Oh Sorcery! Oh Sociology! Cast Your Protective Spell O’er Me

The distinction between religion and magic was often a fine, often an invisible line. In the primitive world, the two were means to supernatural influence over events. In the medieval era, devout Muslims, Christians and Jews depended on amulets and talismans to conscript God’s assistance in an unpredictable world. An unpredictable and dangerous world. In […]

Orson Scott Card Goes Bible Shopping at Costco

Science-fiction enthusiasts and geeks consider themselves for the most part as enlightened, progressive people, but Orson Scott Card, author of the award-winning novel Ender’s Game, has taken a Christian-principled (conservative) stance against homosexual marriage. When the Ender’s Game movie was released, the progressives faced a conundrum. How can you support an author who respects the […]

Beat Your Plowshares Into Swords And Your Pruning Hooks Into Spears

Nineteen fifty-nine was an exciting year for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Luna 2 was the first man-made object to reach the moon, an important step in space exploration. As a token of friendship, the U.S.S.R. gave U.S. President Eisenhower a copy of the pennant that declared the Soviet presence on the moon. Not […]

Why did the Garden of Eden disappear?

What happened to paradise, the Garden of Eden? How are we supposed to get there if we don’t even know where it is? There are theories: it’s a spiritual place, not subject to the strictures of a base, physical life. Alternatively, it’s somewhere in the Fertile Crescent: present day Iraq, Syria, Turkey, or maybe even […]

Religious Fanatics Rain Sickness and Death Upon Children

Religious fanatics don’t care about anything apart from their faith, and they’re outraged if it’s challenged. As Carl Sagan describes it in his essay “Antiscience,” they “…regard the questioning of its credentials as due to wickedness of the heart.” Zealots demand sacrifice; not just from themselves, but from everyone. Refusal is a sign of wickedness. […]

God Goes ‘Trick or Treat’

In many primitive cultures, God is not portrayed as all-knowing, wise or benevolent. He’s rather a cosmic prankster who delights in provoking, sometimes tormenting his subjects. He may be insatiably hungry, either for food or sex. He’ll lead people down a path and then chastise them for taking it. He (she, it) is not someone […]

What if they aren’t like us?

Though people differ in color and creed, they all love, quarrel, protect their children, etc., exactly as we do. The message is clear: we should love them because they are like us. But that statement has its questioning brother: what if they aren’t like us? —Dr. Edmund Carpenter, from Oh, What a Blow that Phantom […]

The Higgs Boson Comes to Life

The speed limit for the universe is the speed of light. The speed of science is a little slower. Half a century ago, Prof. Francois Englert and his research partner Peter Higgs hypothesized the existence of the Higgs Boson to deal with an enigma in their formulas. At first nobody took the idea seriously, but […]

Why not commit suicide? Camus & country music

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2011) presents a rather gloomy portrait of the great French Existential philosopher Albert Camus (who denied being either an Existentialist or a philosopher). He mostly brooded over the meaning of life in the face of inevitable death. It has no meaning, he said; we are compelled to spend our […]

Cannibalism, Kuru and culture

Social scientists have tried hard to deny that cannibalism can be the normal behavior of a society, rather than just the acts of some sick individuals. It’s western arrogance, they say, to call people cannibals. These intellectuals talk about cannibalism’s ritual importance, while scoffing at the idea that it’s a regular source of food. But […]