I just caught up with a recent issue of The Nation that includes a couple of articles by political liberals who are also religious. They argue that the Democratic party shouldn’t be so cool toward religious language and devout people. That the religious right can only properly be countered by a religious left that uses … Politically liberal religion

There’s a troubling news item concerning a scholar of Mormon history whose research has contradicted the official Mormon version of events, and possibly as a consequence, is having trouble getting an academic post. From the story: Mr. Quinn’s struggles reflect the rising influence of religious groups over the teaching of their faiths at secular colleges, … Funding professorships

Not only have I apparently had a sex change when I wasn’t looking, but now I am a “comic genius” as well (Seinfeld, look out!) As everyone knows who’s in the know, Walton is the comic genius behind the hoax blog otherwise known as The Secular Outpost and its satellites. Moreover, “Frank Walton” has created … The plot thickens…

I guess I better start moving on getting some content up on my blog. Apparently my inactivity has been construed as indicating that I am a fictitious character. Now I’ve been called many things before, but fictitious has not been one of them. See: Triablogue: Flippant dismissals (April 16, 2006) “There is also a token … Triablogue: Flippant dismissals

I’ve been teaching a relatively non-mathematical liberal-artsy freshman physics course in the spring semester the last few years. It’s great fun, and one of the reasons is that I find out how differently someone like me — who has been thoroughly brainwashed by being a science-type for 20 years — thinks when compared someone who … Religion in odd places

Like the Department of Homeland Security, the American Red Cross has also decided to start supporting “faith-based” approaches to disaster relief. Included in their changes of policy in the face of problems that occurred in recent hurricane relief efforts, they will now be providing financial support to churches, as reported in the New York Times: … Red Cross adopting support for “faith-based” approaches

Students are confused by creation “science” teaching according to the Royal Society in the UK. True, and as long as we’re speaking about the obvious let me add that pigs still can’t fly.

Pat Robertson has a new book out and you know what that means: asking about the sex lives of women he just met. Rita Braver of CBS News interviewed Robertson on April 9 (the transcript is available here). First, Robertson tells a whopper about a woman who was “stone cold dead” and raised back to … Pat Robertson: Stone Cold Fresh

Every so so often I like to visit the web site of The Raelian Movement, just so I can remind myself that rejecting God is perfectly compatible with all sorts of craziness. It’s too bad they don’t advertise themselves as the “world’s largest Atheist, non-profit, UFO-related organisation” on their web site anymore, but at least … Raelians

For those of us interested in ancient Christianity, the National Geographic Society has announced a new manuscript find. Those don’t happen everyday (or even every decade) so it’s pretty exciting news. The text is of the gospel genre, written in Coptic around 300 CE like those found at Nag Hammadi, and is entitled Gospel of … Gospel of Judas Found