Here we are again, another year gone by. Tomorrow is two years since I put up the first post on this blog. I looked through the last year’s worth of posts just now, and I found to my surprise that they comprise not even a quarter of the total. A lot has happened in the last year, but day-to-day I haven’t really gotten any busier. Just lazier, I suppose. Or less enthusiastic.
On an unrelated note, I’ve been wondering if it might be useful to create a central index for the blogosphere. There are only a couple of dozen Jewish skeptic blogs at any given time, and the old ones tend to disappear, either because they’re taken down or because no one links to them anymore. What do you think?
Year Two Index
Best of
Bias and Rationality
An exploration of whether biases influence reasoning and whether those biases affect the validity of conclusions.
Corrupting Influences
Which is more dangerous – licentious material or dissenting information, and the use of the fear of the former to ban the latter.
Jewish Music
By far my most popular post. A side-by-side comparison of some mainstream “Jewish” songs and the pop tunes that they copied.
Eisav HaRasha?
A straight reading of the Chumash shows that Eisav wasn’t quite as evil as he’s made out to be, and Yaakov was no paragon of virtue.
Theology/Philosophy
Bias and Rationality
The Force Behind Nature
Just Shoot Him!
Euphemisms, Shema, and Paradigms
“God Himself Couldn’t Sink This Ship”Eisav HaRasha?
With Gratitude to Hashem…
Suicide is Painless…
The Celestial Bank
Response to articles / things read / events
Big Brother is Watching You…
Debugged Kashrus
Tiferes Yisroel Update
When Humans Become Gods
Reminiscing / culture
I Have Met the Other, and He is Me
Corrupting Influences
Jewish Music
Frummer Than God
Holidays
1st Century Spin Doctors
Search Judaism
Search Judaism – A Critique: Chapter Four, section four I
Unfortunately, the last in the series. Maybe someday I’ll go back to it. Probably not. After a while it went from being fun to being annoying.
For Fun
Shaped Like a BLOGG!
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Belated Anniversary Post
It’s now been over a year since I started this blog. I meant to post on the actual anniversary, but I was away for Pesach and have been busy or not in the mood since I got back.
A year’s a long time. I may not post frequently, but I usually write every couple of weeks, and for a while I was writing every day. Since I’ve started following the blogosphere I’ve seen some good blogs (and some not-so-good ones) start up, run for a few months, then stand abandoned when their authors disappear from cyberspace. So, congratulations to me!
(Why thank you, me.)
When I started writing I thought I would record some of the incidents and insights in my life that have brought me to my current position on religion. I’ve done some of that, but I’ve also found myself writing frequently about theology, morality, and philosophy. I’ve found that writing out my ideas helps me to understand my own position better, as it forces me to lay out the ideas and arguments and explain them rather than leave them as a confused jumble in my head. Feedback from other people helps to refine ideas, either by modifying or discarding mistaken bits or by making me better define and explain them. So, thank you to all the commenters.
At this point, I suppose I could write about the purpose of the blog, perhaps about what I hope to accomplish. Except that it doesn’t really have a purpose. It’s just a hobby. Sure, blogs are what helped me realize I wasn't unique, that there are other people who grew up frum who think the same way I do, and it’s great to be able to communicate with like-minded people (and even with people who vehemently disagree, as long as they are interested in polite discussion). If reading this blog helps someone else connect with an online community, great! But I wouldn’t make too much of it. Mostly, it’s entertainment.
The following are posts that I somewhat arbitrarily decided to include in a “best of” list. The next post is a categorized index of the last year’s worth of posts. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.
The Rasha
My first post. A brief explanation of my point of view.
Wild Mass Guessing
A discussion of why so many religious explanation seem so convoluted, with references to TVtropes, a favorite site of mine.
Objective Morality, or, God’s Classroom Rules
Why we’re so hung up on morality and its failure as a proof for religion.
Duex Ex Homo Sapiens
Possibly my favorite post, it references all of my favorite intellectual pursuits: theology, philosophy, psychology, and history. It’s also particularly well-written, if I do say so myself.
Does Being Wrong Make Something Wrong?
What is a valid way to evaluate the truth of a religion, and does the morality of a religion’s tenets have any bearing on its truth.
Search Judaism critique
The first post in the series, serving as a stand-in for the series so far. (I’ll be continuing it in the near future. Really!) Writing the critique has finally given me a practical use for all the bits of trivia I’ve picked up, and is basically a game of spot-the-error. That said, at least the author tried to approach religion rationally, something that the majority of people never do.
For the full index of posts, click here.
A year’s a long time. I may not post frequently, but I usually write every couple of weeks, and for a while I was writing every day. Since I’ve started following the blogosphere I’ve seen some good blogs (and some not-so-good ones) start up, run for a few months, then stand abandoned when their authors disappear from cyberspace. So, congratulations to me!
(Why thank you, me.)
When I started writing I thought I would record some of the incidents and insights in my life that have brought me to my current position on religion. I’ve done some of that, but I’ve also found myself writing frequently about theology, morality, and philosophy. I’ve found that writing out my ideas helps me to understand my own position better, as it forces me to lay out the ideas and arguments and explain them rather than leave them as a confused jumble in my head. Feedback from other people helps to refine ideas, either by modifying or discarding mistaken bits or by making me better define and explain them. So, thank you to all the commenters.
At this point, I suppose I could write about the purpose of the blog, perhaps about what I hope to accomplish. Except that it doesn’t really have a purpose. It’s just a hobby. Sure, blogs are what helped me realize I wasn't unique, that there are other people who grew up frum who think the same way I do, and it’s great to be able to communicate with like-minded people (and even with people who vehemently disagree, as long as they are interested in polite discussion). If reading this blog helps someone else connect with an online community, great! But I wouldn’t make too much of it. Mostly, it’s entertainment.
The following are posts that I somewhat arbitrarily decided to include in a “best of” list. The next post is a categorized index of the last year’s worth of posts. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.
The Rasha
My first post. A brief explanation of my point of view.
Wild Mass Guessing
A discussion of why so many religious explanation seem so convoluted, with references to TVtropes, a favorite site of mine.
Objective Morality, or, God’s Classroom Rules
Why we’re so hung up on morality and its failure as a proof for religion.
Duex Ex Homo Sapiens
Possibly my favorite post, it references all of my favorite intellectual pursuits: theology, philosophy, psychology, and history. It’s also particularly well-written, if I do say so myself.
Does Being Wrong Make Something Wrong?
What is a valid way to evaluate the truth of a religion, and does the morality of a religion’s tenets have any bearing on its truth.
Search Judaism critique
The first post in the series, serving as a stand-in for the series so far. (I’ll be continuing it in the near future. Really!) Writing the critique has finally given me a practical use for all the bits of trivia I’ve picked up, and is basically a game of spot-the-error. That said, at least the author tried to approach religion rationally, something that the majority of people never do.
For the full index of posts, click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)