This World is Home

"This world is not my home," says the old gospel song,* "I'm just a-passin' through." So is that right? Is this world real, or is it just a prelude to something else, something more real than what we call reality? Let's explore that concept. The Simulation Hypothesis. Suppose we make a computer dedicated to one …

Abusing Power

I just had an epiphany. You may be familiar with the "seven deadly sins," listed here for your convenience: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Greed, Sloth. Something has always bothered me about that list. It didn't seem balanced. It didn't seem complete. Something … I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then I saw a …

Is This for Real?

You may ask, "What is the difference between Real World Religion and, say, Pastafarianism?" The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster originated in 2005, with an open letter by Bobby Henderson to protest the Kansas State Board of Education decision to permit public schools to teach "intelligent design" alongside evolution. It has quickly evolved into …

New Religion for an Old Earth

As I indicated in my previous post, we are badly in need of a new religion. Religion is not inherently bad, yet the fact that any of them promote guilt and fear, work to limit medical advances, oppress women, or abuse children should offend us. We cannot tolerate such aggregate antisocial behavior, but doing good …

More Religion – Bring It On!

What we need is a new religion. You may be surprised to hear me say that, since I have been known to be critical of many religious practices. I have always said, however, that religion itself is not the problem. The problem is that religions tend to be disconnected from real life. To have faith …