Monthly Archives: June 2014

Primitive Values, Mature Ethics, and the Failure of Religious Texts

Posted on Friday 27 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A point that bears repeating: there is nothing in the Bible that couldn’t have been written by ordinary people On the point of the previous post: it has been frequently observed that the Bible contains nothing that could not have … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Primitive Values, Mature Ethics, and the Failure of Religious Texts

Another Ten Commandments – Actually, Two

Posted on Friday 27 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Ten Commandments That Would Have Changed the World Who knew? Valerie Tarico points out, in this post, that there is a second set of Ten Commandments a bit later in Exodus following the ones from Exodus 20 most often cited. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion, Ten Commandments | Comments Off on Another Ten Commandments – Actually, Two

Ann Druyan on Cosmos

Posted on Monday 23 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon’s film critic Andrew O’Hehir interviews the actual creator and author of the recent Cosmos TV series– not Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was just the on-screen host, but Carl Sagan’s widow Ann Druyan. “Why is God telling me to stop … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Religion | Comments Off on Ann Druyan on Cosmos

Science Fiction and the perception of a greater truth

Posted on Monday 23 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a passage from an early 1960s science fiction story, a story later incorporated into a novel, about a young man who works as a yardboy in a small town in a pre-industrial society near the “Katskil border”. One morning … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction | Comments Off on Science Fiction and the perception of a greater truth

Links, Quotes, Comments: 20 June

Posted on Friday 20 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A post today by Amanda Marcotte, on both Salon and Alternet– Salon: Reason vs. the right: Have conservatives abandoned science and rationality? Alternet: Have Conservatives Abandoned Rationality, Skepticism and Truth? The possibility that rationality itself has become a partisan issue … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Lunacy, Religion | Comments Off on Links, Quotes, Comments: 20 June

Mahler 6

Posted on Thursday 19 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

When I was 18 or 19, still living at home while commuting to college at UCLA, I had a tiny clock radio in my bedroom, which was my only source of music aside from the Tijuana Brass LPs playing in … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on Mahler 6

Ann Druyan on Cosmos

Posted on Thursday 19 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: Interview by film critic Andrew O’Hehir of Comos writer and executive producer Ann Druyan. Neil deGrasse Tyson was the visible host, but he didn’t write the show; Druyan, the widow of Carl Sagan, did. You’ve been pretty outspoken over … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Culture | Comments Off on Ann Druyan on Cosmos

Links and Quotes, mid-June

Posted on Monday 16 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Preoccupied with writing up book notes this past week (and other things), I have a bunch of linked articles to note without making any of them separate posts. From last Monday, two interesting op-eds in the New York Times. Charles … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Culture, Quote at Length, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Quotes, mid-June

Notes on Adam Lee

Posted on Monday 16 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A final set of book notes for the moment, this one the fourth of several books about atheism, humanism, and why people believe what they do (which last item is my central concern). Adam Lee is a blogger who writes … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Book Notes | Comments Off on Notes on Adam Lee

Notes on Peter Boghossian

Posted on Saturday 14 June 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Peter Boghossian’s book has an aggressive title, A Manual for Creating Atheists, though it is in no way as ‘angry’ as Greta Christina’s book, discussed last time. Boghossian is a faculty member in Portland State University’s philosophy department, and his … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Book Notes, Culture, Religion | Comments Off on Notes on Peter Boghossian