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Religion & Spirituality > Religion & Spirituality (Other) Faith and reason: Search for truth: 10 of 77

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies." - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene V. Driving down I-75 from Gainesville a couple of weeks ago, I had one of those quantum theory/spiritual canyon moments that I think many of us sometimes struggle with. A lot of theologies, including Christia...
Religion & Spirituality > Churches & Organizations Media framing distorts Anglican - Episcopal church dispute: 1 of 4

The claim that the modern media is responsible for the current levels of strife between the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church is akin to saying space aliens built the Great Pyramids of Giza. Every sane person with even a casual knowledge of history knows it's not true, but we still have to hear it and dea...
Politics, News & Issues > Government & Policies The American Revolution II: 3 of 7

The United States of America is not merely a democracy. A democracy can take many forms. There are parliamentary democracies (Iraq, for now), theocratic democracies (Iran, arguably Israel) even constitutional monarchies (United Kingdom) are democracies. The United States was never intended to be simply a democracy. The Unite...
Politics, News & Issues > US Leaders George W. Bush's legacy: 27 of 54

For the last three individual inhabitants of the Oval Office, Ronald Reagan was probably the worst thing to ever happen. Ever since "The Great Communicator" left office in 1988 after leading the largest peace-time economic expansion in human history and almost single-handedly bringing about the collapse of 20th-century Commu...
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory The importance of a free press in the United States: 4 of 8

Thomas Carlyle, the devout Christian essayist and historian, wrote of a conversation he had in 1840 with the great Edmund Burke regarding the rising influence of the press. It surrounded the commonly acknowledged "estates" of polite old French society, or, as they were known, the etates generale. Le Premiere Etate (the first...
Politics, News & Issues > Football News & Opinion Should college football fans be allowed to rush the field after a victory?: 4 of 8

Most college and professional sports venues have rules against fans or other unauthorized personnel venturing onto the playing field at any time, before or after a game. Read the fine print on the back of most athletic event tickets and you'll see how the stadiums have covered themselves against condoning such an eventuality...
Politics, News & Issues > International Politics (Other) Dalai Lama awarded US Congressional Gold Medal of Honor: 2 of 4

There are two stories this week that are separated by thousands of miles, but connected by a common thread. The Republic of Turkey, a nation which I have written at length about in this space on more than one occasion, is threatening the United States if the House of Representatives brings to the floor a measure for discussi...
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Reflections: A revolution's success hinges on timing rather than ideology: 1 of 1

I recently had a discussion with a friend outlining how liberals and conservatives view change. While I agreed with everything he said, it got me thinking about the historical context of change in societies and how revolutions or cataclysmic events often occur as a direct result of the two socio-poli-economic-theological cur...
Sciences > Genetics The genetics of intelligence and race: Nobel Prize winner James Watson sets back race relations: 5 of 8

In 1962, James Watson won the Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology for his work with Francis Crick that led to the discovery of the molecular and chemical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the fundamental building block of life on Earth. A little over a week ago, Watson was basically chased out of Britain after a book...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Amazing Grace: 7 of 10

When the movie "Amazing Grace" was being shopped around Hollywood, I promoted it on my blog. The film is the story of 18th century British Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce and his tireless and ultimately successful efforts to have chattel slavery eliminated within the British Empire. It is a fairly good movie about...