I am not religious. I am secular. I use the same epistemic standard for religious claims that I use for claims in history, medicine, psychology, biology, other sciences, and everyday life. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Throughout this essay I examine whether religious claims meet that evidentiary standard. An inherited
Most positive social media behaviors are direct counters to the well-documented problems with online platforms: engagement-driven amplification, context collapse, echo chambers, and pile-ons. Organized against those four dynamics, plus a set of everyday habits, they look like this. Countering Engagement-Driven Amplification The algorithm feeds on your
The idea of a Black person being “not Black enough” is racist because it perpetuates clichés and harmful tropes about Black people and polices Black identity using narrow, arbitrary, and subjective criteria. Identity gatekeeping like this is damaging, and individuals who weaponize this idea within Black communities can be described
A positive stereotype is a subjectively favorable belief about a social group, one that assigns some advantage or superiority on the basis of category membership. Because such beliefs can sound like compliments, they may escape the social disapproval that may have reduced open expression of negative stereotypes. Endorsement of negative
“We all worship the same God” is a familiar refrain at interfaith gatherings and in political speeches. The statement may be intended to promote goodwill and reduce religious tension. Yet when examined critically the claim fails. Christianity, Judaism and Islam each trace their origins to Abraham, but shared ancestry alone
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It is important to understand and discuss slavery in the United States. We are still dealing with its effects, especially because Black people are far less wealthy than white people as a group. Here are some books you can read about slavery. Slavery and Social Death (1982) – Orlando Patterson Roll,