On Barack Obama’s Religion

Wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who said that “You’ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public?” That’s how I felt this morning, when I heard NPR’s story on a just-released Pew Research poll that indicates that a growing percentage of Americans — now 1 in 5 — believe that President Obama is, inContinue reading “On Barack Obama’s Religion”

On Early Morning Atheist Philosophy

It’s another scorcher of a day, and I’ve started it out with coffee… And reading about atheism! :spock: Posted just a few days ago, Greta Christina writes about 6 (unlikely) developments that could convince her to abandon her atheism and believe in god. She has a good list, but really only the first — anContinue reading “On Early Morning Atheist Philosophy”

More on a Biblical Book Burning

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the sad tale of Pastor Marc Grizzard and the Amazing Grace Baptist Church of Canton, North Carolina. Grizzard and his flock planned to spend their Halloween not giving out candy or dressing up for the holiday. Rather, they planned to burn Bibles that were not the King James Version.Continue reading “More on a Biblical Book Burning”

On a Biblical Bonfire

On Halloween, in the western North Carolina town of Canton, parishioners of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church will be having themselves a book burning. But not just any books. Satanic books. Like Bibles. If it’s not the King James Version, it’s Satanic, according to pastor Marc Grizzard: “The New Revised Version Bible, the American StandardContinue reading “On a Biblical Bonfire”

On Offering Praise to Odin

There’s a comic from DC/Vertigo I’m really enjoying right now — Brian Woods’ Northlanders. It’s about Vikings, and it’s told in story arcs. The first trade paperback, Sven the Returned collects the first eight-issue story arc (for the budget price of ten dollars!), and it’s a pretty involving tale of a young man who leftContinue reading “On Offering Praise to Odin”

On Today’s Inauguration

President Barack Obama acknowledged today that non-believers are part of the American tapestry. That’s a far cry from George Herbert Walker Bush, who said that atheists were neither citizens nor patriots. Or from his son, George Bush the Younger, who said that the hallmark of civilization was a belief in god. I’d like to thinkContinue reading “On Today’s Inauguration”