Ryan Overbey writes about "strong" versus "weak" religions and how it relates to religious pluralism.#

The aversion to pluralism comes mostly from my scholarly preference for strong religions. Strong religions are amazingly cool, insanely barbaric, irrational in the extreme, full of drama and emotion and violence. But I know one thing for sure- I'd hate to live in a society where strong religion is normative.

As a secular humanist, the thing that excites me most about pluralism and notions of interfaith discussion and respect for other religions is the Trojan Horse aspect- by being willing to talk to other people with an open mind, we can spread open-mindedness as a shared commitment. There's a real potential for open-minded Christians to unite with like-minded Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists to overcome the barbarous attacks on sexual and civil rights and privacy that are the staple of strong religion. My goal as a scholar of religion is to study irrationality, magic, and barbarity in religious communities. I regard them as fascinating artifacts of an animal past, something that never quite goes away, but that we always need to fight and overcome. Religious pluralism, "weak" religions, and interfaith dialogue could play a role in the battle against barbarous religion, at least in the American context. I think of it as a flu vaccine- people are still infected with religion, but it's weak and benign, and if we're lucky it generates antibodies- emotional instincts that repel strong religion.

Matthias Correction describes the second part of his story of coming to know God.#

I graduated from college with no direction, no plans. It was hard enough just getting through the day. I discovered that marijuana was especially effective in combatting the symptoms of depression for hours at a time and began ruthlessly prescribing it for myself. I had friends who had the same prescription, and we spent many long and laughter-filled evenings escaping from ourselves with the help of massive bong hits. When my parents told me that they wouldn't send me any more money, I went out and got a job, the least demanding one I could find: temping. I only knew how to do two things: perform critical analysis of literature, and type. Typing has gotten me plenty more jobs that literary criticism ever has.

Chip Gibbons writes about the lack of evolution in Georgia.#

Why is this a bad idea?

For the same reason that it's not a good idea to ban the use of the term fucking moron from the English language.

Evolution exists. Fucking morons exist. We needs words to describe things that exist.

Two comments:

1. This is the 21st century. Wow.
2. Perhaps, their miseducation is a sign that they have not evolved and are thus partially right in saying that evolution does not occur in Georgia. (Hah!)

Matthias Correction writes a parable about the nature of Divine Justice.#

When the baby died, the angels carried him up to Heaven and rested him gently on a cloud. A man was there, also new, and they decided to tour Heaven together. "Tell me about yourself," said the baby, trying to put the man at ease.

"I was old. I died in my sleep. I had a long life, so I can't complain." The man looked at the little baby before him. "You, though. How could God let you die so young? It's cruel. It's unfair."

The baby just shrugged. They walked on. As the man walked, he grew angrier and angrier at God. "How could God bless me with such a long life, and give this little one nothing? What did I do to deserve so much and him to deserve so little? How could God be so unfair? When I see God, I'm going to demand that he explain himself."