Reading Time: 6 minutes Don’t be bullied into silence. This is precisely the moment we should be talking about the validity of monarchy in modern Britain.
United Kingdom
Posted inCulture
Queen Elizabeth II dies at Balmoral
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Queen of England, head of state for the UK and 14 countries in the Commonwealth, has passed away at the age of 96 at her home at her Scottish estate of Balmoral. She achieved the status of Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Over recent weeks, the Queen’s health has been deteriorating, with a number of […]
Posted inHistory
The center of space and time
Reading Time: 4 minutes When I was eight, I’d sit with my father in our basement in St. Louis drinking grape soda and trying to ferret something sensible out of the whistles and whines of his short-wave radio. We’d lean into the speaker as he ran the dial slowly around the world, picking up one whispery broadcast after another, […]
Posted inLGBTQ
NZ lawmakers ban conversion therapy after impassioned speech by Deputy PM
Reading Time: 4 minutes In six months’ time the dangerous and despicable practice of conversion therapy will be outlawed in New Zealand after lawmakers today (Tuesday) voted to ban discredited, mainly faith-based attempts to “cure” homosexuality. After hearing an emotional speech by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, who opened the third reading of the proposed ban, Labour, the Green […]
Posted inLeaving Religion
Have YOU Seen This Missing 100-Ton Recycling Plant? (LSP #219)
Reading Time: 6 minutes Interestingly, absolutely nobody has offered a supernatural explanation for this disappearance. And of course nobody has. This is a 100-ton recycling plant we’re talking about, not lost keys or a parking spot or a missed connection on the subway. Nobody’s going to blame this one on demons or pixies or malevolent Neolithic Bell-Beaker ghosts. Nobody thinks wizards cast a spell to shift a recycling plant into the astral plane.
Posted inSex & Gender
Seeking the trans people of the past
Reading Time: 6 minutes To learn about trans people, we have to read between the lines of history. Info about trans folks comes to us not from autobiographies or travelogues, but rather largely from legal cases from centuries past. And that info comes to us filtered through the worldview of authority figures who condemned transgender people entirely.
Posted inScience
A Pelican Finds His Freedom — Again (LSP #205)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Recently, a Great White Pelican in Ireland found his freedom — again (archive). I loved this story. Who couldn’t empathize with him? Indeed, his attempts to gain freedom seem to have stirred something in his captors, who don’t seem to be in a huge rush to recapture him. Today, Lord Snow Presides over all of us large birds who would rather fly free than stay captured.
Posted inHistory, Religion
How John Milton Changed Hell — Again (Journey Into Hell #13)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hi and welcome back! During our Journey Into Hell series, we’ve sure seen the Christian concept of Hell change a lot from its humble origins. And now, it’s changing again. John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost, brought a unique point of view to Christians’ existing package of Hell-beliefs. That point of view would become an […]
Posted inReligion, Science
It’s All in How You Ask the Questions: Christian Polls
Reading Time: 7 minutes How questioners phrase their questions really matters — and quite a few Christians very obviously do not want to gather accurate information.
Posted inGeneral
Animal Rights for the Isle of Man (LSP #183)
Reading Time: 4 minutes Hi and welcome back! Slowly, slowly humanity stumbles toward a brighter future. Legislators on the Isle of Man have proposed a new bill that recognizes five basic rights for animals. Today, Lord Snow Presides over some good news: another corner of our world has recognized the pressing need to grant rights to animals. Human Rights: […]