Rachel Ford is a programmer, and since 8:00 to 5:00 doesn't provide enough opportunity to bask in screen glare, she writes in her spare time. She was raised a very fundamentalist Christian, but eventually "saw the light." Rachel's personal blog is Rachel's Hobbit Hole, where she discusses everything from Tolkien to state politics.
Jeff Hardin (below) is Chairman of the University of Wisconsin’s Zoology Department and a scientist who recognizes the reality of evolution. He’s also a Christian, who believes in the claims of the Bible. Hardin’s knowledge of science leads him to reject literalist interpretations of the Bible, like Young Earth Creationism, which make claims about science and nature that are distinctly at odds with the evidence. When the Bible is read in such a fashion as to make it conflict with reality, he believes, it is read wrongly. And he makes it his mission to show that the two, science and religion, are highly compatible. Hardin calls himself an “Evolutionary Creationist.” Writing for Slate, William Saletan describes Hardin’s brand of Creationism this way: Read more
At the beginning of December, NBC, BBC, and other news organizations reported that 25 year old Loujain al-Hathloul and 33-year-old Maysa al-Amoudi had been arrested at the Saudi border. Their crime? Driving while female. The women have been in custody since, and it looks like their situation is going from bad to worse: The cases of the two women, Loujain al-Hathloul and Maysa al-Amoudi, were sent to the antiterrorism court in connection with opinions they expressed on Twitter and other… Read more
Earlier this week, NBC News considered the pressing problem of physicians relying on medical knowledge alone rather than also incorporating pleas for supernatural intercession into their treatment plans. You see, doctors don’t get everything right all the time; therefore, we need God in the mix. This was essentially the gist of the piece. Cynthia McFadden interviewed Father John Murray, a Catholic priest who broke his neck in a fall. Despite predictions from doctors that he wouldn’t walk again, Murray is able to do so, and regards the recovery as nothing short of miraculous. Read more
The Learning Channel, which has already brought us such gems as the homophobic Duggars (of 19 Kids and Counting), is set to debut another show about religious folks who think homosexuality is a grave sin. The twist? The stars are gay. At least, “gay” in the usual sense of the word — being naturally attracted to members of the same sex. But since they follow Mormon teaching on the topic, the men believe that they must marry women and live as straight men. Which, they acknowledge, doesn’t remove same sex attraction. Read more
