Category Archives: Culture

Is the Younger Generation Turning away from Organized Religion?

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Skeptic Blog: http://www.skepticblog.org/2013/09/25/losing-our-religion/ We can all speculate about why younger generations are alienated from organized religion, and certainly there are many reasons. But knowing the current political trends in this country, we might suggest that one factor of great importance … Continue reading →

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Thoughts of a Thursday Afternoon: After the Apocalypse

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Every human being starts from scratch: he or she comes equipped with a mind honed by evolution for survival, prone to superstitious, self-interested thinking for the same reason, but ill-equipped to accurately perceive reality, the reality that can be deduced … Continue reading →

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Motivated Reasoning and Religion

Posted on Saturday 28 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Applying motivated reasoning [or confirmation bias] to religion… http://www.salon.com/2013/09/27/why_are_so_many_christians_so_un_christian_partner/ As much as liberals would often wish it otherwise—and no matter how much conservative Christians may claim their beliefs all come from the Bible—the truth of the matter is there’s no … Continue reading →

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Law v. Science

Posted on Monday 16 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Nice essay by Jesse Bering — an excerpt from his forthcoming book — about ‘age of consent’ laws and their variation over time and across different countries, whose cutoffs range from 12 to 21. (And in olden times, some US … Continue reading →

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Matthew Shepard and confirmation bias

Posted on Monday 16 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

A new book about Matthew Shepard suggests the story of his murder was far more complex than the gay-bashing narrative that has been assumed. Turns out it can be seen as a prime example of confirmation bias, http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/09/16/challenging-the-myth-of-matthew-shepard/ Comparable, says … Continue reading →

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Sunday Links and Commentary, 15Sep13

Posted on Sunday 15 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Salon: Inside the conservative brain: What explains their wiring? Chris Mooney wrote a whole book on this subject (http://www.amazon.com/The-Republican-Brain-Science-Science/dp/1118094514), and it’s fascinating to wonder — setting aside precise partisan divides — to what extent different attitudes about the world are … Continue reading →

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Sunday Links and Commentary

Posted on Sunday 8 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

PZ Myers compares the atheist movement to the plight of World SF Conventions — in terms of their resistance to being open to interests of younger members. http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/09/06/the-future-will-not-be-the-past/ Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/former-christian-fundamentalist-how-science-made-me-lose-my-religion?paging=off When an engineer raised in a fundamentalist Christian community sees … Continue reading →

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Religion and Community

Posted on Thursday 5 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Another provocative, insightful essay by Connor Wood, expanding on the theme of the earlier essay I linked, this one keying off the conclusion of a study done by three psychologists. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scienceonreligion/2013/09/ritual-creates-tribesand-tribalism/ The study concludes it’s not religious belief, per se, … Continue reading →

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Progressives and Regressives

Posted on Wednesday 4 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

The passage cited in the previous post reminded me of a Facebook post from Robert Reich, several weeks ago, which I managed to track down via Google and capture here for my reference. Why is it that most progressives live … Continue reading →

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Conservatives and Liberals, and why we need both

Posted on Wednesday 4 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

I came across new blog on the vast Patheos website, Science on Religion, and this post by one Connor Wood, a PhD student at Boston University in religion and science, a post called Calling an End to the Culture Wars, … Continue reading →

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