The subject of Perfection In Heaven has been crossing my path recently, most likely via a podcast (Atheists Talk (iTunes link) by Minnesota Atheists, Ask an Atheist, the Atheist Community of Austin‘s Atheist Experience or Non-Prophets (iTunes link), or FFRF‘s Freethought Radio). This is the proposition that (a) we are fallen, imperfect beings unworthy of [...]

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Holiday spirit is in the air and I’ll be spending the day with friends, family, and more friends—the best way to do a holiday, in my opinion. But as the earth springs back to life (yes, it’s visible, even Where There Are No Seasons), I find myself gazing out of windows and breathing more deeply [...]

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The Washington Post has an online discussion forum called On Faith. Periodically (once a week?), they submit a question/topic to a panel of writers from various religions. This week’s is What is religion’s role in gender discrimination? I highly recommend the answers.

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I heard about Agora from Jason over at the Wild Hunt. He first mentioned it in ’08, where he extolled it as likely to be a Pagan-friendly work. Well, that was enough for me, so I waited for it to come out. And waited some more. Meanwhile, Jason was giving occasional tidbits: the movie was [...]

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The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America reads (in pertinent part): Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This has, historically, been interpreted to include other official acts by the government. Here, “Congress” is read (due to the context of the [...]

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This article on how the X and Y generations are leaving religion like lemmings turning back from the cliff is actually from xJane, but she’s chin-deep in finals, so asked me to pass this on to you all. Money quote: “Many of them are people who would otherwise be in church,” Putnam said. “They have [...]

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Nationwide, Christians who refuse to provide services on the basis of gender orientation are losing legal battles.

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This is how our president defined our country yesterday. Explicitly denying that it was a “Christian nation” and explicitly stating that this fact is one of our “great strengths”. It’s nice to be reminded of this—and by someone so high in the administration! It is vogue for politicians to exclaim “God bless America!” Whether or [...]

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It’s got it all: atheism, spirituality, god, scifi, and good music!! Hulu’s got the first four eps up right now (and it doesn’t keep them forever), so go catch up. It’s too smart and too well written to stay on the air for long. It’s the story of Kings David and Saul transposed into a [...]

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This episode is 94% Temple, 6% Beer. Mostly I talk about the throat-slitting penalty that was removed from the endowment ceremony in 1990, when I still had the (mis)fortune of experiencing it. I would love to hear your feedback. Update: Most of my attributions got edited out (I had to seriously shorten my ramblings, believe [...]

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