Religion, SF, and Other Speculative Fictions.


Mind on Fire random header image

Entries from November 2008

Muslims and Mormons and Scientologists and White Supremacists, Oh My!

December 4th, 2006 · by John · 11 Comments

I want to express my gratitude to Keith Ellison for tying the proverbial panties of many conservative Americans into knots. And all it took was his humble request to be (ceremonially) sworn into Congress on the sacred book most holy to him, the Quran. And pundit Dennis Prager’s undies have more […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Christianity · Current Events · Islam

Britney Spears’ Crotch

December 4th, 2006 · by Miko · 7 Comments

In solidarity with Women’s Space, I have decided to take her advice and call this post “Britney Spears’ Crotch” and add that link to her post of a similar name. This is partly to eff up (in deference to the owner of this blog) search engines for those particular search terms (I didn’t realize that […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Current Events · Feminism · Politics · Writing

Late to the Party…

December 4th, 2006 · by Miko · No Comments

I have finally seen an Inconvenient Truth. It is a lovely piece of propaganda and I encourage people to watch it.
As with Fahrenheit 9/11, it will be unlikely to change the mind of anyone who doesn’t already believe in Global Warming (although I am plotting to give it to my parents for xmas, so […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Current Events · Environment · Movie Reviews · Politics

Copycat

December 4th, 2006 · by Miko · 3 Comments

I’d be interested in people’s thoughts about the following:
- the ongoing wage gap
- WARNING: EXPLICIT LINK one atheist’s take on winter holidays
- I always think of Europe as being slightly more evolved than us. Their current issues with religion.
- the effect of expectations on results
- and finally, using the hard work of those who […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Current Events · Feminism · Politics

Query of the Week.

December 3rd, 2006 · by John · 9 Comments

One of my missionary companions told me that whenever he read the Book of Mormon, he experienced “a dark feeling” inside. As I’ve read about the spiritual experiences of mystics like St. John of the Cross (who gave us the concept of the “dark night of the soul”) and Simone Weil and atheists/agnostics like […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Mysticism · Spirituality

Mind on Fire Book Group #2: The Polls are Open!

December 2nd, 2006 · by John · 13 Comments

All of the candidates for the second book group are now posted:

Religion Gets Civil. Or Not.
Roads Less Traveled.

Interfaith, Interdoubt.

It was very difficult to narrow down the nominated titles to a manageable number. Wonderful titles were eliminated from the list to make room for a range of solid options. Your selections were thoughtful and timely […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Book Group

Interfaith, Interdoubt (Book Group Nominations, 3 of 3)

December 2nd, 2006 · by John · 2 Comments

Introducing the final trio of nominees for the second official Mind on Fire Bookgroup: Interfaith, Interdoubt:

The first set of three: Religion Gets Civil. Or Not. The second set is Roads Less Traveled. Please use the comments to pitch your favorites.

[Read more →]

Tags: Book Group · Christianity · Doubt

Roads Less Traveled (Book Group Nominations, 2 of 3).

December 1st, 2006 · by John · No Comments

It’s the end of a long day, so I’m going to keep this short and non-witty (but I’ll stop short of witless). Today’s trio of titles all deal with aspects of spirituality. Each one looks very appealing, and I’m looking forward to reading them, in or out of the reading group.¬† I’m calling this set […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Book Group · Christianity · Spirituality

Woe unto You, Hypocrites!

December 1st, 2006 · by John · 6 Comments

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows‚Äô houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Christianity · Current Events