As a Catholic (adjective) ex-Catholic (noun), I should take note of Pope Benedict XVI’s [2007] encyclical, Spe Salvi (“in hope we are saved”), his second, a document which has things to say about science.
Articles with 2007
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Pushing drugs
Two people I’d be happy to never see in the media again: Robert Bazell and Robert Jarvik.
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Skyhooks and cranes
Some one-word titles in the psychology section of the library: Solitude, Compassion, Self-hate, Laughter, Jealousy, Regret, Shame, Prejudice, Violence, Anger, Embarrassment. And that’s just for starters.
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For the love of books
In the first year of my married life, I visited with my wife, a teacher, the home of one of her students in Los Angeles, California.
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On one’s knees in dewy grass
Here is the crucial moment in Francis Collins’ book, “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence of Belief,” often offered as a antidote to Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion.”
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The uncommon commonplace
Writing recently about the Perseid meteor shower of August reminded me of one of the most vigorous showers I have witnessed, the one I wrote about in the first chapter of “Honey From Stone.”
The Brontë Sisters, Anne, Emily, and Charlotte, painted by their brother Branwell (c. 1834)
Vile bodies, immortal souls
On the 29th of December, 1836, Charlotte Brontë, twenty years old, posted some of her poems to the Poet Laureate of England Robert Southey, hoping for encouragement. Three months later, the great man replied, putting the “flighty” girl in her place.
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Some observations regarding certain doctrines of faith
For the past few weeks, correspondents to the Irish Times have been furiously debating a recent Vatican document (Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of Faith) that said Christian denominations other than Roman Catholic are not “proper churches.”
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No ghost in the machine
Anthropologist Pascal Boyer thinks he knows what all supernatural beings — gods, ghosts, witches, fairies, and so on — have in common: They are optimal compromises between the interesting and the expected.
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Wasting away
Many communities in the United States are talking about banning plastic bags. Here in Ireland we’ve been required to bring our own shopping bags to the market for years. But Lord knows there’s still plenty of trash.