Originally written and published in May 2005.
On stem cells, roses, and the fallacies inherent in the “culture of life” philosophy.
All life has intrinsic value.
I was inspecting our new roses this weekend, removing pests, fertilizing the soil after this month’s nearly incessant rains, removing any weeds lest the beautiful, fragrant flowering hedge in my dreams […]

Humans, thinking, and consciousness all evolve — and our religion and politics must evolve with it. Time to examine the other side of the “political theology” debate and check in with Rousseau and The Savoyard Vicar.
Section III: The Inner Light.
My favorite quote from this section of Professor Lilla’s essay goes like this:
“There is much we […]

I finished Neil Gaiman’s American Gods at about 1:30 this morning. I adore “page turners” like this, though I have to say this is the most singular “page turner” I’ve ever encountered.
As readers of this blog will probably know, all meaning is context bound, and contexts are endless. Here’s mine:
When this book was originally released […]

In this next section on the essay adapted from “The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West,” by Professor Mark Lilla of Columbia University, we examine the impulses that separated man from God, and secular politics from religion.
Section II: The Great Separation.
For those who study the evolution of human consciousness, this could as […]

“The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West,” by Professor Mark Lilla of Coilumbia University is to be published next month but the points he raises therein should have been in mainstream consciousness years ago.
The essay from yesterday’s New York Times begins with “The twilight of the idols has been postponed.” That in itself […]

With a farewell speech that contained searing attacks on capitalism, Marxism, birth control, sex, drugs and “lax morals,” Pope Benedict XVI has deeply underscored his church’s irrelevancy to Latin American Catholics and proved how out of touch he is with God’s movement in modern times.
By all accounts Joseph Ratzinger was and is a highly intelligent […]

A dear friend of mine in British Columbia sent me this link today. He knows of my interest in [tag]quantum physics[/tag] and [tag]string theory[/tag] (a layperson’s interest, obviously — though I’m always delighted by how these two speculative sciences end up sounding so much like [tag]spirituality[/tag] and [tag]mysticism[/tag]) and indeed, I found a lot to […]