A god is born 14 Oct 2009 In 1502, an indigenous princess was born named in Spanish María de la Onza, or “Mary of the Jaguar”. She has become a mythological figure, and her name contracted to María Lionza, and she is the senior deity of a trinity of gods worshipped in rural regions near Caracas in Venezuela. As Wikipedia says, The other two figures in this trinity are Guaicaipuro, an Indian chief murdered by the Spanish colonists, and Negro Felipe, a black slave that was also murdered by the colonists. These three saints are the leading figures of the pantheon and lead several “courts” of lesser deities. This is a beautiful example of actual historical figures starting religions in which they are the gods. There is a pilgrimage each year that is presently underway. Religion
Epistemology Some of my recent talks 30 May 201222 Jun 2018 I just discovered SlideRocket, a Google app that displays slides, and so I thought I’d put up some of my talks. Here goes. I hope they work. This is a talk about whether God could create a world in which Darwinian accidents occur. It ended up as a paper in Zygon: This… Read More
Religion The iron rod of religion 27 Dec 2007 Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated, probably by Islamist extremists. While no saint, she clearly stood for democratisation in Pakistan, and all hell is likely to break out there now. Today, I saw The Golden Compass, after reading the book a couple of days ago. It, too, portrayed religious absolutism (and… Read More
Evolution Edis on Islamic creationism 21 Feb 2008 One of the more curious episodes in recent cultural history is the adoption, word for word, by Islamists particularly in Turkey of the American Christian fundamentalist antievolution schtick. Nobody knows more about this than Taner Edis, whose book An Illusion of Harmony: Science And Religion in Islam outlines how this… Read More