Category Archives: Politics

The American Dream: A cultural theory perspective

I recently got chatting with someone I met on a political forum and found myself in a (surprisingly and pleasantly civil) political discussion. The other person and I tend to come from rather different views, but our discourse has been … Continue reading

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Why #NotAllMen is not women’s problem

In conversation with someone I respect today about the #YesAllWomen issue, I mentioned the “M&M” analogy (imagine a bowl of M&Ms. Only 10% are poisoned. Grab a big handful. No? What’s the problem? Not all the M&Ms are poisoned….) as … Continue reading

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Another essay on the plausibility of Christianity

I got into a (very civil, actually) discussion on FB about this. The other person began with a CS Lewis quote claiming that the statement: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his … Continue reading

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Why do we still get consent and agency wrong?

So two stories came up on my FB feed today, and together, they made me see red. They are unrelated stories, and I will link to them both: The first is about a heroic teen who saved a friend from … Continue reading

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Sanctifying climate change evidence

Recently the self-proclaimed prophet Cindy Jacobs warned Jim Bakker that President Obama’s “anti-biblical” policies with regard to LGBT equality will lead to blizzards and “weather disasters” in the upcoming year. Such pronouncements from Jacobs are nothing new; in January of … Continue reading

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How to intelligently criticize religion

How to Intelligently Criticize Religion: Atheist claims that are no better than Theist claims. One of the most common criticisms of the religious is that they argue from poor information. Whether it’s cherry-picked, made-up, out of context (yes, sometimes things … Continue reading

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Review: Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class

(Ian Haney López, Oxford University Press, 2014) On the one hand, I love this book, and I think it’s terrifically important. On the other, I was disappointed in its lack of scope. That conflict makes this a hard book to … Continue reading

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The worst kind of violence

In the last week or so, I’ve come across two largely unrelated news items that have gotten me thinking. I suspect they are not unique, nor are they the sort of headline that typically gets everyone talking. But I can’t … Continue reading

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Review: Religulous

Originally published My 15, 2009 I know, I’m a little behind the times on this; what can I say? I don’t get to the theater much. This one is worth a review nevertheless. Trust me on this one, I’m not … Continue reading

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This may offend some viewers, but…

Response to ‘Religious Intolerance, or What I Want to Say When Asked Why I Have a Problem with Religion.’ (The original is sometimes no longer available that I can find, but was a long series of headlines pointing out violence … Continue reading

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