Religion Dispatches
…at all.” Could it be that Darwin is so often questioned and so forcefully defended because he provides efficient shorthand for grappling with all the big questions at once? What we talk about when we talk about evolution is not merely biology; it’s about meaning. Which only makes the questions it raises that much harder to answer….
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…m or perhaps a documentary series. It’s too soon to pass along any details, but I am hopeful. For my next book, I plan to examine the role of the monster in American history and try to consider what American beliefs about monstrosity tell us about things like American conceptions of sexuality, disease, religion, and race. I’ve given some thought to focusing primarily on popular culture—maybe a focus entirely on film. …
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…ing ourselves as twenty-first century people) implies for the way we think about, and talk about, religion today… as a not-so-new century readies the celebrations for its ten-year-old birthday. Religion is back…again The tempting place to begin is with what has almost become a twenty-first century truism: that in this new century, religion was decidedly “back.” Just one year into this new century, religion of a certain sort literally exploded acr…
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…tters a lot, especially in religion. I recently wrote a piece for Newsweek about a debate at Harvard about how much religion to require undergraduates to learn. I passionately believe that if we knew more about each other’s religions, we would be less fearful of each other. I hope also to give readers pleasure—especially by showing them ideas of heaven that work for me, personally. What alternative title would you give the book? I love the title….
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…ppeared in various edited book collections and journals like New Political Science, Contemporary Political Theory and Political Theory. Zamalin has been a guest on NPR and MSNBC and his work has been featured in The Guardian, Literary Hub, Religion Dispatches, ESPN’s Undefeated, and YES! magazine. Davin Phoenix: Associate professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, Davin researches how race interacts with various sphere…
Read More…making the same argument for years, evidence be damned. Fortunately, SMU’s science faculty attended the lecture, so they are able to correct the record. John Wise, an SMU biology professor who, I’m told, suffered a painful headache from the event, has helpfully provided an informative page that explains why intelligent design is not science. It’s really a good source for correcting the deceptive and deceitful assertions and I’m having a hard time…
Read More…ebsite that not only promoted “academic freedom” bills, but provided sample wording for writing the legislation. Stein held press conferences and showings of the movie—which tries to make the argument (poorly) that academic freedom is under attack because science professors are being persecuted for believing in intelligent design—in states where the bills had been introduced. Expect more of these bills to be introduced in other states. The blog St…
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…e war: anti-trans propaganda. It painfully outlines the devastatingly anti-science position of the GOP on trans issues by actually claiming science as an authority to legitimize the party’s anti-trans-stance: “We believe in science. Men and women are biologically different. God created them that way.” Anti-trans positions are central to today’s GOP and likely will be a focal point of their midterm strategy. This ideology, which actively puts trans…
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…n Michigan today, Santorum is rehashing this speech claiming that “climate science” is actually “political science.” Translation: there is no science, there is only God. Any attempt at science is necessarily political, and therefore illegitimate if in conflict with a “Christian worldview.” Don’t be fooled by Santorum’s defense that he believes Obama when the president says he’s a Christian. Listen to the world salad Santorum and Stewart dropped on…
Read More…ers have denied the law has anything to do with inserting creationism into science class, I’ve written about how members of Louisiana school boards interpret the law here. Admittedly, Kopplin and other supporters of the Constitution in Louisiana have an uphill battle. Only three members of the House voted against the original law. State Senator Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, has announced that she will sponsor the repeal legislation. Koppli…
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