The Origins of Aggressive Atheism - The Atlantic

The Origins of Aggressive Atheism - The Atlantic:

American faith has gone through many awakenings. Depending on how you count, there have been three or four distinctive surges of Protestant religiosity in the United States, marked by tent revivals, missionary work, widespread conversions, and, often, intense rhetoric about the consequences of sin. These "Great Awakenings" have been memorialized through texts like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," a sermon delivered by the preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1741, who warned of the "fire of wrath" in hell.

So it's provocative to title your book Atheist Awakening. Oxford University Press's newest release on non-belief, by researchers Richard Cimino and Christopher Smith, claims to be the "first sociological exploration of organized secularism in America," tracing the evolution of the atheist community over the past several decades.

Orthodoxy in America: Will Increasing Political Conservatism Lead to Increasingly Becoming a High Church Sect? | Red River Orthodox

Orthodoxy in America: Will Increasing Political Conservatism Lead to Increasingly Becoming a High Church Sect? | Red River Orthodox:

Claude S. Fischer recently wrote an intriguing sociology of religion article for the Boston Review. The data is data that’s been well known for some time. The “spiritual but not religious” or the “nones” category is growing and growing fast. What is fascinating in this article, though, is that he correlates the rate of that group’s growth with political views. In sum, the more a church coheres with values of “the Christian right,” the less likely it is to attract members who believe in God but call themselves spiritual but not religious. In fact, the data suggests such churches not only fail to attract such people, but push such people away.

Free Syrian Army abandons Aleppo, leader flees to Turkey - MURAT YETKİN

Free Syrian Army abandons Aleppo, leader flees to Turkey - MURAT YETKİN: The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the recognized armed opposition group against the Bashar al-Assad in Syria, has ceased its resistance in Aleppo, Syria’s second biggest city, withdrawing its 14,000 militia from the city, a ranking Turkish security source told the H�rriyet Daily News on Nov. 17.

“Its leader Jamal Marouf has fled to Turkey,” confirmed the source, who asked not to be named. “He is currently being hosted and protected by the Turkish state.”

The source did not give an exact date of the escape but said it was within the last two weeks, that is, the first half of November. The source declined to give Marouf’s whereabouts in Turkey.

As a result, the FSA has lost control over the Bab al-Hawa border gate (opposite from Turkey’s Cilveg�z� in Reyhanlı), which is now being held by a weak coalition of smaller groups led by Ahrar al-Sham.

The source said some of the weaponry delivered to the FSA by the U.S.-led coalition in its fight against both Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria might have fallen into the hands of Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra, the Syria branch of al-Qaeda.

6 links that will show you what Google knows about you — Productivity in the Cloud — Medium

6 links that will show you what Google knows about you — Productivity in the Cloud — Medium:

Want to find out all the things Google knows about you? Here are 6 links that will show you some of the data Google has about you.

Analysis: The Khampepe Report, a crushing blow to SA’s diplomatic credibility | Daily Maverick

Analysis: The Khampepe Report, a crushing blow to SA’s diplomatic credibility | Daily Maverick:

For more than 12 years, the South African government fought to keep the contents of the Khampepe Report under wraps. Finally, they failed, and the details of a damning cover-up were revealed: Zimbabwe’s 2002 elections were rigged, and South Africa knew all about it. Zimbabwe has been paying the price for this ever since. Now it’s South Africa’s turn. By SIMON ALLISON.

Three-Hundred Sayings of the Ascetics of the Orthodox Church

Three-Hundred Sayings of the Ascetics of the Orthodox Church:

Once some thieves came to an old hermit and said, "We are taking everything in your cell." He answered, "Take whatever you need, my children." They took almost everything in the cell and left. But they missed a little bag of money that was hidden. The elder picked it up and went after them, crying, "Children! You forgot something!" The thieves were amazed. Not only did they not take the money, but they returned everything that they had taken. "Truly," they said, "this is a man of God."

Thank heavens for Justin Welby! � The Spectator

Thank heavens for Justin Welby! -- The Spectator:

This week, payday loan companies are facing reform (or in some cases oblivion) as new caps on interest payments come into effect. That the industry finds itself in this position is thanks, in no small part, to it having been hooked around the neck by the Archbishop’s crosier.

Welby has inspired reform of the industry not by trying to set himself up as the leader of the opposition in a cassock, but by acting as an effective leader of the Church of England. His approach to the payday loan industry was not to demand that it be banned, he being aware that an even darker industry of doorstep loan sharks would replace it, but to compete with it head on. He took the church to the needy by supporting credit unions which will do the job of Wonga but without annualised interest rates of 5,853 per cent and threatening letters from fictitious firms of lawyers.

Aids ‘family tree’ traced back to Kinshasa | Blog

Aids ‘family tree’ traced back to Kinshasa | Blog: Aids-related deaths have fallen by 20 per cent over the past three years, to 1.5 million a year. And the 2.1 million new cases in 2013 represents a 38 per cent decline since 2001. Increased access to drugs has improved the situation. Also, the number of men getting circumcised to reduce their risk of contracting HIV has doubled.

Rolling Stone Names President Obama ‘One of the Most Successful Presidents in American History’ | B. Scott | Celebrity Entertainment News, Fashion, Music and Advice

Rolling Stone Names President Obama ‘One of the Most Successful Presidents in American History’ | B. Scott | Celebrity Entertainment News, Fashion, Music and Advice

How Did Amazon End Up as Literary Enemy No. 1? | Vanity Fair

How Did Amazon End Up as Literary Enemy No. 1? | Vanity Fair: Amazon’s war with publishing giant Hachette over e-book pricing has earned it a black eye in the media, with the likes of Philip Roth, James Patterson, and Stephen Colbert demanding that the online mega-store stand down. How did Amazon—which was once seen as the book industry’s savior—end up as Literary Enemy Number One? And how much of this fight is even about money? Keith Gessen reports.

Announcing the Orthodox Illustration Project – Orthodox Arts Journal

Announcing the Orthodox Illustration Project – Orthodox Arts Journal: In brief, the purpose of the project is to make available online a collection of graphic illustrations of the highest quality. The collection will focus on iconographic drawings and related graphic ornaments stylistically suited to the illumination of printed Orthodox publications. The project will address the needs of Orthodox book designers, graphic artists, and many others, who desire excellent imagery for their publications.

Feast Your Eyes on This Beautiful Linguistic Family Tree | Mental Floss

Feast Your Eyes on This Beautiful Linguistic Family Tree | Mental Floss: When linguists talk about the historical relationship between languages, they use a tree metaphor. An ancient source (say, Indo-European) has various branches (e.g., Romance, Germanic), which themselves have branches (West Germanic, North Germanic), which feed into specific languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian). Lessons on language families are often illustrated with a simple tree diagram that has all the information but lacks imagination. There’s no reason linguistics has to be so visually uninspiring. Minna Sundberg, creator of the webcomic Stand Still. Stay Silent, a story set in a lushly imagined post-apocalyptic Nordic world, has drawn the antidote to the boring linguistic tree diagram.

Help mighty Mason fight for a good life despite Cerebral Palsy | The South African

Help mighty Mason fight for a good life despite Cerebral Palsy | The South African: After 13 years in the UK, Sasha and Blake Buckingham made the tough decision to move home. Their son Mason was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and they needed help.

Bolivia Is An Example of How Socialism Can 'Work' | Alternet

Bolivia Is An Example of How Socialism Can 'Work' | Alternet: Bolivian President Evo Morales last weekend won re-election by a smashing margin. His eight-year rule has weakened Bolivian property rights, indulged in frequent nationalizations and demonized capitalism. Yet it has also produced Bolivia's best growth rates in several decades, far better than the orthodox and admirable policies pursued in 1985-2003.

Thus Morales' policy of making Bolivian clocks run backwards seems reflected by the apparent successful defiance of theory in his economics. In reality, however, there is a fairly simple explanation, and it is an important lesson for other poor countries.

10 (insane) things I learned about the world reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” - Salon.com

10 (insane) things I learned about the world reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” - Salon.com:

Over the past year, I’ve been reading and reviewing Ayn Rand’s massive paean to capitalism, Atlas Shrugged. If you’re not familiar with the novel, it depicts a world where corporate CEOs and one-percenters are the selfless heroes upon which our society depends, and basically everyone else — journalists, legislators, government employees, the poor — are the villains trying to drag the rich down out of spite, when we should be kissing their rings in gratitude that they allow us to exist.

Good article, and a pretty good assessment of Ayn Rand's writing.

Sick of this market-driven world? You should be | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

Sick of this market-driven world? You should be | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian: Today the dominant narrative is that of market fundamentalism, widely known in Europe as neoliberalism. The story it tells is that the market can resolve almost all social, economic and political problems. The less the state regulates and taxes us, the better off we will be. Public services should be privatised, public spending should be cut, and business should be freed from social control. In countries such as the UK and the US, this story has shaped our norms and values for around 35 years: since Thatcher and Reagan came to power. It is rapidly colonising the rest of the world.

Neoliberalism has brought out the worst in us

Neoliberalism has brought out the worst in us | Paul Verhaeghe | Comment is free | theguardian.com: Bullying used to be confined to schools; now it is a common feature of the workplace. This is a typical symptom of the impotent venting their frustration on the weak – in psychology it’s known as displaced aggression. There is a buried sense of fear, ranging from performance anxiety to a broader social fear of the threatening other.

Damaging Our Country from Wars of Choice � CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Damaging Our Country from Wars of Choice � CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names: Here they go again. Another result of Bush’s war in Iraq. Washington has already expended thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of American injuries and illnesses, and over a million Iraqi lives. The achievement: the slaying or capture of Al Qaeda leaders, but with that came the spread of Al Qaeda into a dozen countries and the emergence of a new Al Qaeda on steroids called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) which has nominal control over an area in Syria and Iraq larger than the territory of Great Britain.

Kenneth Hagin Sr.�s Renouncement of Word-Faith Teachings. - Sermon Index

Kenneth Hagin Sr.�s Renouncement of Word-Faith Teachings. - Sermon Index: Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.

Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.

The Posts Go Ever On: Guest Post on "War In Heaven" | The Oddest Inkling

The Posts Go Ever On: Guest Post on "War In Heaven" | The Oddest Inkling: War in Heaven, published in early summer, 1930, has, to my way of thinking, gone from a story set in the contemporary world to a classic ‘period piece’ without any loss of vitality. It was drafted, as The Corpse, four years earlier, having been finished in time to be offered to, and rejected by, Faber, by the end of May, 1926. I do not know how much or little The Corpse differs from War in Heaven as we know it. But the Twenties seem to have been a rapidly and even wildly changing literary landscape as far as ‘mystery’ and ‘detective’ stories went. And some facts about literary context at the turn of 1925-26 strike me as interesting.