There is a common worry particularly among right-wingers, both religious and secular—that secular postindustrial populations are aging and reproducing below the replacement level. This, apparently, is going to lead to all sorts of disasters (doomed social insurance systems etc.), or, alternatively, is symptomatic of cultural disaster (a society in demographic decline has lost the will … Demographic implosion

I was flipping through Stephen Holmes and Cass Sunstein’s The Cost of Rights, which points out that the distinction between positive and negative rights is dubious, or at least not very sharp. This is because assertion of a negative right—a right not to be interfered with by others or the state—is empty without the demand that … Secularism and positive rights

For connoisseurs of theological gibberish, check this out (by Paul Wallace, in Religion Dispatches, from last Dec. 14): http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3820/way_beyond_atheism:_god_does_not_(not)_exist/ I was particularly impressed by these two paragraphs: The third level is the most difficult but the most important. This is second-order negation, or the inversion of the inversion. Here we would say, “God is not … Say What???

There is some recent research that adds to the long-known fact that Americans inflate their religious participations in surveys. It appears that in terms of frequency of attending services, Americans are not such an outlier compared to other post-industrial nations after all. Shankar Vedantam suggests that this indicates that Americans are actually not significantly more … Americans not more religious than Europeans?

Synthese has a special issue on “Evolution and its Rivals,” including papers by a number of people, particularly philosophers, involved in criticism of intelligent design creationism. I haven’t had a chance to read them all yet, what with just having finished a semester—I turned in final grades today. But I thought I should post, because … Evolution and its Rivals

It is a real pleasure to be able via this medium to correspond with smart people in Britain, Australia, Greece, Finland, and all over. Though the exchanges sometimes get boisterous, they are usually thoughtful and informed. The downside is that you cannot completely exclude comments by the ignorant, the fatuous, the self-important, or the seriously … If Threatened, Call the Mounties

I ran across a Turkish news item that was in many respects not unusual: A newly wed couple murdered by the brother of the bride in order to restore the family honor. Apparently the bride’s family strongly objected to the relationship, disapproving and trying to dissuade her. But this was not in a rural area … Another Honor Killing

Here’s another example of a Muslim use of half-understood science to prove the existence of the soul and of God, published in something that is ostensibly a scientific journal. (Thanks to Glenn Branch.) “Molecular genetic program (genome) contrasted against non-molecular invisible biosoftware in the light of the Quran and the Bible,” by Pallacken Abdul Wahid, … Scientific proof of God! (Again!)

If you’re interested in science and Islam, check out the latest in the “Science and the Search for Meaning” program by Wisconsin Public Radio, called “Can Islam and Science Coexist?” It opens with a five minute interview with me, and goes on to talk to others, including an advocate of “Islamic science” and an Islamic … On public radio

I’ve just read Is Critique Secular? Blasphemy, Injury and Free Speech by Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, Judith Butler, and Saba Mahmood. Asad and Mahmood make some interesting observations, but the contributions by Brown and Butler consist largely of postmodern, Foucault-genuflecting pseudoradical posturing. A couple of interesting points that stick with me after what was largely … Is Critique Secular?