The Unincumbent

Don't confuse religion and morals. There are a lot of religious people that have questionable morals. Religion is sometimes used to justify moral positions that might not seem just or in fact intended by the religious dogma.

Great citizens make great cities. Toppycat

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty." Albert Einstein " I am a deeply religious nonbeliever - this is a somewhat new kind of religion. " Albert Einstein  The existence of God is unknowable. It is beyond human understanding and likely will always be such. If we assume an anthropomorphic God as most world religions do, even with this assumption, then the God must not be knowable. In fact God’s unknowableness is an axiom of his existence. If he became knowable then whatever purpose he had for being unknowable would cease to exist. We would not need religion once the truth were unveiled.  Even if you do not buy my premise even true believers of religion take their religion on faith knowing that the signs they rely on for their belief are in some manner spiritual and cultural in nature. As Kierkegaard indicated "contingent truths of history can never become the demonstrations of...

I am not going to tell you that bacon doesn't taste good. I like the smell of bacon and at times I crave a piece of well done bacon. Sometimes I also crave a cigarette and a really good hamburger. And sometimes I give in to my cravings. But America and Americans have done to bacon what we do to most everything including celebrities and Facebook and ice cream. We over indulge. We take something that is reasonably consumed as a once and awhile treat and gorge on it until we are sick and have ruined the ecosystem that created it. Texting is a great convenience and brings us closer to and expands our circles. Texting while driving is killing a lot of people because we can't control our addiction. Sometimes an artist gives a good performance in a movie or on a song or somewhere else. Then we maul that person and the overexposure kills the original contribution. Bacon is the latest. Over consumption is horrible for our planet, our health and has killed the enjoyment just like we have...

Humans are at once the greatest species and worst species that ever existed. TK

Today something happened that I think is great. I read something that changed or at least significantly challenged an opinion I've held for quite some time. I say that this is great because I think that the process of learning and growing intellectually requires that people be willing to defend but also challenge their opinions. When my opinions are challenged in a way I feel is sufficient, then I feel I've developed intellectually at least in some small amount. Today I stumbled across and read some research from the London School of Economics that challenged a belief I previously held about the effects of minimum wage hikes. Since this is currently a hot topic, I thought I would let you all know what I found. I've held the belief for some time now that increases in the minimum wage are generally bad for the overall economy. My reasoning being, that in a competitive market, increasing the minimum wage is an ineffective and possibly dangerous way to transfer wealth. I don...

America loves liberty. It is one of our three unalienable rights and is at the very foundation of this country. American's are willing to defend their liberties sometimes at the expense of all other rights. Today, we have an important political movement based on libertarian values, and at the same time almost every major policy initiative in the US instantaneously runs afoul of someones libertarian sensibilities. The concept of liberty seems noble enough. Why can't I live my life responsibly without crushing taxes or over reaching regulations that infringe on my personal liberties? Why does the government need to get involved in areas that are beyond what's logically necessary and why don't they just follow what is outlined for them in the constitution?  Almost all Americans embrace the notion of liberty in its romantic form as the foundation of our country,but there seems to be an unmentioned element of liberty that is causing huge problems ...