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Category Archives: Secularism
Religion and the Boston Marathon
There are events that are so surreal that they almost inevitably evoke religious language. This was certainly the case with the attack on the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, so it is not surprising that such language erupted in … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Religion, Secularism
Militant Secularism or the Flypaper Syndrome?
The classical German sociologist Max Weber (who has been an icon in my professional ideology) distinguished various types of authority in his theory of politics. The modern world, he proposed, is dominated by what he called “legal-rational authority”. Its typical … Continue reading
Posted in Secularism, Sociology
Policing Moral Boundaries
As usual, I was struck by two seemingly unrelated items reported by Religion News Service on February 28, 2013. I think they are worth being reflected upon together. The first story is about an action by the New York City … Continue reading
Posted in Catholicism, Culture, Judaism, Morality, Politics, Secularism
Religion As An Activity Engaged In By Consenting Adults In Private
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University publishes a very informative electronic newsletter about religious developments all over the world. On January 12, 2013, the newsletter carried a story originally published in the Buffalo News, … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Secularism
Why are there no humanist funerals?
On December 29, 2012, the New York Times carried an article by Samuel Freedman, who is on the faculty of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and who regularly writes in the religion column of the Times. The … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Philosophy, Secularism
Just in case you failed to notice: The world did not end on December 21, 2012
About the same time, in early December 2012, that the media went into high gear discussing the putatively catastrophic consequences of a “fiscal cliff” on January 1, 2013, they also reported quite extensively about another looming date, that one a … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Religion, Secularism, Supernatural
Darwin’s Ghost
Charles Darwin published his culture-shaking Origin of Species in 1859. It immediately provoked a passionate controversy. This is hardly surprising. The Darwinian culture shock can be compared to an earlier one: the Copernican one. Copernicus made people see the earth … Continue reading
Posted in Evangelicalism, Secularism
A Federal Court Disclaims Its Ability to Decide What is True and Not
A while ago on this blog I commented on a judgment by a Texas court which ruled that so-called “imprecatory prayer” (that is, prayer that asks God to inflict harm) is protected speech under the first amendment of the US … Continue reading
Posted in Pluralism, Religion, Secularism
Mayor Bloomberg and the Quest of Immortality
In May 2012 Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, proposed a ban on the sale in public places of large-sized containers (over 16 fluid ounces) of sugar-sweetened drinks. Most soda beverages will be affected. The ban will have … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Secularism
Is Freedom of Religion Endangered in the United States?
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced a “Fortnight of Freedom” to last from June 21 to July 4. The event, based on the presupposition that religious freedom is endangered in this country, is planned as a very … Continue reading
Posted in Catholicism, Pluralism, Secularism
