There’s an article in today’s New York Times about Barack Obama’s search for faith. It details how Obama came to find the Christian God through the help of Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. It won’t be long before some atheists use this as another reason to criticize Obama for being too pious. What might they use against him? Here are some excerpts from the article: The Christianity that Mr. Obama adopted at [Trinity United Church of Christ] has infused not… Read more
According to the BBC, Turkey is adamant that church and state be kept separate: [Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal] Ataturk was determined that this mainly Muslim nation would be a modern, secular country, and he introduced wide-ranging reforms, including the emancipation of women, the introduction of western dress, legal code and alphabet, and the abolition of Islamic institutions. Turkey’s ruling elite and the powerful military have seen it as their job to protect what Ataturk set up. Even politically Islamic parties… Read more
I’m not an anime fan, but one film called Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, came to my attention: [Director Mamoru] Oshii also explores what Richard Dawkins calls the extended phenotype, structures that are genetically encoded, but external to the body. The beaver’s dam and the spider’s web are natural illustrations of this, and, in the film, memory itself has become externalised in this manner. And judging by the picture, The Selfish Gene also comes into play. I need to… Read more
