Monthly Archives: August 2010

“Memory’s unreliable…memory’s not perfect. It’s not even that good. Ask the police; eyewitness testimony is unreliable…. Memory can change the shape of a room or the color of a car. It’s an interpretation, not a record. Memories can be changed or distorted, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.” —Leonard Shelby, Memento

A recent episode of the Point of Inquiry podcast mentioned a book that instantly colored me intrigued. The title, 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions About Human Behavior, practically begged my inner-skeptic to read it. All the delicious psych topics are here—memory, recall, perception, intelligence, dreams, behavior, the subconscious, human development, even ESP. But one curious theme unintentionally keeps emerging: the unreliability of memory and personal experience. (more…)

Tonight I’ll be telling my eight year old that one of his friends died last night in a tragic accident. I can’t imagine what the family of this little boy is going through. It’s devastating even from afar.

For those of us affected at a distance, it’s a sobering reminder of how fragile this life is, and how quickly it can change. (more…)

I was excited to see Bob Rees—a thoughtful believer if there ever was one—review Bill Maher’s pseudo-documentary, Religulous, in Sunstone (May 2009), but was ultimately disappointed. As is often the case with critiques of anti-theists like Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, or Christopher Hitchens, the review chose to play the “Religion Shouldn’t be Ridiculed” card, rather than substantively engage the criticisms it raised. The New Atheist movement brings an opportunity for sharp debate, but instead the same tired criticisms are trotted out: “they don’t understand religion;” “they’re just as narrow-minded as those they criticize;” “that’s not what my religion is.” On and on it goes, but when it’s all said and done, we end up in the same place—nowhere, with no specific criticisms of the indictments levied against religion. (more…)

Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California overturned California’s Proposition 8 today, a victory for equal rights. Surprisingly, my hetero marriage seems just as stable tonight as it was this morning. Go figure.

In a 136 page ruling, Judge Walker ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.

The Church issued its own response. Essentially: (more…)