Keep the Pressure on PutinMr. Putin’s brand of nationalism has eerie similarities to radical Islamism. He animates followers by promising to reconquer lost lands and restore past glory. He gives them an instant sense of purpose as guardians of their tribe’s power vis-à-vis the West. He makes clear that tribal interests trump international norms. ( Read more... )

Muslims and the Apology Question

Re: Message to Muslims: I’m Sorry (op-ed, Sep 18 ( Read more... )

Who Should Decide About Abortion?

Re: Anti-Roe and Pro-Rudy" (op-ed, Sept 14)

If to “decide, state by state, about abortion” is better than to decide as a country, isn’t deciding individual by individual better still?

Evolution vs. design

Re “How to Make Sure Children Are Scientifically Illiterate”: Creationists’ evolving attempts to get creationism into the schools are not “an excellent example of evolution at work.” Evolution is random and purposeless, while their efforts are conscious and highly purposed. If these attempts are indeed divinely inspired, they ( Read more... )

Battling Ignorance

Re “How to Make Sure Children Are Scientifically Illiterate”: Creationists’ evolving attempts to get creationism into the schools are not “an excellent example of evolution at work.” Evolution is random and purposeless, while their efforts are conscious and highly purposed. If these attempts are indeed divinely inspired, they ( Read more... )

Free Speech, at a Price

Regarding Danish editor Flemming Rose's Feb. 19 Outlook piece, "Why I Published Those Cartoons"The Muhammad cartoons were a bad choice for making a point about freedom of speech. They said nothing new, exposed no unknown bad actors, suggested no constructive solutions. In short, they had none of the qualities of speech ( Read more... )

Religion, Science and Our Identity

When parents or teachers attempt to show that evolution and religion are not in conflict and that other ways to knowledge exist besides the scientific method, they are ruled out of court on an alleged violation of the separation of church and state. Thus we get the understandable if misguided attempt to insert ( Read more... )

Re: teaching intelligent design1. "Science" used to mean "knowledge obtained by the scientific method ( Read more... )

Slightest hope worthwhileSen. Tom Coburn justifies his opposition to embryonic stem cell research by saying that it cheapens the lives of the "terminally ill or severely handicapped." But most ill and handicapped people would welcome research that offers hope of a cure, however slight ( Read more... )

Creative scienceCreationists concede the credibility of science when they insist on teaching creationism as science and not religion or philosophy ( Read more... )