Between Planets

“Collision alert!” the Doctor shouted above the din of alarms. The TARDIS lurched.  Nyssa clutched the console, attempting to steady herself. The Doctor, somehow, stood fixed, his hands flying across the controls the bring the ship safely from the vortex. “Collision?  With what?  Where are we, Doctor?” “Earth’s solar system, somewhere between Earth and Mars. Continue reading “Between Planets”

On a Casualty in FOX News’ War on the War on Christmas

Were it not for Talking Points Memo, I wouldn’t have known that FOX News’ war on the War on Christmas had begun. I guess if Black Friday can creep into Thursday, then the War on Christmas can creep into mid-November. And what did I learn? Atheists are attacking A Charlie Brown Christmas in an elementaryContinue reading “On a Casualty in FOX News’ War on the War on Christmas”

On Opting Out of the Reason Rally

Yesterday afternoon a friend from northern Virginia sent me an e-mail.  “Are you going to the Reason Rally this weekend,” she asked.  “It’s your kind of thing.  You really should go.” The Reason Rally.  A gathering on the National Mall for the godless. Yes, it very much is the sort of thing for me.  ButContinue reading “On Opting Out of the Reason Rally”

On Leesburg’s Christmas Controversy

This morning, I ventured out to the Post Office. I had to mail some packages for Christmas, and I wanted to get my Christmas cards in the mail. I thought about going into Randallstown, but they have a small, difficult-to-navigate parking lot. Eldersburg, I decided, would be easier to get to. I expected, since itContinue reading “On Leesburg’s Christmas Controversy”

On Random Facebook Philosophizing

Today has been a great day for comments on Facebook. Usually there’s no reason to ever remember a comment made on Facebook — Facebook is such a transient thing, after all — but today I made two that I thought with pithy and important and worth remembering. The first has to do with GameStop. DeusContinue reading “On Random Facebook Philosophizing”

On Why Slate Gets Atheism Wrong

Slate today asks a provocative question — Which is worse for evangelicals like Rick Perry — being an atheist or a Muslim? Writer Brian Palmer answers “atheism.” And while I agree with his answer, I disagree with his reasoning. Writes Palmer: “The ancient and medieval Christians wouldn’t have had much to say about pure atheism,Continue reading “On Why Slate Gets Atheism Wrong”

On Pondering Elbow and Atheism

Here’s a question. Is Guy Garvey (or someone else from Elbow) an atheist? I love Elbow, as long time readers of this blog know. (For previous posts on the subject, click here.) What brought this question to mind — what are the religious proclivities of the Mancunian five? — was my recent and ongoing searchContinue reading “On Pondering Elbow and Atheism”

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”