Mystic Politics

Vampires, Gay Rights, and the Politics of True Blood

Republican rhetoric inspired this season’s True Blood—and the story about a sadistic theocracy with an insatiable thirst for power and human blood.

How closely does the fantastic ‘vampire authority’, a secret vampire theocratic oligarchy, resemble the christian theocracy desired by the Religious Right?

Life on Mars and the Garden of Eden

None of the 66 books of the Bible makes any reference to life other than that created by God here on Earth in that six-day period.

Is associating ancient aliens and life on other planets with biblical dogma untenable?

Is teaching Creationism a form of Child Abuse?

Anyone who tells children that God – literally – created the world in seven days 6,000 years ago is guilty of perverting education.

Do you think laying the foundation for non-critical thinking is a violation?

Jesus and Aliens: Do Extraterrestrials go to Hell?

Do aliens require a corporeal form to experience divinity? Is Jesus’ testimony the framework of cosmic salvation?

Newsflash: Magic Masonic Mormon Underwear aren’t Magic

Nobody really likes to talk about their underwear, and Mormons probably have better reason than most to be reticent.

Are mystical boxers any weirder than turbans or that strappy box that Jews wear?

Anti-intellectual Design: The Problem with Creationism

What is worse- that 46% of people polled said they were creationists - or that 32% believe in ‘theistic evolution’ ??

If creationism is correct archaeology, paleontology, geology, genetics, biology, chemistry and physics are part of a vast fraud.

Hunters of Myths: Why Our Brains Love Origins

‘Children as old as eight give explanations for all matters of phenomena as a matter of course. Lombrozo calls them promiscuously teleological: explaining things by the purpose they serve instead of digging deeper for meaning (i.e., they are more likely to say that a mountain exists to be climbed and not because of some geological forces that happened to shape the earth a certain way).’

Why I Teach Evolution in Church

‘This is why, if one wants to help end the war between science and religion, teaching science in church is such a good idea. As an experienced teacher, I do not speak in alienating jargon. As a fellow Christian, I share the students’ basic worldview. As one who they know personally — most of them know my extended family as well — I do not come as a stranger with an agenda. And the classes are held in a familiar and comfortable setting.

Not everyone who attends my classes walks away convinced. Many will never embrace evolution. Only a few — if that many — will glimpse the cosmic perspective I try so hard to communicate. But if I can remain open to them while dropping my own rather strong need to always be right, they will listen. And if I can somehow do this while doing justice both to science and the Christian tradition, they might be a little skeptical the next time they hear someone insist that science and religion are naturally opposed.’