Cultural and religious relics as clues to cultural process
Much of the public is given the impression that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under the reign of Constantine. Though it is hard to deny that it was the favored religion, especially by the end of his rule, modern ideas of the “official” religion of a given state are somewhat anachronistic […]
New Atheism is dead, long live New Atheism
Scott Alexander asks How Did New Atheism Fail So Badly? It’s in response to an obnoxiously fact-free Baffler rant. I think what Scott is alluding to here is the lack of fashionability of “New Atheism.” But in the American context, I do think that New Atheism arose is a particular time and context, George W. […]
The four modes of atheism
I have mentioned Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict before. It’s worth reading. I’d describe it as a cross between In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion and Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth. Of course, that means I’m not sure I got the […]
Religion trumps race in Sri Lanka
Monk-led mob attacks Rohingya refugees in Sri Lanka: “These are Rohingya terrorists who killed Buddhist monks in Myanmar,” the monk said in his live commentary on Facebook, pointing to Rohingya mothers with small children in their arms. Sri Lanka’s extremist Buddhist monks have close links with their ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused … Continue reading “Religion trumps race in Sri Lanka”
When all you have is postcolonial theory everything is about the white man
Recently I read a piece, Confronting White Supremacy in Christianity as a Christian South Asian, which is interesting from an anthropological perspective. After all, I don’t know what it’s like to be a progressive South Asian Christian, which is the perspective of this author. But as I read the piece I felt that it elided … Continue reading “When all you have is postcolonial theory everything is about the white man”
As many Americans think the Bible is a book of fables as that it is the word of God
America, that is, the United States of America, has long been a huge exception for the secularization model. Basically as a society develops and modernizes it becomes more secular. At least that’s the model. In the 1980s Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge wrote The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. Stark and […]
When white people were “ethnic”
In the period between 2005 and 2010 I spent a fair amount of time reading about American history. And one aspect which interested me was the nature of the assimilation of white Americans of non-Protestant background, in particular Roman Catholics and Jews. This was triggered by reading The Impossibility of Religious Freedom, where the author […]
The pork episode of Master of None
The Aerogram has a piece out, Bacon & (Un)Belief: Religion & American Secularism in Master of None, which reviews The Master of None episode about religion. I kind of agree that it was a little unbelievable in relation to his cousin, and how quickly he became a porkoholic. That being said I think it is … Continue reading “The pork episode of Master of None“
Sarah Haider on Sam Harris’ show
In general I would recommend listening to everything Sarah has to say. She’s speaking for a lot of people. Also see what she has to say about free expression:
The issue is how you experience Islam
Sadiq Khan: This sickening act has nothing to do with the Islam I know: To murder innocent people, especially during Ramadan, is a rejection of the true values of my religion. Since religion is made up I’ll take Khan’s assertion at face value and not dispute them. The aspect that people like Khan are not … Continue reading “The issue is how you experience Islam”
The dusk of Oriental Christendom
In the last quarter of the 20th century environmental concerns were such that the dangers of the loss of habitat would be couched in terms of “tigers will go extinct in our lifetimes if we don’t preserve the the lands in which they live.” In some ways it seems that the lot of Oriental Christians, those […]
The lesson of Erasmus: the center that could not hold
The return of the civilian “On the coming of evening, I return to my house and enter my study; and at the door I take off the day’s clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; and reclothed appropriately, I enter the ancient courts of ancient men, where, received by […]
Modernity is not magic with Muslims
There are many reasons I have become very skeptical of the media over the years. Though I do not subscribe to the conspiracy theory paradigms, it is obvious that the mainstream media often combines fidelity to precise narratives with a lack of detailed knowledge about the topics they are covering. In other words, they’re stenographers […]
The vast majority of Muslims believe that being gay is not morally acceptable
“Do you personally believe that Homosexuality is….” Morally acceptable Morally unacceptable Not a moral issue United States 23 37 35 Britain 30 15 50 Russia 9 72 9 Turkey 4 78 12 Egypt 1 95 1 Jordan 2 95 3 Lebanon 7 80 11 Palestinian Territories 1 94 4 Tunisia 0 92 4 Israel 27 […]
Moderate Muslims are moderate in some things
Bangladesh bloggers: Clear pattern to killings: Since then, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appears to have reached an accommodation with Hefajat. The Islamist group has confined itself to the madrassa premises and the government has put five bloggers in jail for allegedly hurting the religious feelings of Muslims. The government now appears to […]
George F. Will, American atheist
Several years ago George Will declared that he was an agnostic on the Colbert Report. Last week he pulled no punches: RCR: Do you believe in God? GW: No. I’m an atheist. An agnostic is someone who is not sure; I’m pretty sure. I see no evidence of God. The basic question in life is […]
What is Europe’s anti-Semitism problem about?
In Slate, Europe Has a Serious Anti-Semitism Problem, and It’s Not All About Israel: A recent Anti-Defamation League survey found that 24 percent of the French population and 21 percent of the German population harbor some anti-Semitic attitudes. A recent study of anti-Semitic letters received by Germany’s main Jewish organization found that 60 percent of the hate mail came from […]
Conservative atheists not rare in South Korea?
In a few days South Korea will have a new president, and this is very important because of how large North Korea looms in geopolitics. An interesting aspect of this race for Americans is that the candidate of the conservative party, Park Geun-Hye, may be an atheist, running against a Roman Catholic liberal. I say […]