by Carl Howard | Jul 28, 2014 | Atheism and Religion, Biases and Fallacies, Medicine, Mind, Psychology and Consciousness, Science and Skepticism, Spirituality
Near death experiences happen to many people when they’re near clinical death and survive. They’re often profoundly meaningful or life-changing to those who have them. They’re also frequently used to argue that there is an afterlife, a spiritual realm or “something...
by Carl Howard | May 6, 2014 | Atheism and Religion, Atrocities and Oppression, Ethics, Spirituality
It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of the Dalai Lama. For starters, he is the leader of a theocracy where leaders have brutally oppressed the population. This reality, and that of him being a leader of a religion that’s just like any other sometimes peeks...
by Carl Howard | Nov 8, 2012 | Atheism and Religion, Blog Topics, Feminism and LGBT, Spirituality
Speaking of Buddhism, one thing I can’t stand is people giving the Dalai Lama a pass, and passing around inspirational images with his “wisdom quotes”. An example here: Not only are they usually deepities or Barnum statements or just trite but the Dalai Lama espouses...
by Carl Howard | Jan 28, 2009 | Atheism and Religion, Atrocities and Oppression, Blog Topics, Links, Spirituality
The idea of killing for inner peace isn’t as preposterous as it sounds. Or rather, it IS as preposterous as it sounds but not as uncommon as it seems. A great example comes from that Source of All Worldly Wisdom: the Simpsons. Here, Springfield stumbles onto what...
by Carl Howard | Apr 21, 2008 | Atrocities and Oppression, Biases and Fallacies, Blog Topics, Science and Skepticism, Spirituality
Mysticism is typically associated with peace: Mother Teresa is considered the ultimate mystic/ascetic/saint in modern mythology (however this is bullshit). There are of course older archetypes like Francis of Assissi Mysticism is seen as a “more advanced” version of a...
