A Thinking Reed

  • Transhumanism

    The fact that some people’s idea of utopia involves “uploading” your personality into a computer and living forever frankly gives me the creeps. (I also am not sure it’s even a coherent idea. In what sense would that be me rather than just a Max Headroom-style copy of me?) I have no idea how many…

  • Evangelicals for Palestine

    This seems like a heartening sign: Coalition of Evangelicals Voices Support for Palestinian State. Of course, most of the signatories to the letter to the President mentioned in the article are the usual suspects of the evangelical left (Tony Campolo, Ron Sider), but others like Richard Mouw and David Neff of Christianity Today seem indicitave…

  • Lord, teach us to pray

    This weekend we were visiting my family in my ancestral homeland of Western Pennsylvania. As is our habit, we attended the early service at the ELCA congregation in my hometown. This is a gem of a church and we always receive a warm welcome when we worship there, even though we don’t have a particular…

  • July reading notes

    I recently finished a book called Atonement, Christology and the Trinity: Making Sense of Christian Doctrine by Vincent Brummer. Brummer is a Dutch philosopher of religion in the Reformed tradition and this book is an attempt to give an account of these central doctrines of Christian belief. Brummer starts from the premise that loving fellowship…

  • Friday metal – Pantera, “Domination” (live in Moscow)

    (n.b. some bad language and major shredding)

  • I’m surprised no one thought of this sooner…

    Beatallica – a band devoted exclusively to doing Beatles covers in the style of Metallica. The album is St. Hetfield’s Motorbreath Pub Band. Tracks include “..And Justice for All My Lovin,’” “Blackened in the USSR,” and “Leper Madonna.” Slightly reminiscient of Dread Zeppelin, the original mash-up band. “A Garage Dayz Nite”

  • More Kinkery

    “Victoria” (live in Providence, RI in 1979)

  • The conservatism of Ray Davies

    Apropos of yesterday’s post, the lyrics from The Kinks’ “God’s Children”: Man made the buildings that reach for the sky And man made the motorcar and learned how to fly But he didn’t make the flowers and he didn’t make the trees And he didn’t make you and he didn’t make me And he got…

  • Michael Vick, Gregory of Nyssa, and our duties to animals

    In light of the allegations of animal cruelty being brought against pro football player Michael Vick, Diana Butler Bass looks to the writings of the 4th century church father for some hints about how Christians might think about our connections to other creatures and the duties we have toward them.

  • Humans as GMOs

    This article at The Nation makes the case that even progressives who take the ultra anti-restrictionist line on abortion should support regulation of new reproductive technologies. These technologies have the potential for very serious unintended social consequences and therefore shouldn’t be left solely to individual choice. This seems like a place where progressives and cultural…