Author: Adam Lee

As long-time readers know, except on rare occasions, I don’t write about my personal life on this blog. This isn’t because I’m trying to be mysterious; I just don’t think it’s especially interesting! But, occasionally, my life reaches a milestone significant enough that I have to be egotistical and write about it. I think this…

The birth-control battle that’s dominated headlines for the past few weeks seems to be winding down, as religious conservatives belatedly realize it’s not a winning issue for them. But given how the American religious right continues to contract into a hard, embittered core, I doubt it’s the last time this will come up. I had…

In the Book of Exodus, there’s a bizarrely out-of-place story that I’ve always found hilarious. This is immediately after God has told Moses that he’s going to be God’s messenger to Pharaoh, listing all the signs and wonders Moses will be able to do to convince the Egyptians of his authority, and sent him on…

(Note: This review was solicited and is written in accordance with my policy for such reviews.) Summary: A memoir of escape from the overbearing, oppressive life of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, but the appalling details are somewhat clouded by doubts raised about the narrative’s veracity. Like many other books that I’ve reviewed, Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox is an…

You may have noticed that, according to the counter on the sidebar, I just passed 100 posts on Big Think this week. This is a milestone, but I hope it’s the first of many to come. I think things have settled down considerably since I first moved here last October. The mix of commenters here…

I wanted to pull this exchange out of the comments, because I thought it was worth highlighting: “Science is constantly evolving and improving on itself”. I AGREE. The same as our understanding of God is constantly evolving and improving. In response, I came back with what I thought was a perfectly reasonable request: If that’s…

The Christian right, both Catholics and evangelicals, wants to outlaw birth control. This isn’t a new revelation, but in the last few weeks, they’ve been saying it so often and so loudly that the public is starting to take notice. Of course, they don’t have anywhere near the political muscle to actually achieve this –…

This weekend, I spoke at the University of North Dakota, courtesy of an invitation from FUND, the local SSA affiliate. Yes, there are atheists in North Dakota! For those who weren’t there, I wanted to write a quick recap and talk about some of the lessons learned. My talk was given on Friday night at…

My post from last week, “The Abraham Test“, provoked a vigorous discussion (225 comments and counting as of this writing) about the morality of committing violence in God’s name. Since I did, after all, pose a question to believers, it’s only fair to write a follow-up post summarizing the answers and discussing what they mean…

LONDON, February 22 – It’s been a rough week for Richard Dawkins, prominent evolutionary biologist and noted God-hater. Our reporters can reveal that on Monday, while Dawkins was ordering breakfast at a local shop, he received the wrong change for his coffee and muffin, but failed to count it and notice the error until he…