by Dalia Mogahed Regarding a woman covering her head, consider these verses:”For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of … Continue reading Regarding a woman covering her head
Joseph J. Ferrare, University of Washington, Bothell and Kate Phillippo, Loyola University Chicago At school board meetings across the country in 2021, parents engaged in physical altercations, shouted at school board members and threatened them as well. These disagreements entered … Continue reading Watch for these conflicts over education in 2022
Simon Horobin, University of Oxford An annual list of “banished words” compiled by Lake Superior State University in Michigan has caused a stir by including the distinctively Australian phrase “no worries”. Dislike of this idiom appears to be based on … Continue reading ‘Go toss your cookies elsewhere’: ten phrases that cause confusion across the Anglosphere
Aram Goudsouzian, University of Memphis In the summer of 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. introduced the keynote speaker for the 10th-anniversary convention banquet of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Their guest, he said, was his “soul brother.” “He has carved … Continue reading Sidney Poitier – Hollywood’s first Black leading man reflected the civil rights movement on screen
Emily Costello, The Conversation and Thalia Plata, The Conversation In some religions, women are barred from serving as clergy or excluded from top leadership roles. Nonetheless, women have broken into influential roles in these male-led faiths. How are these women … Continue reading Women are finding new ways to influence male-led faiths
Hollywood’s primer on climate denial illustrates 5 myths that fuel rejection of science Gale Sinatra, University of Southern California and Barbara K. Hofer, Middlebury Every disaster movie seems to open with a scientist being ignored. “Don’t Look Up” is no exception … Continue reading ‘Don’t Look Up’
We just didn’t believe it before the Capitol insurrection Amanda J. Crawford, University of Connecticut Americans had to confront a new reality when an angry mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021: Some of their fellow citizens were … Continue reading American support for conspiracy theories and armed rebellion isn’t new
Scientific certainty survival kit: How to push back against skeptics who exploit uncertainty for political gain Paul Frost, Trent University; Marguerite Xenopoulos, Trent University; Michael Epp, Trent University, and Michael Hickson, Trent University The mathematician Kurt Gödel was obsessed by the … Continue reading How to push back against skeptics who exploit uncertainty for political gain
Alastair Wilson, University of Birmingham READER QUESTION: My understanding is that nothing comes from nothing. For something to exist, there must be material or a component available, and for them to be available, there must be something else available. Now … Continue reading How could the Big Bang arise from nothing?
Explainer: Nietzsche, nihilism and reasons to be cheerful Jamie Parr, Australian Catholic University German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is sometimes dismissed as a malevolent figure, obsessed with the problem of nihilism and the “death of God”. Understandably, these ideas are unsettling: … Continue reading Nietzsche’s Jihad for Questioning
Mohammed Abbasi 