Philosophy with Attitude

Current-ish events:

Breastfeeding issues:

A Conversation from 1999 with Eva Marie

That bears explanation: Eva wrote to me in February of 1999, and the conversation that ensued covers all the major bases: the existence of god, the meaning of life, evolution, happiness... it goes on. This is a very long conversation, but I think we both made some valid points, and it might bear reading if you are an atheist looking for a typical argument and some refutations... or a Christian looking for what to study up on!

Essays on Atheism and Related Topics:

Is evolutionary theory a worldview?
According to many fundamentalist Christians, especially those in the field of creation "science" or intelligent design "theory", it is. But evolution is just a theory, like the theory of gravitation, or quantum theory, or the theory of plate tectonics... yet one rarely (if ever) hears about a "gravitational worldview" or a "plate tectonic worldview." There seems to be a basic misunderstanding in the Creationist camp about exactly what evolution is and is not, and because of those misunderstandings, evolution is misconstrued as being a comprehensive worldview. The goal of this misconstruction is to attempt to invalidate evolution because it is inadequate as a worldview. I propose that since evolutionary theory is not, in fact, a worldview, it is unreasonable to invalidate its findings by that method.
School Prayer:
This is a series of Letters to the Editor that appeared in the Keene Sentinel in the summer of 1993.
Death and the Atheist:
For my Grandfather (1916-1997)

"Forum" pieces I wrote for The New Hampshire (UNH student newspaper):

  1. Concerning "proof" of the statement "God loves you" (in response to an article that appeared the previous week)
  2. Concerning the doctrine of "Original Sin" (in response to another Forum piece)
  3. "Why I am an Atheist" (in response to many emails about past Forum pieces)
  4. My latest effort against the newly-sinister Walt E. Laux and his cronnies

"Forum" pieces concerning the then-hot-topic of cloning:

  1. An editorial highlighting people's paranoia about cloning (not by me)
  2. My response to the above editorial

Discussions about religion, evolution, freethought, and the like, generated on unh.flame and unh.religion, two local newsgroups:

  1. A chat about evolution and terms used in evolutionary thought
  2. A discussion turned ugly about the role of religion in different peoples' lives
  3. More chats about religion

Essays from my "Introduction to Prose Writing" Class: (Spring 1992)

The Darker Side of Life
Admittedly, there are many parts of this essay that no longer describe me or my beliefs (e.g. I stopped liking Andrew Lloyd Webber when I found out that he had stolen music from Pink Floyd, among others), but it does detail the growth of my fiction writing through high school.
Of Letters and Love
This is written in an experimental (for me) style; I shared it with my classmates, and they said it was like reading someone's diary. You be the judge.
Living
Still more of the 19-year-old me pining over unrequited love... but it's kind of poetic in places.
Observations
Just that -- some observations about life and things like that.
Occasions
Similar to "Observations", but the last one is EXTREMELY silly. Just thought I'd warn you.

Miscellaneous writings:

"Shower with a friend"? Not at UNH... the saga that got David and me kicked out of the dorms!

To Play the Fool: an essay on the Fool in Shakespeare's plays

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