Sean Prophet
Articles by Sean Prophet
September 11, 2010
President Obama, Hillary Clinton and General Petraeus made a grave, grave strategic error by granting the spectacle created by a fringe preacher the moral standing to affect the lives of US soldiers or change the outcome of the war in Afghanistan. Three prominent global figures have now endorsed the idea that not only is Muslim violence as a response to Quran burning inevitable, so is the spilling of American blood.
November 09, 2009
Atheists and "mythbusters" are more than just pedantic. Since myths have power, it's important to evaluate each one based on both its truth value and, if false, the social consequence of believing it. Is it a good myth? Or does it promote the same old pathologies of abuse of hierarchy or authority. Does it help people see things as they are? Or will it confuse them further? How our choice of story affects the kind of world we inhabit.
November 08, 2009
The gay marriage issue put George W. Bush in office in 2004, and therefore contributed heavily to the "Great Recession." Using it as a wedge is vital to the religious right/Tea Party Republican strategy. We are defined as a nation by how we treat our pariahs: gays, atheists, Muslims and illegal immigrants. There is far more at stake here than a label slapped on gay relationships. It is a key determinant in the very future of democracy.
September 13, 2009
Joe Wilson's outburst has revived a national debate on immigrant health-care. Now that he mentioned it, why exactly don't we embrace hard working people who come to America to pick our lettuce, clean our pools and toilets and mow our lawns? Why have we made it so difficult for them to participate legally? Why do we continue to condemn them for leaching when we won't let them pay their own way?
July 15, 2007
The diagram represents the "Knowledge Paradigm" of science. Click here to see the full size image. It says simply and visually:
We have a very limited scope of knowledge. Everything we know about our universe, we have learned through the scientific method. That which is outside our circle of kn...
April 25, 2007
Esquire executive editor Mark Warren's commentary about Christopher Hitchens is all over the map. A masterpiece of post-modernist gobbledygook. A paragon of doublespeak. Warren writes in praise of Christopher Hitchens' new book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. But he also manages t...
February 04, 2007
For the past 5 years, I've been talking about climate change to anyone who would listen. In November 2001, I said:
"The very least that will happen is environmental devastation as CO2 increases and warms our planet beyond recognition. We've got to call a halt to this NOW. This is perhaps the most...
December 27, 2006
I never thought I'd find myself liking an evangelist. But it's hard not to like Jay Bakker, son of the Rev. Jim and Tammy Faye. The younger Bakker has a new show on the Sundance Channel, entitled One Punk Under God. The show covers the tattooed and pierced younger Bakker's struggling ministry, curre...
December 16, 2006
It is easy to criticize governments and nations--but to actually govern? The crushing responsibility of being a head of state could certainly confound the strongest and smartest people. It takes a special breed to even get in the position. Once there, if they can accomplish a third of what they set ...