Faith is a fascinating thing. It comes in so unbelievably many shapes, and there is a mind-boggling diversity of rituals, traditions, scriptures, values, ceremonies, beliefs… Consider the following list, for example, and how different many of these belief systems are: Christianity (with various denominations) Baha’i Confucianism Hinduism Judaism Islam Zoroastrianism Buddhism The beliefs of ancient [...]
Here’s a neat little animated map showing the different empires that conquered the Middle East over the last 5,000 years. If there’s one lesson to be learnt, it seems to be this: all large empires in human history have followed similar patterns, from growth to ultimate collapse. This map reminds me of a book I [...]
The NY Times has an interesting article on a conference at La Jolla’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies where the debate turned into a “free-for-all on science and religion”.
The Atlantic Monthly Journal has an excellent article that explores the “religion-as-accident theory”. It’s a lengthy read, but definitely worthwhile. Some parts reminded me of a book I read a few months back, Fooled by Randomness (which I still highly recommend). Take this tidbit from the article: We have what the anthropologist Pascal Boyer has [...]
Now this is a little morbid… “Lightning Kills 5 Mexican Children in Prayer”. Make of that what you will…
Pat Robertson is at it again… The sad thing is, there’s probably a bunch of people who believe the nonsense this loon is spreading. What a clown.