According to a 2011 Gallup survey, 3 in 10 Americans “interpret the Bible literally, saying it is the actual word of God,” while 49% say “the Bible is the inspired word of God but [shouldn’t] be taken literally.”
That’s commonly how the survey is quoted. But if you go to the survey results themselves, a specific and important statement begins the piece: A plurality view Bible as inspired word of God but say not everything in it should be taken literally.”
To peek into the world of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is to peel back the curtain of America’s culture and see, through one artist’s creative lens, the temple of what the culture truly worships. It is a perverse world that feels too ancient, and yet uncomfortably familiar. In one way it feels like a post-colonial protest. In another it feels like an anthropological experiment. This is an untold story not just of the religious practices America does not admit are religious, but also of the religious practices that have carried over from immigrants across the world. Continue reading
I don’t remember the first time I heard the phrase “you’re a loose cannon” or “(so and so) is a loose cannon,” but it was probably on television or in a movie. It’s a fun phrase to say, and it denotes a person who is chaotic and unpredictable. Somebody calls the bombastic main character in an action film a “loose cannon.” The audience laughs all giddy. They love the reckless cavalier. Continue reading
The removal of a Confederate monument in New Orleans has inspired folks in other towns to raise funds and build the momentum of removing from the public eye various Confederate monuments that have been raised across the nation.
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I was never really fond of the word “class” in referring to being enrolled in a series of lessons. It’s seemed a bland, confusing word. The word comes from the Latin word classis, meaning a division of people, which is why we use the word to refer to groups of students as well as groups of people based, sort of, on income. It’s also why we use it as a noun to refer to someone as “having class” (meaning, we assume, high class). Continue reading
The Handmaid’s Tale has been much talked about ever since the famous novel became a miniseries on Hulu. Like any good dystopian story, the novel wasn’t meant to ask “what if” about the future so much as “how so” about the present. Dystopian stories warn us of what might happen tomorrow. Great dystopian stories plumb deeper, asking what it is about us now that could bring us there.
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The Civil War was a tragic confrontation of a once unified people deeply divided by polarized values. There were heroes on both sides who fought hard for what they believed in, strongly convinced that their cause was the righteous one. Lives were lost, and great damage was done before the healing could begin again. But what precisely was the cause of this bitter strife that severed our nation in two? Honestly, the answer is complex and it depends on who you ask. I did the research, and after looking diligently into the matter, I’ve offered a summary of the various theories.
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Don’t you hate it when a friend agrees to a set of rules in a game and then complains about them? They try to claim they actually won by weaseling their way out of the contractually agreed-upon rules?
This is a logical fallacy in argument known as moving the goalposts. This fallacy is commonly considered a version of the special pleading fallacy. After a claim is shown to be false, an attempt at making a special exception is made. Continue reading
So, you hear a lot about sanctions when countries are at odds with one another. You’ve probably heard some about it recently too. A sanction is one country, attempting to penalize another country, places trade restrictions on that country. This also includes imposing tariffs and “freezing” another country’s assets. These sanctions amount to a nation holding hostage another nation’s ability to trade.
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CALEB COY 