Category Archives: Religion

Richard Dawkins: THE MAGIC OF REALITY

Posted on Friday 14 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How We Know What’s Really True Illustrated by Dave McKean (Free Press, Oct. 2011, 271pp, including 6p of index and acknowledgements) When I was organizing my nonfiction books notes and posts last December, I was surprised that I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, reality, Religion, Science | Leave a comment

Shades of Morality

Posted on Wednesday 5 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s crazy Gaza redevelopment plan; How conservatives use “corruption” (without evidence) as an excuse to undermine institutions they don’t like; And they would go after Wikipedia, if they could; Then a long sequence about JD Vance on Christian love, various … Continue reading →

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The Price of Eggs

Posted on Friday 24 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Tech-bros don’t care about the price of eggs; David Brooks on why Trump will fail; Dan Milbank on his astounding ignorance; Evangelicals have abandoned Jesus for Trump; Get ‘em while they’re young, said Hitler, says the Church. – – – … Continue reading →

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Faith, Consolation, Reality

Posted on Saturday 4 January 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple weeks ago I noted, without any kind of deep analysis, a David Brooks essay about his experience of faith, and how it involved random emotional feelings of transcendence and nothing about perceiving the actual nature of reality. OnlySky, … Continue reading →

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Muddling Through Somehow

Posted on Tuesday 24 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Since today is Christmas Eve, yesterday must have been Christmas Adam, right? (First I’ve heard about this.) NY Times, 22 Dec 2024: Behold! ‘Christmas Adam’ Is Born., subtitled “First there was Christmas Eve … and then a new celebration was … Continue reading →

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The Certitude of the Religious

Posted on Monday 23 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

David French asks and tries to explain why Christians are so cruel; David Brooks writes about his experience of faith; And Kurt Gray about misunderstanding human nature. – – – Of course I’m sure they would deny this. Passing the … Continue reading →

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Children, Adults Who Think Like Children, and Adults Who Don’t

Posted on Saturday 21 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump doesn’t need to keep his promises because he’ll just claim that he has, and blame his enemies when it’s obvious he has not; How the threat of government shutdown reveals the Republicans as the party of “no”, recalling William … Continue reading →

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So Are We to Live in an Authoritarian Oligarchy?

Posted on Friday 20 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

The un-elected Elon Musk seems to be running the country this week; How the Drone Panic reveals a need to believe, in *something*. So not only is our incipient administration authoritarian, it’s authoritarian and being run by an oligarch! NY … Continue reading →

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Institutions, Tribes, and Faith

Posted on Monday 9 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman’s last NYT column, in part about what has changed in the past 25 years, including the collapse of trust in the elites; Helen Lewis echoes Fareed Zakaria yesterday: the mainstream media is part of the “elite” system that … Continue reading →

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People Would Rather Believe Than Know

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How conservatives distrust science because it does not accommodate “moral and religious values”, thus missing the point of science; Mark Lilla on the allure of ignorance; Dinesh D’Souza admits 2000 Mules was flawed; Heather Cox Richardson on how government institutions … Continue reading →

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