Category Archives: Religion

The Supposed God-Shaped Hole, and Others

Posted on Friday 5 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Via Jerry Coyne, a long piece at Quillette by Matt Johnson: Liberalism and the West’s ‘Crisis of Meaning’, subtitled “Many liberals are strangely eager to concede that liberal societies are morally and spiritually bankrupt without religion to give life meaning.” … Continue reading →

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On This July 4th

Posted on Thursday 4 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s worth paying attention from time to time what conservatives really want, and more importantly, their rationales. NY Times, Ruth Graham, 4 Jul 2024: Why a New Conservative Brain Trust Is Resettling Across America, subtitled “Pro-Trump professionals aren’t just talking … Continue reading →

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Fear of Fiction

Posted on Wednesday 3 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What is fiction, and why are most people attracted to it? This isn’t just about reading books or short stories; what also is the attraction of movies and TV shows that are all about imaginary people facing imaginary problems? Why … Continue reading →

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More About Regression Toward the Mean

Posted on Monday 1 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Thought for the day. On the other hand, rather than thinking we must be living in the worst of times (see last Wednesday’s post), perhaps we are merely experience regression toward the mean. I’ve mentioned this notion several times. The … Continue reading →

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The Debate, and the Continuing Christian Insurgence

Posted on Sunday 30 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Comments about the debate between Biden and Trump three days ago, on Thursday; Items about Christian Insurgence in Oklahoma schools, and David Barton; And how humans are wired to believe anything their parents or culture tells them to believe, up … Continue reading →

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The Ten Commandments as the Distillation of Tribal Morality

Posted on Thursday 20 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What to make of the continued efforts by the religious conservatives to impose the Ten Commandments onto schoolchildren and passerby in America’s courtrooms? Which part of the First Amendment don’t they understand? Some part presumption and some part ignorance and … Continue reading →

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Narrative Drives, Reality, and Nothingburgers

Posted on Wednesday 12 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

More conservative reactions to Hunter Biden’s conviction, and how they are examples of humanity’s drive to fit any new evidence into pre-existing narrative; Heather Cox Richardson on how reality defies Trump’s narrative; How the extreme conservative worldview includes stoning gays … Continue reading →

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Third Birthday

Posted on Wednesday 29 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Third ‘birthday’; Why American Christians support Israel; More polarities and correlations for my chart; Examples, just from recent days, about Republican ambitions to turn back history; More examples of Christian indoctrination. This week is the third anniversary of my heart … Continue reading →

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Floating

Posted on Tuesday 28 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

After three days summarizing recently read nonfiction books, today let’s capture recent items from the news. A conservative blames the unpopularity of an ice cream flavor on Biden; Conservatives are eager to impose Christian indoctrination in Florida and Texas; Paul … Continue reading →

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Jonathan Gottschall, THE STORY PARADOX

Posted on Monday 27 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a nonfiction book from 2021 that I read just a couple weeks ago. It’s similar in heft to the two books just discussed, in terms of length and conceptual depth, perhaps somewhere in the middle below Wilson and above … Continue reading →

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