Continuing from my last post A Short History of Atheism, I’m now adding to the blog another section of my Religious Studies dissertation which addresses different cultural attitudes towards atheism (and religious tolerance) and the effects they have on non-believers and minority groups. Due to the nature of the assignment the style is somewhat formal and objective, but the points raised are ... »
So, it’s a big day here in the UK. Okay, it’s no bigger or smaller than any other day, but there are some local elections going on, and I found myself falling victim to my own lack of research. I know, I know, I’m a hypocrite, but hear me out. For most people who read my posts I think it’s pretty clear that I have liberal tendencies, so when it came time to cast my ballot, ... »
Justin Vacula. Oh Justin, Justin. Why did you have to write an article that denied rape culture and leave it there for me to read first thing in the morning after only getting 6 hours of sleep? I mean really? Because you know what that means? It means I have to respond, and honestly, I’d rather just leave you alone to continue festering in your confirmation bias. But no, you caught me when I... »
Gun control is a hot topic right now. All sorts of opinions have gotten thrown around about it, all sorts of issues have been connected to it, and there’s a lot of emotion around it. But one thing that doesn’t seem to get addressed too often is the efficacy of the 2nd Amendment. Many gun control advocates say that they are afraid of the day when the government tries to impose some sort... »
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is close to approving genetically modified (GM) salmon as a food with no significant environmental impact. These fish, popularly dubbed as “frankenfish” in several news reports, produce higher levels of growth hormone. This makes them easier to farm, because they grow much faster than salmon with normal levels of these hormones. I’ve read so... »
Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers recently wrote an article in which he suggested that we remove all religious studies classes from education, because it’s “useless, distracting, and narrow”. Now as a religious studies major and someone thinking of going on in a religious studies program, I got a little pissy about this. Now why, you may ask, would a staunch atheist such as myself be ... »
There have been many, many blog articles written about the shootings in Connecticut, addressing all sorts of questions. However I’ve been deeply upset by a number of the ideas and thoughts expressed in my facebook feed and to my face about what this tragedy should teach us. “We need to deal with the problem of mental illness in this country” “He must have been crazy” “He definitely was menta... »
So some of you might have noticed that there was a presidential debate a couple of days ago. It’s been kept pretty quiet, so I’d understand if you hadn’t seen it. There are any number of things that happened in the debate about which I have many opinions, but there was one off-handed comment in particular which isn’t generating much conversation and that I think is extremely important to address. ... »
