conservatives as self-parodies
This interview with Andy Schlafly [below] of conservapedia.com is hard to watch. It’s almost embarrassing. I think Colbert is at his best for most of the exchange, and the zinger about creating his own reality...
Category: Religion
Short, controversial post: War on Christmas edition
Local schools should be allowed to decide whether or not to put on Christmas pageants that include the birth of Jesus Christ, the three wisemen, Mary, Joseph, and the whole nativity event.
The War on Pluralism Christmas
(cross-posted from the United States of Jamerica) This is a little ridiculous (via Dara’s Google Reader feed): Boss Creations, a new holiday decor company, has introduced the new “CHRIST-mas” Tree, featuring the unique trait...
The “Practical Christianity” of the Welfare State
Via First Things, The Acton Institute’s PowerBlog discusses the Christian origins of the welfare state: The church helped to bring about the welfare state in two ways. First, the Church embodied the idea of...
The Manhattan Declaration
Well, this is the trajectory of the modern Christian right. Its leaders have signed this declaration, further entwining religion and politics, and further entrenching the culture wars in the useless “us against them” language...
Modernity, Christianity and Islam
I linked to this earlier, but amateur history buffs will find Cato Unbound’s discussion on the origins of modernity pretty fascinating. The central point of contention is the so-called “first cause” of modernity –...
gay marriage and the catholic church in maine
[updated] Maine proponents of gay marriage rights woke to defeat today, which is a shame and another signal that the country is still bitterly divided on this issue. The New York Times reports: “The Catholic...
From the Department of Missing the Point
Despite my recent disagreements with Conor, one area where he is indubitably correct is in criticizing conservatism’s inability to engage the culture in which it must exist. This, to me, is not a political...
Blame Capitalism, not Religion, for Paul Bettany’s Ailing Hollywood Career
It turns out that rumors of a religiously-inspired anti-Darwin backlash were greatly exaggerated (credit goes to Freddie for his initial skepticism) – apparently, the Darwin biopic Creation can’t find a US distributor because it...
do the evolution
Continuing the discussion Chris began earlier, Scott asks: Erik, in Chris’ opening salvo, he mentions his general disdain for the current political parties and the role they play in US politics as one driving...
Kulturkampf
Victor Davis Hanson is visiting Europe. More precisely, Italy and Greece. Several profound insights into the nature of continental society follow: After concluding another 16 days in Europe. I am again reminded how different...
Department of Silly Inquiries
John Horgan has a question – does religion do more harm than good? Leaving aside the impossibility of quantifying the benefits and downsides of faith in any systematic fashion – what metric, one wonders,...
thursday art walk
A day late – I blame the holiday. This one is “Cathedral in Winter” by Ernst Ferdinand Oehme
John Derbyshire and the Wise Latina
“Judge Sotomayor was raised in public housing? So was I. Her mother was a nurse working late shifts? So was mine. When did white working poor people disappear off the face of the earth?...
a quote for a cloudy afternoon
“I gave up on post-theism in my 20’s. I worked through my post-post-theism in my early 30’s. I’m currently enjoying my post-post-post-theism too much to really contemplate post-post-post-post-theism, but, hey. Maybe someone will write...
Angels & Demons
I read Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons several years ago. I liked some of the puzzles, and the mystery and suspense were gripping enough, but at the end of the day Brown’s prose makes...
faux serious introspection
Daniel Larison takes issue with Obama’s Notre Dame speech and especially Obama’s use of doubt, which Larison maintains is not a quality, but rather “a function of a mind clouded by the passions”. Doubt,...
going to war with the army you have
“Rather than deep moral and spiritual renewal leading to civic health, what if it’s our national solipsism and susceptibility to suggestion that pull us together, and pull us through? What if, rather than being...
