In "The Death of Conscience (Part One)," (Free Inquiry, April/May 2008 --not available online) Shadia B. Drury makes it clear that not all religion is bad. She recognizes the religious backdrop to the successful efforts to repeal slavery, to promote civil rights and to create the Red Cross. "As these…
Here's a simple commentary on claims by faith: (Click to see the original in situ) From the online comic series XKCD, a strip for those who know emacs from God, and also those who can't tell them apart.
In a tragic story from my own state of Wisconsin, an 11-year-old girl died last week because her parents trusted God to heal her. The parents apparently didn't realize that their child had diabetes, so they never sought medical help. Instead, they prayed. Though not reported in the StarTribune article,…
In 2006, Andrew Sullivan wrote that there are many forms of belief and that fundamentalism is only one of many forms of religious belief: The alternative to the secular-fundamentalist death spiral is something called spiritual humility and sincere religious doubt. Fundamentalism is not the only valid form of faith, and to…
I will be in the Cincinnati area this weekend for fun and business. My only dilemma is to decide whether to spend the time and money to actually visit this edifice of counterknowledge? I've written about this place on D.I. since before it was completed. (List of mentions of it…