Few things are more critical, or boring, than arriving at a satisfactory definition of “religion” before embarking upon a study of the subject. Despite this seemingly obvious fact, most studies of “religion” commence without any discussion of definitions, thus leaving us with the mistaken impression that the issue is somehow settled and obvious.
There are two [...]
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Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers discusses the case of a professor — teaching at a public university — who presented his Catholic views, disguised as philosophy, on homosexuality to his students. One student complained to the administration, calling the professor’s position “hate speech.” PZ Myers disagrees and calls it “stupid speech.” Myers then proceeds to [...]
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