On October 15th, I’ll be heading out to Maryland to speak at a Theology on Tap in St. Mary’s County. Pax Catholic has been running a series of talks on conversion, and I’ll be chiming in with a talk titled: “Backed into Belief: A Journey from Atheism to Catholicism.” The full logistical details are available at the facebook event page at the link. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there! It also so happens that, as... Read more
This year’s Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of a shmita year for Jews; the time, once every seven years, when the land is supposed to be left fallow, the poor are allowed to eat what does grow, and debts are forgiven. The New York Times had an interesting piece this week on how rabbinical authorities have translated the tradition in the modern age, when few people (Jewish or otherwise) work on farms: Yossi Tsuria, a founder of NDS, a video-software company now... Read more
— 1 — While we’ve discussing the virtues of counterfactual history, I ran across this interesting argument about real history from Wired arguing that U-boats in WWI marked the beginning of unrestricted warfare, starting us down the path that would lead to the firebombing of Dresden and the use of drones today: The Brits, worried about losing hugely expensive battleships to U-boats, kept their big guns near home. They formed an effective blockade of German ports using smaller vessels, stopping vital supplies... Read more
I’ve been trying to work out exactly how I feel about Cuddlr, the new app that connects partners for a bout of platonic cuddling. On the one hand, I keep trying to find ways to promote more non-sexual touch. On the other hand, this particular solution gives me a wiggins, and I’ve been trying to put my finger on why. Here’s how Salon describes the app: You log on, link up with your Facebook profile and start browsing for nearby cuddle partners.... Read more
Cass Sunstein is mounting a defense of historical counterfactuals in The New Republic. At their simplest (and, he would argue, most useful), they are baked into the entire historical discipline: Yet the most fundamental problem is that Evans does not grapple sufficiently with the fact that historians do not only offer narratives; they also offer explanations. They say that some event—the rise of Nazism, the Vietnam war, the election of Ronald Reagan, the attacks of 9 / 11—had particular causes. It is not... Read more
Prompted by our discussion of modern dating, PEG has offered his thoughts on how to build a better model for dating and discerning marriage: Frankly, what is needed is a way to connect people with similar goals. I did the hedonic thing in college and law school, and at the ripe old age of 21 found out that it was wrecking my soul, and desperately wanted to settle down, but there were no takers for that. It was only sheer random... Read more
In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. This chapter is called “The Solitude of Prayer” but, as I read Pope Francis’s meditations on exile — the first, individual one, experienced by Adam and Eve, the Babylonian exile endured by the Jews, the state of Christians described in the Letter to... Read more
I have an essay up today at Fare Forward on some of my experiences muddling through prayer, while I’ve been trying to get my Catholic sea legs: Since my conversion, I’ve had a lot of awkward moments at the dinner table. It’s not that I’ve been having awkward conversations about my decision to leave atheism and be received into the Catholic Church. It’s that my friends keep pausing and looking inquisitively me at meals, and then saying, “Should I wait... Read more
— 1 — Happy Absence-of-Scottish-Independence Day! Perhaps you would like to celebrate/mourn by learning more about a famous Scottish monument’s famous hat? THIS MY FRIENDS IS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON STATUE IN ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE IN GLASGOW AND YES HE HAS A TRAFFIC CONE ON HIS HEAD NOW LET ME TELL YOU I HAVE LIVED IN GLASGOW FOR 18 AND A HALF YEARS AND NOT ONCE HAVE I SEEN THIS MAN WITHOUT A CONE ON HIS HEAD IT HAS BEEN... Read more
Last week, an atheist friend of mine posted a link to Mark Oppenheimer’s feature article on misogyny in the atheist movement, sharing a quote and a comment: “Jillette embodies that side of the freethought movement that prizes absolute free speech above feelings.” In other words, the only side that enables free thought, period. The Oppenheimer article had written up several instances of alleged sexual abuse or harassment, but Penn Jillette had wound up included in the piece because he “famously... Read more
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