stcynic
Posts by this author
March 15, 2005
I was flipping channels and came across Justice Scalia speaking on c-span, just catching the last few minutes. It was a pretty standard Scalia speech, arguing for that only a principled originalism preserves the constitution's ability to maintain a stable and free society, in contrast to the notion…
March 14, 2005
A California Superior Court judge has ruled that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional in that state. I know nothing about the California state constitution, so I have no idea if the ruling is legally justified or not, but this part certainly nails the crux of the whole issue:
"It appears…
March 14, 2005
The Washington Post has a pretty good article on ID this morning, one that will no doubt bring howls of outrage from the Discovery Institute's Media Complaints Division (aka their blog). A couple interesting bits from it:
Some evolution opponents are trying to use Bush's No Child Left Behind law…
March 14, 2005
Jon Rowe has a post that links to a fascinating exchange between Harry Jaffa, arguing for natural rights theory as the prism through which one must view Constitutional originalism, and Robert Bork and Lino Graglia, arguing the opposite. There is a big split among conservative legal theorists that…
March 13, 2005
Chris from Mixing Memory posted a comment on my post about Pinker and Summers, and it led me to check out his blog. I urge you to do the same. It doesn't have much information about what Chris does, but I suspect it must have something to do with cognitive neuroscience or linguistics. Two recent…
March 12, 2005
If any of you are not regularly reading Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, I highly recommend you begin doing so. In a comment on my post about the Jerusalem Prayer Team, he points to this post, which details the sheer lunacy that exists in the head of Mike Evans, leader of that group. He also has an…
March 11, 2005
Steven Pinker, in my opinion one of the dozen or so most brilliant thinkers on the planet, has an article in the New Republic about the brouhaha over Lawrence Summers' remarks on possible non-discriminatory causes of the differential success of men and women in science. In the midst of an enormous…
March 11, 2005
As a follow up to yesterday's post on competing constitutional interpretations, take a look at Jon Rowe's post on originalism and textualism. He writes:
I consider myself to be both an originalist and a textualist. Yet, I also believe that because certain parts of our Constitution were…
March 11, 2005
Wouldn't you know it, the gays have riled up the Jerusalem Prayer Team by hosting a gay pride parade in that holy city. Now I'm not a big fan of such parades, but this one sounds pretty tame even according to the people opposed to them:
The global homosexual gathering, organized by InterPride, the…
March 11, 2005
The Worldnutdaily is reporting about a group in Maryland that is up in arms because a new sex education program in Montgomery County Public Schools includes a video of a woman showing how to put on a condom by using a cucumber:
Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum features an excerpt from the…
March 10, 2005
In a discussion on the religion law listserv last week, in an exchange with Jim Henderson, senior counsel with Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, the issue of constitutional law and original intent came up. Mr. Henderson was arguing that the original intent of the framers was the…
March 10, 2005
Today is my beloved Lynn's birthday, so please join me in wishing a Happy Birthday to the most beautiful, most courageous and most inspiring woman I've ever known. Sadly, the day she was born I was probably eating paste in a kindergarden class and was unaware of the sheer magnitude of the event…
March 9, 2005
Jon Rowe has responded to my post on the polygamy debate that has been going on in the blog neighborhood. He writes:
I don't have time to address all the issues, but I must say that I'm a little taken aback by Ed Brayton's dismissive attitude towards my rationale; he doesn't even examine my…
March 9, 2005
My first post on In the Agora, a reprint of the open letter to gay marriage opponents that I published here a few months ago, prompted an exchange of comments with ajmac, who posts at this blog. He responded to it in comments, and in this post on his blog. He seems simultaneously to be defensive at…
March 8, 2005
In the wake of our recent discussion about polygamy comes this report of a Utah state judge who is himself polygamous:
Hildale Justice Court Judge Walter Steed - an admitted polygamist with three wives and 32 children - should be removed from the bench, according to a recommendation by Utah's…
March 8, 2005
For my first real post at In the Agora, I decided to repost the open letter to gay marriage opponents I wrote a few months ago. I'm proud of that post and I hope that perhaps it will do some good in a different setting.
March 8, 2005
My friend Barbara Forrest, co-author with Paul Gross of the wonderful book Creationism's Trojan Horse, has finally hit the big time. Yes, she's been quoted in the New York Times and other major media outlets before. But once you've been seen on the pages of Al Jazeera, there's nowhere to go but…
March 7, 2005
I am pleased to announce that I have been invited to join In The Agora as a contributor and have accepted that invitation. For those who are not familiar with it, In the Agora is an excellent group blog founded by Josh Claybourn and Paul Musgrave. I have admired their work from afar and linked to…
March 7, 2005
A bit of an argument has erupted among my closest blog neighbors over the question of gay marriage and polygamy. It began with Jon Rowe's post last month in which he argued that the arguments for gay marriage do not necessarily lead logically to the acceptance of polygamous marriages. Jon was not…
March 7, 2005
CNN has a story on people who have been fired for blogging. Since I don't have a boss, I don't have to worry about such things, but those of you who work for a private company, you should keep in mind that the first amendment does not protect you from being fired in most cases for what you might…
March 7, 2005
Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost, ID proponent and pretty decent guy, is mentioned in a New York Times article on religion and the blogosphere. Joe, Joe, Joe...first you decided to move from a red state to a decidedly blue state and now you're receiving notice in the flagship of the godless…
March 7, 2005
I returned home from my weekend of fun last night, thoroughly exhausted but happy. Had a great time Saturday night. Though the steaks were underwhelming - the Big Buck Brewery in Auburn Hills seems to think that garlic by itself is all that is needed for a good marinade - the company was great.…
March 5, 2005
I am off until tomorrow. Going to the Detroit area to spend some time with a group of buddies, where we will be engaging in the traditional male bonding rituals of eating steaks the size of hubcaps and playing poker. With no women there to keep us civilized and on our best behavior, I suspect that…
March 5, 2005
Jason shows once again why he is such an irreplaceably compelling voice in the blogosphere. I should link first to the Dave Jansing essay that Jason quotes from, making similar arguments about the need for a focus on virtue rather than values. Read that one first, then read this essay by Jason.…
March 5, 2005
Only dedicated court watchers like me will find this funny, but it's bloody hilarious. Jack Balkin's prediction of the outcome of the Ten Commandments cases:
Justice O'Connor upholds five, strikes down five.
Brilliant!
March 4, 2005
The AP has now made available the full transcript of the oral arguments of the McCreary case, the second of the two Ten Commandments cases heard by the Supreme Court yesterday. I haven't had time to read it yet, but thought some of my readers might like to do so.
March 4, 2005
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I stand shoulder to shoulder with a lot of good people, gay and straight, in being staunchly in favor of equal rights for gays and lesbians. Like any large group, however, gay rights advocates have our share of people who take things to such ridiculous extremes…
March 4, 2005
I've always wondered how on earth Dennis Hastert became Speaker of the House of Representatives. He isn't very bright and he has all the charisma of a pine tree. Along comes Charles Oliver, writing in Reason magazine, to explain it all as basically dumb luck. He was only elected to the Illinois…
March 4, 2005
An Oregon appeals court has ruled against a school district that allowed the Boy Scouts to recruit on school grounds during school hours because the Scouts discriminate on the basis of religion. The report noted:
The court said while all students have been required to listen to an introductory…
March 4, 2005
I'm pleased to announce that Thomas Van Orden, the plaintiff in Van Orden v. Perry, the Texas ten commandments case that was heard this week by the Supreme Court, has agreed to be interviewed next week for this blog. The interview will be conducted via email and hopefully posted within the next…