Are Secular Nations Happier?
Are less-religious or more secular nations happier than religious ones? Studies suggest yes. Personally, I would certainly be happier in a more secular nation if it meant fewer angry, nasty,…
religion
Indians—tolerant, but don’t marry my sister
A recent Pew Research survey of religious attitudes in India revealed some interesting insights into a society tolerant of, yet divided by, religion. First, Indians are a very religious people.…
The Madness of Nietzsche
Nietzsche was either terribly misinterpreted, as my dearly departed scholar brother was adamant to say, or he was simply mad his entire life, and his philosophy was a philosophy of…
Are Creationists Gaining More Sway?
A recent survey by Research Co. and Glacier Media shows a deeply disturbing trend in Canadians: we seem to be getting increasingly stupid. While this survey didn’t get the media…
Boethius, Stoicism and The Consolation of Philosophy
While I would recommend Boethius, and the Consolation of Philosophy, to all, I would not recommend Stoicism to anyone, for two reasons: 1. It encourages a banishment of feeling and…
The God Fetish, the God Phobia, and the Fetish of Words: Or, The Idolatry of Ideology
There are some who will read my writing and think – he’s a dangerous right-winger! But if they read more, they will realize that is obviously untrue. Others will decide…
Getting Off The Treadmill: Seeking More Through Less
Newer, better, more… Newer, better, more… On and on the circle goes. But when you begin to see through such delusions and self-limiting, self-imprisoning patterns, then the door to true…
Teletubbies Falwell Likes To Watch
If you’re old enough, and into American odd news, you’ll remember Jerry Falwell saying he thought the purple Teletubbie was gay. His son carried on in the family tradition of…
The Talibangelist Conspiracy to Rule America and the West
Talibangelists (aka (aka the pseudo-Christian, far right) would love to force everyone believe in and obey their highly-adulterated pseudo-religion, and to punish those who don’t. Or won’t. Punishment is big…
Trump plays the god card
For a nation that allegedly separates church and state, Americans sure love to splash religion all over everything, their elections especially. So this week, Donald Trump made headlines by accusing…
Can an atheist be a good citizen?
The answer to the headline’s question is no, at least according to the late Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus in a podcast in the Socrates in the City series (Sept.…
Is The Sask Party A Cult?
It’s hard to deny that the Sask Party could be a cult. I'm trying to think of a scenario where your Conservative supporters would not vote for your candidates. You…
The Gospel Of Thomas: A Key Text In World Religions & A Gateway To Mystery
The greatest scholar of world mythology, and one of the greatest scholars of world religion, Joseph Campbell, introduced me to the Gospel Of Thomas, and made clear its monumental…
On “Natural Religion”
Both deism and orthodoxy are cloudy. Experience, in terms of inner experience, outweighs both reason and so-called empirical evidence, since the former can conjecture or rationalize anything, and the latter…
Angkor Wat: Reflections On Our Modern World
~*~ Angkor Wat is the crown jewel of a 400 square kilometer set of temples and holy sites, set in the jungles of Cambodia. Built as a Hindu temple in…
Laying Waste To The Religious Right
A few brief thoughts for perspective: “Censorious scrupulosity” – Stephen Toulmin is as witty as he is brilliant. Make it viral (so to speak… Yikes, we will soon have to…
Happy New Year – We Are All Going to Die
Yes, we are all going to die and that’s it, the end. Except for the Christians, of course, they get to go to an afterlife of either heaven or hell.…
What Must Be Done
Open letter to friends of freedom: Hi folks, People are beginning to realize that we need a different attitude and view with regards to how we see nature, life, humanity,…