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The following is a repost from February 23, 2011: In an e-mail to me, Caroline proposes thought provoking reasons for non-believers to encourage (or at least to not actively discourage) religious beliefs: It would also be nice if people would carry out actions in good conscience of just being decent human beings rather than in [...]
Archive for the ‘Law’ Category
The Religious Conservative’s False Choice: “Big Brother” Or “Heavenly Father”
September 17th, 2011 
Daniel Fincke Did Theocrats Swing Weiner’s District Republican?
September 15th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Robbie George, the conservative Princeton Professor who opposes same-sex marriage, writes of an under-reported influence in Weiner’s Queens district (NY-9): In the run up to the election, a group of Orthodox rabbis, most from Brooklyn, but including others, notably Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky and Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, two nationally prominent Orthodox Jewish authorities, published a [...]
Posted in Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Judaism, Law, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Same Sex Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats 
1 Comment »Why Clergy Rightfully Have No Place At A 9/11 Memorial (Or Any Civic Ceremonies)
September 11th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Some clergy have been upset that they were explicitly excluded from today’s ceremonies about 9/11. I alluded to this, with a link where you can read more, in the following critical remark yesterday: some [are taking] the opportunity [of 9/11's tenth anniversary] to selfishly feel aggrieved because their religion and its pseudo-authority and pseudo-comforts are neglected. [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Free Speech, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Jesus, Jesus, Law, Law, Law & Politics, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Prayer, Prayer, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats 
Tags: 9/11, Funerals, Memorials, Rituals 6 Comments »Republican Candidates Take Strong Stand Against Inoculating Girls Against Cancer-Causing Virus
September 8th, 2011 Daniel Fincke My jaw dropped when Paul used the words “forcibly” and “sexually transmitted disease” and “12 year old girls” in the same sentence when describing something as basic to public health as inoculation against a virus that currently a full 50% of all sexually active men and women will get. If you did not know what the [...]
Santorum’s Hypocrisy and Backwardness on Questions of Epistemic Authority
September 1st, 2011 Daniel Fincke My thoughts:
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethics, Faith, Faith, Free Speech, Free Speech, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Law, Law, LGBTQAA, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Psychology, Psychology, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Same Sex Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Teleology, Teleology, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats, Videos Tags: Rick Santorum 5 Comments »9 Vital Points About The Public Relevance of Political Candidates’ Religious Beliefs
September 1st, 2011 Daniel Fincke Last week, Bill Keller had a good piece in the New York Times in which he discussed the importance of “asking tougher questions about faith” to the presidential candidates and then offered to each of the current Republican candidates for president a set of specific questions, tailored uniquely to each candidate, about their faiths and their [...]
Posted in Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Faith, Faith, Free Speech, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Law, Law, News Discussion, News Discussion, Philosophy, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats Tags: 1st Amendment, Bart Stupak, Bill Keller, John F. Kennedy, John Shimkus, Political Philosophy, Presidential Campaign 2012, Republican Presidential Candidates 4 Comments »The Executive Branch WILL Continue Enforcing DOMA, Just Will Not DEFEND It In Court
February 26th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Get ready for the deceptive meme to come flying your way that the Obama administration is abnegating its responsibilities to enforce law by not enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act. The administration will continue to enforce the unconscionable law, it will only not defend it from legal challenges in court. Others, starting with the House [...]
Posted in Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Politics, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics Tags: Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, Eric Holder No Comments »The Religious Conservative's False Choice: "Big Brother" Or "Heavenly Father"
February 23rd, 2011 Daniel Fincke In an e-mail to me, Caroline proposes thought provoking reasons for non-believers to encourage (or at least to not actively discourage) religious beliefs: It would also be nice if people would carry out actions in good conscience of just being decent human beings rather than in fear of reprisal in the afterlife, but as there [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Authority, Authority, Autonomy, Autonomy, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Duty, Duty, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, George W. Bush, George W. Bush, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Moral Psychology, Moral Psychology, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, News Discussion, News Discussion, Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Psychology, Psychology, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Secularism, Social Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology, Sociology, Theocrats, Theocrats, Torture, Torture, Virtues, Virtues, World Affairs, World Affairs Tags: Political Philosophy, Social Contract, Victor Frankl 4 Comments »How Would Apostates, Adulterers, And Thieves Fare In A Democratic Egypt?
February 18th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Razib Kahn has a most disturbing chart: Kahn explains the above: On the x-axis you see the proportion who accept that adulterers should be stoned. On the y-axis you see the responses to amputation and apostasy. The red points are the proportion who agree with the death penalty for apostates, and the navy points those [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Free Speech, Free Speech, Law, Law, News, News Discussion, News Discussion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, World Affairs, World Affairs 3 Comments »TOP Q: “Do Children Have Higher Moral Status Than Adults?”
February 9th, 2011 Daniel Fincke In his book Moral Status and Human Life: The Case for Children’s Superiority, law professor James Dwyer argues that children are not merely equal to adults in moral status but actually have a higher moral status than adults. Below is a brief video in which he sketches out the broad contours of his thought on moral [...]
Posted in Abortion, Abortion, Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Autonomy, Autonomy, Bio-Medical Ethics, Bio-Medical Ethics, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Duty, Duty, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, Law, Law, Metaethics, Metaethics, Moral Psychology, Moral Psychology, Morality, Morality, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Teleology, Teleology, Today's Open Philosophical Question (TOP Q) Tags: Children, Children's Rights 2 Comments »Republican Legislator In Wyoming Recounts Circumstances Of Her Abortion
February 9th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Rachel Maddow covers the remarkable story about Wyoming State Representatives Lisa Shepperson and Sue Wallis making a small government conservatism argument against a paternalistic proposed abortion law: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Wallis is the mother of 7 and the grandmother of 1. More about her can be [...]
Posted in Abortion, Abortion, Bio-Medical Ethics, Bio-Medical Ethics, Feminism, Feminism, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Politics, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues Tags: Rachel Maddow, Robert Brechtel, Sue Wallis, Wyoming 2 Comments »Would The Founding Fathers Ever Mandate People Buy Health Insurance?
February 5th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Some already did: In July of 1798, Congress passed – and President John Adams signed – “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen.” The law authorized the creation of a government operated marine hospital service and mandated that privately employed sailors be required to purchase health care insurance. Keep in mind that [...]
Posted in History, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Politics Tags: Health Care Reform, Private Mandate No Comments »Just How Much Control Over Their Children’s Thought Are Parents Entitled To?
January 31st, 2011 Daniel Fincke In reply to yesterday’s open philosophical question whether a Swedish law banning any school, even private ones, from indoctrinating students by teaching their religious tenets as truths (with the ulterior motive of undermining Islamic schools’ abilities to radicalize their students), Mary Young makes a rigorous and eloquent case against such bans well worth highlighting (and [...]
Posted in 'Nuff Said, 'Nuff Said, 'Nuff Said, Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Authority, Authority, Autonomy, Autonomy, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Creationism, Creationism, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Education, Featured, Free Speech, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Islam, Islam, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Racism, Religion, Religion, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State Tags: Dogma, Dogmatism, Homeschooling, Indoctrination, Islamophobia, Parents' Rights 21 Comments »TOP Q: “Is It Unjust To Outlaw Schools, Even Private Religious Ones, From Teaching Religious Doctrines As Though True?”
January 30th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Sweden is planning to make it illegal, even for private schools, to teach religious doctrines as true. Their content may be discussed, of course, but they will not be able to be presented as facts. In The Guardian, Andrew Brown explains the issues involved and the ulterior motives which may really explain the legislation: The [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Creationism, Creationism, Education, Featured, Free Speech, Free Speech, Intelligent Design, Intelligent Design, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Today's Open Philosophical Question (TOP Q) 9 Comments »TOP Q: Where Are The Lines Between Peaceable Death Penalty Advocacy And Criminal Incitement?
January 29th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Last week a heinous, conscience-shocking injustice occurred when the brave, openly gay, Ugandan gay rights campaigner David Kato (pictured above) was murdered shortly after a Ugandan newspaper featured him on the cover with the headline: “100 PIctures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak” and the words “Hang Them” next to it. The AP photo of the newspaper [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Bible, Bible, Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, Free Speech, Free Speech, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Islam, Islam, Law, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Politics, Politics, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Today's Open Philosophical Question (TOP Q) Tags: Death Penalty, Hate Speech 1 Comment »NYPD Blue Moons The FCC With Court Approval
January 4th, 2011 Daniel Fincke A good day for freedom of speech as the censorious FCC loses its case trying to levy a fine for a naked butt on NYPD Blue: NEW YORK – The Federal Communications Commission cannot fine broadcasters for showing a woman’s nude buttocks on a 2003 episode of “NYPD Blue,” a federal court ruled Tuesday, citing [...]
Pakistani Governor Murdered For Opposing Blasphemy Laws
January 4th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Enraging news: Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province was assassinated by his own security guard Tuesday, according to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, apparently because he spoke out against the country’s controversial blasphemy law. The security guard was arrested, Malik said. The shooting occurred at Islamabad’s Kohsar Market, which is frequented by [...]
Posted in Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Free Speech, Free Speech, Islam, Islam, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats Tags: Blasphemy Laws, Pakistan, Rehman Malik 1 Comment »David Hyde Pierce On His Marriage And Prop 8
October 17th, 2010 Daniel Fincke This is a little old and comes from before the landmark Prop 8 ruling of this summer, but it is still poignant: Your Thoughts?
Federal Judge Orders Halt To “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
October 12th, 2010 Daniel Fincke CNN reports: A federal judge ordered Tuesday that the U.S. military stop enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Judge Virginia Phillips ordered the military “immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced” under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Thank Republicans. Your Thoughts?
Posted in Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Law, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, News, Politics No Comments »True Religion?
August 17th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Many a religious person defending her own religious beliefs will argue that a given politically, morally, or intellectually unflattering interpretation of her faith is simply not a true representation of her faith. While the question of who has the right or the adequate means to decisively determine with any rational clarity which competing interpretation of any [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Bible, Bible, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Featured, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, History, Judaism, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Science, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Pseudoscience, Rationalism, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Science, Science, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats Tags: Literalism, Philosophy of Science, Primitivism, Ronald Dworkin 12 Comments »David Boies Discusses The Prop 8 Overruling
August 7th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Here is one of the two lawyers behind the successful constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 giving a half hour lecture and then answering questions for more than a half hour. Thanks to Alan for the find. Your Thoughts?
Rape By Deception
July 25th, 2010 Daniel Fincke ProfMTH explores legal definitions that define sex acquired through fraud as rape: I have argued before, formally speaking, deception is a kind of force. Laws which treat procurement of sex through fraud as a form of rape seem to stem from similar considerations of the relationship between at least certain forms of deliberate deceit and [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Rape, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights Tags: ProfMTH, Susan Esteridge 4 Comments »ProfMTH Pwns William Lane Craig Over Ignorant Demand For “Strict Constructionism”
July 14th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Your Thoughts?
Posted in Free Speech, Free Speech, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Law, Law, Religion, Religion, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State Tags: 1st Amendment, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, Justice Antonin Scalia, ProfMTH, Strict Constructionism, William Lane Craig No Comments »France To Ban Burqa-Like Veils
July 13th, 2010 Daniel Fincke EuroNews.net writes: A law banning the wearing of a full Islamic veil in public in France has been adopted by the lower house of parliament. The ruling UMP and the New Centre party voted for the ban on the burqa or niqab while the Socialists, Communists and Greens abstained. The law goes to the upper house in [...]
Posted in Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Feminism, Feminism, Free Speech, Free Speech, Islam, Islam, Law, Law, Law & Politics, News, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Women's Issues, World Affairs, World Affairs Tags: Burqa Ban, France, French Burqa Ban, Veil No Comments »“Mickey Mouse Jesus” Gets Art Curators Convicted Of Inciting Religious Hatred In Moscow
July 13th, 2010 Daniel Fincke The LA Atheism Examiner reports: Two art curators, Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, were convicted Monday by a Moscow court of “inciting religious hatred’ for putting on an exhibet called “Forbidden Art” in 2007. A Mickey Mouse Jesus, a Coca Cola Christ with the slogan “this is my blood” and a Christ on the cross [...]
Posted in Arts, Christianity, Christianity, Free Speech, Free Speech, Jesus, Jesus, Law, Law, Religion, Religious Satire, Religious Satire Tags: Andrei Yerofeyev, Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyanksy, Blasphemy Laws, Gleb Yakunin, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Jesus, Russian Orthodox Church, Yuri Samodurov No Comments »
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