Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category
R.I.P. Martin Gardner
Last Saturday, Martin Gardner past away. With books such as Fads & Fallacies, and his venerable monthly Mathematical Games column in Scientific American, Martin, probably more than any one other individual, helped me begin the long and painful journey away from my ultraconservative upbringing toward a more open-minded, rational existence. A prolific writer right up until [...]
In: Religion, Science, Uncategorized
“Abject Scientific Nonsense” –Novella, on Oz
There are few living souls on this earth that I’d rather meet than Krista Tippett–the brilliant (and beautiful) journalist, author and extraordinary host of the NPR radio program Speaking of Faith. In Krista’s words What most Americans want, whether they are religious or not, is for the religious voice in our public life to be [...]
In: Books, Religion, Science
On a Curiosity Bender
I have two strikes against me as a skeptical thinker: (1) I live in the U.S. of A. and (2) I was raised by direct descendants of both the Puritans as well as one of the early co-founders of the Seventh Day Adventist church. Consequently, in disproportionately large numbers, I am surrounded by loved ones [...]
In: Only in the USA, Religion, Science
Future home of Luscious Nectar, tenant.
View Larger Map Luscious Nectar in the local news. also…checking out this OpenStreetView export and publish capability.
In: GIS, Local Culture, Religion
A 20-year reflection. Who will be next?
One of the most difficult transitions I have ever made in life was my exit from thirty years within the Seventh Day Adventist church. As a 5th-generation Seventh Day Adventist, raised in one of the most loving and devout Christian families one could ever meet and protected from worldly influence though a cloistered life revolving [...]
Humanity. A Global Perspective
Even the most jaded anthropocentric observer cannot deny the miniscule role of humanity in the bigger picture of Life on Earth (’till now, of course). Click, and zoom in to “homo sapiens”.
In: Life, Religion, Science
Joy and Willful Ignorance
When pondering my year-end review of a deeply personal nature, one thing keeps bubbling to the surface: Joy. It may not have been the happiest of years (god knows, I have more reasons than most in my circles for deep-rooted unhappiness of late) but it certianly is the most personally joyous. This is the year [...]
In: Life, Religion, Science
I am an Ethical Humanist
Non-theist, Naturalist, Secular Humanist and Tooth-Fairy Agnostic are some of the other monikers for the growing group of secular non-religious individuals in this country. Dawkins probably inspires more discussion on the topic than any other these days: While declaring myself and Atheist, I must say “Reverent Agnostic” was a close second: And while I’ll never [...]
In: Only in the USA, Religion, Science
Sniff this, Ellen
The science-backed news about the health benefits of coffee and tea keep pouring in. In Is a sniff of coffee as good as a sip?, writers at NewScientist report on a new study out of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan which finds a whiff of Java is enough to [...]
In: Health & Fitness, Religion
Expelled Exposed: Stein’s Folly
Continuing with the strange story of the movie Expelled which I first addressed a couple months back… The saga of Ben Stein’s Expelled just gets curiouser and curiouser. The back-channel story here deserves to become a movie in its own right. I have collected several links which tell the story (so far) exceedingly well. Here is my [...]
In: Only in the USA, Religion, Science