Posts Tagged ‘ religion ’

Rationality and the belief in life after death

October 11, 2013
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Anna Corwin is a Ph.D. student in anthropology at UCLA. She has spent a significant amount of time in a Catholic convent trying to figure out why nuns outlive other women and seem to enjoy such healthy aging. She summarizes her observations in this interesting article in Yes! Magazine.” The six tips are as follows: 1. Keep moving – nuns are apparently on their feet most of the day. 2. Practice positive emotions – nuns communicate a sense of love to each other and also in prayer daily. 3. Have a purpose and work for it – many nuns continue…

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Islamophobia and gender equality

July 15, 2013
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A recent article reprinted in Truthout has the provocative title “The biggest lie you’ve told about the oppression of Muslim women.” And what is that biggest lie? According to Lauren Rankin, author of the article and  graduate student in Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, the biggest lie is that Islam is a “violent and misogynistic faith, one from which Muslim women need to be saved.” Rankin adds that those who perpetuate this lie–as Joyce Carol Oates allegedly did in this series of tweets–suffer from a form of racism known as “Islamophobia,” a term that has also recently been…

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Will the Internet bring an end to religion?

January 17, 2013
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Not any time soon, but organized religion is on the decline in many places around the world,  and in this interesting article Valerie Tarico argues that the Internet is one of the principal causes of this phenomenon.  Here are the six kinds of web content that she thinks are leading the faithful astray:  1. Radically cool science articles and videos;  2. Curated collections of ridiculous beliefs. 3. The kinky, exploitative, and violent side of religion 4. Supportive communities for people coming out of religion. 5. Lifestyles of the fine and faithless. 6. Interspiritual okayness. Could it be that the internet…

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Religious lunatics

February 11, 2012
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Here’s some more evidence of just how harmful religious faith can be–and of the idiotic and irresponsible lengths to which some Christians will go in search of divine intervention or a message from God. From the Korea Times: A tragedy occurred in South Jeolla Province (South Korea ), when a pastor and his wife beat three of their children, who had the flu, to death under the pretext of “expelling evil spirits” based on the Bible. They were arrested by police following a tipoff from a relative, while praying and fasting in an alleged attempt to revive the three. The…

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