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Evangelical Democrats?
As the absurd theater of the Republican primaries continues its itinerary from state to state, it at least serves one useful purpose: It puts to rest the notion that religion no longer matters in American politics. Actually the GOP is … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Politics, Religion, Secularism
8 Comments
Miracles and the Historians
In its December 2011 issue Christianity Today carried an interview with Craig Keener, a New Testament historian teaching at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is the author of a recent book, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Religion, Secularism
15 Comments
What’s in a Name?
Preamble: What follows is not an argument for the truth of religion. It is an exercise in the phenomenology of religion—that is, a description of what the phenomenon of religion is all about. It is not an exercise in theology—that … Continue reading
Posted in Religion
7 Comments
What Happens when a Leftist Philosopher Discovers God?
Society is the social science journal superbly edited by Jonathan Imber. In its fall issue it carries an article by Philippe Portier (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris), entitled “Religion and Democracy in the Thought of Juergen Habermas”. Coincidentally, … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Religion, Sociology
53 Comments
Is God Above the Constitution?
Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, is no longer content to preside over what many still regard as the world’s greatest newspaper. (I don’t, but I read it every day, not because of its pervasive liberal bias, … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Religion, Secularism
26 Comments
Why do Godders have so many kids?
Demography has very probably been a factor in religious history all along. The Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (a favorite book of mine) tells us that our word “proletarian” derives from the Latin proles, ”offspring”: A proletarius was … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Religion, Secularism
33 Comments
We Interrupt This Program for a Commercial Message…
A new book of mine has just been published: Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore (Prometheus Books). The American Interest is kind enough to sponsor a launch of the book in Washington DC … Continue reading
Identity Markets and Identity Theft
On April 27, 2011, The New York Times carried a story about atheists campaigning to have their own chaplaincy in the American military. The campaign is led by an organization called Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. Jason Torpy, its … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Identity, Religion, Secularism
2 Comments
The Church as a Forum
Bad Boll is a village in Wuerttemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is located in the so-called Swabian Alps, a landscape of gentle hills and modest forests, as averse to drama as the proverbially sober regional culture. Yet this … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Religion, Sociology
2 Comments
Religion in the Military
There were two stories about the military chaplaincy in the February 8, 2011 issue of The Christian Century. The first dealt with the disproportional representation of Evangelicals among chaplains today—33%, while the number of soldiers belonging to Evangelical churches is … Continue reading
Posted in Military, Religion, Secularism
6 Comments
