Like most internet-based phenomena, the answer is probably “yes”. But read the article and decide for yourself (and then read the scared-boys comments and see if that changes your mind…).

[Read more →]

Sooooooooooo…
First thing that entertains me about these shots is that they were taken with the same flash—and the background to the white one is darker.
First thing that you’ll probably notice is that my head is missing. So are my pants (and I did wear underwear). This is a response to this (solidarity, sister), which is [...]

[Read more →]

California, post Supreme Court decision (that discrimination based on gender is discrimination), now uses marriage licenses that ask for the names of “Party A” and “Party B” to the marriage. As someone who still doesn’t feel like the word “wife” applies to her, I think this is pretty awesome. It is, however, causing waves.
I understand [...]

[Read more →]

This has been floating around the feminist blogosphere and is by no means new. The argument goes thusly: some people think that abortion should be illegal; what, then, do they propose the punishment for breaking the law be? Tellingly, the answer is often “counseling” or “prayer” for the woman but loss of license or jail [...]

[Read more →]

On the first Sunday of every month, someone reads a set of questions before we settle into silence at our meeting for worship. We can draw on these queries to guide us in our personal and group meditation. I wanted to post some of April’s queries here, partly for my sake, but also for [...]

[Read more →]

This question is primarily to the agnostics, skeptics, secular humanists and atheists out there:
Are there good things that we can learn from religion?  Are there practices, principles, or even ways of knowing that religion can teach us?  If there are, can we absorb these without buying into superstition or validating those elements we find problematic?

[Read more →]

John’s link to Pharyngula’s post about optimism & pessimism in atheism & religion. Both sides, of course, think that they’re the optimists and the other ones are the pessimists (I always like to say that both optimists and pessimists call themselves realists…). I wanted to start a similar conversation here.
I know that for me, believing [...]

[Read more →]

The three major monotheistic religions all have holy books that date to a minimum of 1400 years ago. This makes the relevance of these supposed Divine rules somewhat suspect.
A Jewish cartoon that I enjoy reading has an interesting take on Jewish bioethics, including links under the cartoon to discussions of same. Among some of [...]

[Read more →]

I was watching my new favorite TV show and I cried. Once my eyes had stopped dripping, my ears started to. I immediately administered Q-tips. But it reminded me that I frequently end up with fall-out from crying that is not limited to my eyes. Apparently, there is a reason they’re called ear, nose, & [...]

[Read more →]

Once a week, I’d like to challenge you all with a Quaker-inspired query that should be applicable to any person leading an alternately introspective yet socially-engaged life. Here’s the query for this week. I’ll do my best to answer it for myself, and encourage you to share your response.
Have you found your vocation?
I love [...]

[Read more →]