This is another fine word that I found in Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion. I am still nearly finished with this book and will be reading a new one tomorrow.
Abrogation (ab-RUH-gey-shun) [from Latin abrogÄtus repealed]
noun.
- to abolish by formal or official means; annul by an authoritative act; repeal: to abrogate a law.
- to put aside; put an end to.
Usage: Sookhdeo goes on to explain how Islamic scholars, in order to cope with the many contradictions that they found in the Qur'an, developed the principle of abrogation, whereby later texts trump earlier ones. Unfortunatley, the peacable passages in the Qur'an are mostly early, dating from Muhammed's time in Mecca. The more belligerent verses tend to date from later, after his flight to Medina.
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Primate Diaries has an excellent writeup on the very important news that came out overnight regarding the "Danish Text" draft climate agreement, leaked to the UK's Guardian.
From a letter sent to APS members by Michael S. Lubell the Director of Public Affairs for the American Physical Society some due outrage:
It turns out that most of our elected representatives, in the U.S., are going to hell. I just found out. Do you want to know why?
We shouldn't pick on the South all the time, so here is a tale out of the eminently Yankee state of Maine.
Thanks for the vocab tips. The book sounds interesting. May have to get it after I read the Andrew Jackson bio.
PS. Miss Bird is plucking a little bit (grrrr). Not as bad as Matt and Diane's bird Rocky, but we're keeping a close eye out. We are putting her to bed earlier and I think that is helping. But Missy has developed some serious attitude toward Greg's sister Emily. When she is in town visiting (she stays with us) Missy gets very nippy with us. Of coarse, There is a man involved. They are competing for the love of Em's fiancee, who Missy instantly fell head-over-beak in love with the moment she met him.
The Islamic means of resolving scriptural ambiguities resembles one of the rules of contract interpretation used in Texas following the court's determination that a contract is ambiguous as a matter of law. Unlike Islam, however, an unfavorable ruling by a Texas civil court would not precipitate a schism and a jihad (snerk!).