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You Are More Than Your Brain: A Revolutionary Theory of Consciousness

…opnik has pointed out, is probably the latest version of this story—a hero freeing human beings from their roles as organic batteries cultivated to power a race of evil machines. There is a more frightening proposition: that other people are in fact shadows cast on the wall. How do we know others are not a dream? Even observable behavior is a poor indicator. Take the fact of Kismet, a robot engineered at MIT to imitate a range of human attitudes a…

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Gambian Voters Reject Anti-Gay Strongman Jammeh; Activists Ponder Trump Impact on LGBT Human Rights; Global LGBT Recap

…s a member of the European countries that share common values, such as the free movement of people together with their families.” She said she was confident that the European court would consider free movement “a fundamental right” and recognize a husband regardless of the sex of his partner. Opposition to same-sex relationships is often fierce in Romania, where homosexuality was only decriminalized in 2002. Religious groups want the constitution…

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American Brokenness: A Lament

…ers; and to welcome them with open arms into the shared project of finding freedom, justice, and power together. That, as I always say, does not mean surrendering core principles or compromising them away. The truth, after all, is the truth. But I would love to see a sign at the next health care town hall meeting declaring WE SHARE YOUR PAIN AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. I would love to see Barney Frank or any other Congressperson say to a protester, “I…

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The “Religious Freedom” President is Gutting the Rest of the 1st Amendment

…of the others. The new administration has launched aggressive attacks on a free and fair press, freedom of speech, and the right of the citizenry to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. One could even argue that he’s weakened the free expression of religion (or lack thereof), particularly as it refers to contraception, LGBT rights, and any non-Christian faith practices. Take the freedom of the press and the r…

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What We Need to Understand is that Fascism is Intersectional and Erotic—’Thy Rod is Thy Gun,’ With a Hip-Thrust

…great relief and pleasure—What if I stop trying to be good? Stop trying to free myself? They know that Michelle Obama isn’t a racist and that their vulgar shit has nothing to do with it. But it feels good. It’s the gross thoughts. What if, what if, instead of trying to set myself free to organize with others to make a new Youngstown… What if I just stayed in the dark? It says a lot about the love of the strongman. The way the guns, a weapon, make…

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Modernity’s Fraternity: What Dan Brown Gets Right

…, science, artwork, and monuments in this novel are real.” As a student of Freemasonry, I can vouch that Brown’s claim is generally true. The strange rituals and traditions that the novel attributes to the Masons are all in fact practiced by some branch of Masonry. Dan Brown is able to work so comfortably with real Masonic symbols and lore because they resonate with his own sensibility. Not only do Brown and the Masons both love secrets and encode

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Beverly Cleary, Author of the Ramona Series, Understood Children, Shoes, School, Words, and How it Feels to be Heard, or Misunderstood

…arted the third grade . . . Grown-ups did not understand that summers were free from grades.” She also catches grown-ups speaking earnest nonsense. Virginia Lee Burton’s 1939 classic Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel may be about, as her teacher tells her, “digging the basement of the town hall,” but Ramona knows that her pressing question, namely, “how did Mike Mulligan go to the bathroom when he was digging the basement of the town hall?” stand…

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God’s Obituary: A Humanist Response to Mass Murder

…r in this world without cosmic aid that can protect us from us. Appeals to free will (as my comments are bound to generate) might not be a limitation God imposes on God’s self. It may simply be a weak way of saying we are in control, or what the late William R. Jones—philosopher of religion—called the “functional ultimacy” of human activity in the world.  These profound moments of tragedy slowly kill God, making it so difficult, if not useless, to…

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How Far Will White Christians Go to Maintain Power? An Interview with Robert Jones

…hristians have merely been paying lip service to democratic principles and free elections, or whether they really believe in those principles and norms now that white Christians have become a demographic minority. This is all quite new—this reality of not being a majority white Christian country. We’ve gone from 54% white Christian to just 44% since Obama was first elected, or a drop of about 1% per year. Previous generations of white Christians h…

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Top Five (Less Sensational, But More Dangerous) Things to Remember About Pat Robertson (1930-2023)

…ording to Robertson, they told Satan “we will serve you if you will get us free.” Satan then responded, “OK, it’s a deal” and “ever since, they have been cursed.” Is this worth acknowledging? Comments by Robertson that are racist, sexist, arrogant, complacent, misleading, and/or embarrassing are like a bus: if you miss one today, there will be another tomorrow. Those who stir the pot by writing “can you believe he said that!” do not always seem to…

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