Hey friends, Mike Clawson here again. Once more I feel like I should apologize for being such an infrequent contributor here. Graduate school keeps getting in the way of doing any extra writing. Speaking of that, however, I would like to ask for your assistance on a research paper I’m doing for a class called “The Outsiders: Alternative Religious Traditions in America.” The class has been about non-mainstream religious (e.g. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, New Age groups, etc.)… Read more
Hey friends, Mike Clawson here. I’m sure most of you know by now about the massive and devastating earthquake that struck the impoverished nation of Haiti yesterday evening. I was at the gym yesterday and saw it on CNN minutes after it happened, and my stomach just dropped. Some of you may remember that I have personal connections in Haiti, and have gone there in the past to help build a school and serve the people of a small village… Read more
Mike Clawson here… So some of you know that I am currently back in graduate school working towards a PhD in Religious History. This affords me lots of opportunity to read fascinating books and contemplate interesting ideas, unfortunately it doesn’t often afford me much time to actually write about any of them, either here or at my own blog. However, the other day I was reading about the history of Methodism in America and came across an interesting paragraph that… Read more
Mike Clawson here… I just wanted to call your attention to an interesting set of articles I recently encountered. This one by Lauren Sandler cites a few scientific studies (including one highlighted by Richard Dawkins, and another conducted by Michael Shermer) to suggest that women are more religious than men because they are evolutionarily, biologically, or psychologically conditioned to be more emotional or social and therefore less rational than men. This response by Jessica Glaser at Emerging Women, on the… Read more