I’ve studied economics and taught mathematics to students who became economists, but I’m not an economist. Still, I know enough to recognize that economists sometimes selectively focus on data that fit their liberal or conservative ideologies. At least both sides work with data and try to make convincing arguments for their models. Economists of all … A non-believer’s guide to biblical economics

Today’s my day for pointing out horrors from Turkey. (You know, the “secular,” “democratic” country whose moderate Islam US policymakers would like to see as an inspiration to other Muslims.) I’ve just read about a Turkish cartoonist being prosecuted, with the state demanding one year’s imprisonment for “insulting the religious values accepted by the people” … More nonsense from Turkey

This is almost untranslatable, but I’ll try. It’s the answer to a Turkish high school exam in a philosophy course, which made it to the Turkish media, and was apparently originally praised by Islamists as an example of a brave Muslim student standing up to an atheist teacher. The question is: “Prove to me that … High weirdness on a Turkish philosophy exam

I notice that the recent posts on SO have taken a turn towards the political. Nothing wrong with that. These days religion and politics have been so thoroughly mixed that it is hard to talk about one without the other. This is especially so when candidates for high office loudly tout their religious affiliations and … Dumb and Dumber

Here’s a hypothetical scene in which four presidential candidates are asked about their religious views. Candidate 1: “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” He adds, “And the day will come when the mystical generation of … Mitt Romney: A reasonable man?

This post is a follow-up on the “Pro Choice and Pro Life” posting of Herb Silverberg. Herb’s thoughtful reflections have added to SO’s offerings, and I am surprised that they have not drawn more comments. Yesterday there were two executions, one in Texas and one in Georgia. In Texas, Lawrence Brewer was executed. In 1997, … Two Executions

I’ve occasionally complained about the lack of attention to secularity and nonbelief as an academic area of study. Fortunately, this appears to be changing. There are enough nonreligious people around to justify some social scientific interest. Enterprises such as The Non-religion and Secularity Research Network are up and running, and should produce some interesting stuff as … The Non-religion and Secularity Research Network

I consider myself both pro-choice and pro-life, because I support a woman’s right to choose and I oppose capital punishment. I’ve heard reasoned and nuanced arguments from both sides on these controversial issues, and I appreciate people who make it a point to listen to those with whom they disagree. What I don’t appreciate are … Pro-choice and pro life

Last night, Mike Hout, creationist nuclear engineer from NASA, was on campus to explain why evolution was religion, not science. So I had to go and waste two hours of my life, naturally. The was nothing new about it. (I should stop hoping I will come across new and interesting forms of nonsense very often.) … Representativeness

During my lifetime, our foreign policy has been defined by two wars: a cold one with Soviet-style Communism and a hot one with Islamic-style terrorism. Neither kind of war is good, but cold is better. We have no monuments, sites, or dates to honor American victims who died on our soil because of the Cold … Pluralism at Ground Zero