Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 29th, 2010
Before leaving on summer vacation to check out the new Harry Potter theme park, the Pope gave us a teaser of his autumn plans: Pope Benedict XVI is creating a new Vatican office to fight secularization and “re-evangelize” the West — a tacit acknowledgment that his attempts to reinvigorate Christianity in Europe haven’t succeeded and [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 25th, 2010
Having settled the whole Irish abuse situation to everyone’s satisfaction, Pope Benedict has shifted his focus back to the delicate interplay between science and religion: There is no opposition between faith and science, says Benedict XVI, who proposed the example of St. Albert the Great to illustrate this truth. Well, of course! What better way [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 13th, 2009
The early reviews of the new Harry Potter are in, and they’re pretty good: The Vatican lauded the latest Harry Potter film on Monday, saying Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince made the age-old debate over good vs. evil crystal clear. Wait, crystal clear? I read the book, and I’m pretty sure that the battle [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jun 15th, 2009
As we’ve discussed before, many religions are struggling to keep their flocks. However, all is not gloom and doom. For instance, there’s a cute article this weekend in the New York Times about a non-religiously-raised kid who suddenly insists his (ex-monk) dad start taking him to church on Sundays: He did not want his mother [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on May 15th, 2009
While secular scientists and religious fundamentalists may find themselves at odds over many issues, they’ve come to the same conclusion when it comes to at least one. Both sides agree that “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling doesn’t research thoroughly or deeply enough when writing her best-selling novels. In the weeks ahead of the release of [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on May 5th, 2009
Over at Kingdom of Priests, David Klinghoffer poses (possibly disingenously) the question: “Anyway, I have a challenge for atheists and secondarily for agnostics. From where do you derive meaning in life?” As you might suspect, this is one of the topics addressed at length in my book: Another common objection to the points raised in [...]
