Author of the novel JACK.
An Open Letter To My Children (part 4) My Dear Children, About the TitleI borrowed the title of this letter from a book written by Charles Darwin titled On the Origin of Species and from an article published by John Taylor titled Origin, Object, and Destiny of Women. Although this piece is nothing like either … Read moreOn the Origin and Destiny of Man
My Dear Children, A parent carries a heavy burden. For instance, my decisions impact not only my own life but the lives of my children and likely multiple generations after them, as well. The thought shakes me to the core. There are minor decisions and there are major decisions. In spite of the unavoidable consequences … Read moreOpen Letter To My Children (part 3)
The title of this piece references not just one thing that I love, but two: God and Science. Science is the premier tool that we humans have developed to actually read the mind and will of God. This is important because he’s not talking to us. Instead, he surrounded us with mysteries and subtle clues … Read moreGod, I Love Science
Unsettling Questions Years ago (and throughout my spiritual journey), tough questions began percolating to the surface of my mind. These questions took different forms, but they all fell into a few simple categories: God, his holy nature, and my relationship with him (if indeed there was one). Some of these questions were so unsettling that … Read moreMaking Satan
In the context of God, the term “agnostic” is often misunderstood. Unless this is something that a person has really thought about extensively, one might think that it means undecided, uncommitted, or unconcerned. To compound the difficulty in understanding this term, we must accept that the meaning of language is determined by usage. Nevertheless, I … Read moreIntelligence & Agnosticism
By chance I sat with a woman at lunch. We were both attending an educational conference. I remembered her because she was attending the conference from a distant African location, Zimbabwe. This was the main reason that I took notice of her. Many years later, when I was much more into world events, I noticed … Read moreI Have Nothing To Hide
My whole life I’ve heard religious folk claim special knowledge of divine TRUTH. They often speak of it expansively and in exaggerated verbal tones in order to add greater weight to their use of the term. For instance, some recognized authority may attempt to quell a spiritual rebellion by admonishing the subversive sinners not to … Read moreTRUTH vs. truth
The people of Nashville feel a little aggrieved today, and rightly so, for the name of their city has been hijacked by biblical terrorists. Religious nutcases are at it again, spewing their hatred and sanctioning it under the title of the “Nashville Statement.” The manifesto consists of a preamble and fourteen articles which affirm their … Read moreNashville Statement Is Garbage
Religion is an experiment performed on human subjects. The Belmont Report set ethical standards for conducting experiments on human subjects in response to some dreadful and possibly harmful studies (see this informative summary from SciShow). The report proposed three fundamental ethical principles to guide such research (taken from wikipedia.org): Respect for persons: protecting the autonomy … Read moreThe Ethics of Religion
I ❤ NY. It’s so common, it’s a cliche. Tourists buy T-shirts in airport souvenir shops. They crowd into long lines in order to ride ear-popping elevators to the top of the “empire state.” They pose for selfies in front of the Statue of Liberty and search for the names of distant relatives on Ellis … Read moreA Planet Called New York