justin Martyr’s debate over the morality of gay marriage with Larry of Rust Belt Philosophy, I think I’ve managed to come up with the single least catchy talking point on the topic of gay marriage: All we’re really debating is how to handle a free rider problem for a government benefit. Doesn’t exactly sound media-ready, I guess, but it seems like an accurate sum up of the issue. Civil marriage exists, as do most government programs, to change... Read more
Sorry the blog’s been dark the past week. School’s started up again, and I’ve been extremely busy unpacking, attempting to trick people into not taking the seminar on Stephen Sondheim that I’m trying to get into, and having an unfortunate run-in with a bagel knife (I’m a two-finger typists, so the injury did a lot to slow me down). I’ve also been doing some serious thinking about what I’m going to do with this blog during the school year, when... Read more
This past week, I twice wrote about the Cordoba/Park 51 mosque/community center at the Huffington post, both times hammering home the point that Rauf and his organization have a clear right to build two blocks away from Ground Zero. However, some people seem to have taken my support for property rights and my opposition to fear-mongering as evidence for an affinity for Islam, so I thought I would clarify. Jen, author of BlagHag, was visiting NYC this past week, and... Read more
–1– Posting here kind of fell off towards the end of the week, because I moved back into my dorm today, and I had to spend a lot of the week packing, unpacking, and finishing my secret sewing project (pillows for me and my two suitemates that were embroidered with our name and an iconic image from a favorite book series). I’ll post pics of the final results next week. Needless to day, even with advance planning, I ended up... Read more
Unequally Yoked
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