nominalism IVF ruling: When courts skip critical thinking The recent IVF ruling shows scant regard for some rudimentary philosophizing we can do. The Justice needs some critical thinking lessons.
Separation of Church and State Moses Johnson delivers sermon tantamount to theocracy Mike Johnson, Speaker for the House of Representatives where the Republicans are hanging tenuously onto a slim majority, recently remained true to his label as a Christian nationalist. There was no sign of an interest in constitutional secularism at a GOP retreat intended to discuss and plan for a continued
border politics Southern border vs Ukraine's borders: A dangerous leverage $61 billion in aid to Ukraine is being held hostage by the GOP in return for US border reforms. What is going on here and why?
News Boebert: 'Chasing Jesus' to punch her ex-husband in the face? Lauren Boebert often courts controversy. She is full of rhetoric. But does her behavior reflect or contradict her Christian rhetoric?
Trump Bad politics, bad religion collide in 'God Made Trump' Sometimes claims are so off-the-wall that you really wonder whether the claimants believe themselves. Case in point: "God Made Trump"?
secularism Jesus was not the new Moses. That would be Mike Johnson Christian nationalist and Speaker Mike Johnson recently gave a speech declaring himself the new Moses. American secularism has never been more vulnerable.
abortion Kate Cox and the Texas abortion debacle A Texas woman has been denied an abortion by the Texas State Supreme Court, even though the pregnancy was not viable and it threatened her health.
humanism UK Ministry of Defence to recruit nonreligious chaplains When he joined the Royal Navy, a friend of mine was asked his religion. When he answered that he was nonreligious, he received the reply, "Well in that case, we'll put you down as Free Church." There was no existing way to accommodate such a category
Disinformation Stoking division: How Putin is helping the rise of the right The rise of the far right in Russia is deeply concerning for the global community. Is it organic, or is it covered with the dirty fingerprints of Vladimir Putin?
Christian nationalism Christian nationalists: Drop Mike, hold on to your Johnson Move over Mike Pence, Mike Johnson is in the big chair—and in a position to enact all of his Christian nationalist dreams.
truth Ramaswamy getting hit with the truth It has so often been the case that politicians— especially fringe politicians— have sorely needed to be hit around the head by some serious truth. Too long have we allowed disinformation and conspiracy theories to permeate the information space and corrupt our political discourse. So it came with great joy
Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie and me, a discussion, and a shower It has been said, and wisely, that 97% of the activity in the shower involves winning fake arguments with absent antagonists. It was only the other day that I was arguing with Marjorie Taylor Greene in the shower about religion and politics and the Ukraine War.
transhumanism Welcome to the Transhumanist Party 'Republicans and Democrats don't meet the minimum requirements for what's coming,' says Transhumanist Party presidential candidate Tom Ross. 'We have the singularity on its way faster than we were expecting. We need a whole executive branch focused on this.'
climate change Climate change solutions: It's a voting thing, and that's a worry In a summer of broken records, it is hard not to sound like a broken record, but... Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on this planet. That really is worth emphasizing, since we have had a number of record-breaking years and months over the last 20 years. To
secularism Will bishops lose the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords? There are only two nations on Earth where members of a religion are automatically given a seat in the state legislature: Iran, and the United Kingdom. All of the UK's 'Lords Spiritual' are Anglican bishops, despite 53% of Britons identifying as nonreligious and only 12% as Anglican. Now a cross-part
Greece The rise of the religious far right...in Greece We can be forgiven for looking at elections at times and blaming the politicians for not being to our tastes. They are after all a reflection of the electorate to some degree. The first known democracy in the world was in Athens, Greece. In the modern nation of Greece, a
cognitive dissonance Trump and his cult of cognitive dissonance Trump is in legal hot water. But what will be more interesting for observers is not his reaction but that of his fervent followers.
Joe Biden Remember Tara Reade? Biden sexual abuse accuser defects to Russia Back in 2020, news was rife with a sexual misconduct allegation involving Joe Biden and a former employee named Tara Reade. Even then, the timing of the allegation was seen to be politically motivated given that Joe Biden was running for President later that year, and he appeared to have
church-state separation Mississippi removes 'In God We Trust' from license plates The phrase "In God We Trust" was first included on US coins in the 1860s in order to “relieve [the U.S.] from the ignominy of heathenism,” according to Treasury Department records. As such, it is a phrase that rankles with many nonreligious people, and is often a
SCOTUS Supreme Court: 'a 7-2 conservative majority that would last a quarter century' There is no doubting that Donald Trump was one of the most successful presidents in US history—which is saying something for a man who won only one term and lost the public vote twice. By a lot. The presidential vote is arguably a vote for Supreme Court nominations. When
Putin The bothsidesism of Trump's CNN town hall CNN hosted what has been seen by many as a disastrous television appearance of the Presidential nominee-to-be in an hour of lies and playing to a partisan crowd. And my, the crowd was partisan. The Guardian summed up many analysts' exasperation in their piece "‘What was CNN thinking?
Marjorie Taylor Greene Identity politics and the real enemy of the state? The use of the term "enemy of the state" is powerful and its rhetorical use can have consequences. One is left wondering whether the likes of Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene and extreme Fox mouthpiece Tucker Carlson are in the Kremlin's pocket. Roll up, roll up,
Donald Trump What has the GOP become? Four jaw-dropping stories Before you pull out the whataboutery card on me, as a Brit, I know we have a slew of our own problems. But having just been alerted to 4 stories in 5 minutes that literally made my jaw drop, I am left asking (and not for the first time), America,
gender equality Missouri lawmakers adopt strict dress code for women With the regression in laws that seem to have overwhelmingly affected women over the last few years, Americans may be forgiven for thinking that The Handmaid's Tale on TV is a documentary. There are some who say that author Margaret Atwood was something of a futurist. With stricter
Joe Biden Are the Biden documents a Trumpian parallel? Not even close It might be easy to think that the recent Biden classified documents blunder is one that mirrors the Trump debacle, but you would be wrong. Here's why. First, let's unpack exactly what happened with the Trump classified documents. Trump's documents Back in May 2021,
