Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion

2011-02-17T05:00:11-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Updates

Last updated on: February 17, 2011 at 5:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

The rest of the story on recent posts. . . . The computer named Watson ended up wiping the floor with the human used-to-be champions on Jeopardy. The human race is evidently doomed. So if Watson is smarter than people, should we elect him president? What does this mean? The Patriot Act, which gives the government expanded wiretapping and surveillance powers in fighting terrorism, is being extended, for three to ten months, depending on how the Senate Bill and the... Read more

artificial intelligence

2011-02-16T06:00:44-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How much information is there?

Last updated on: February 16, 2011 at 6:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

Science Daily has a story about “the world’s total technological capacity — how much information humankind is able to store, communicate and compute.” It cites some unimaginably big numbers. But what was most striking is this last sentence: Looking at both digital memory and analog devices, the researchers calculate that humankind is able to store at least 295 exabytes of information. (Yes, that’s a number with 20 zeroes in it.) Put another way, if a single star is a bit... Read more

2011-02-16T05:30:56-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Gospel according to Sling Blade

Last updated on: February 16, 2011 at 5:30 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of Luther at the Movies, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting again at Strange Herring. Amidst his wry observations, humorous rants, and theological zingers, he will post thoughtful meditations and perceptive film criticism. For example, here he discusses What Is a Christian Film? and puts forward an unlikely-seeming candidate: To me, the most explicitly Christian film ever made is Billy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade. Consider: the central figure... Read more

2011-02-16T05:00:12-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Time’s Person of the Year 2045

Last updated on: February 16, 2011 at 5:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

I’ve been posting on the Singularity hypothesis and have already alluded to this big story in Time Magazine. It’s worth reading as perhaps a foretaste of an emerging secular religion, one that will solve all of our problems and bring us everlasting life. A sample: So if computers are getting so much faster, so incredibly fast, there might conceivably come a moment when they are capable of something comparable to human intelligence. Artificial intelligence. All that horsepower could be put... Read more

Religions

technology

artificial intelligence

Singularity

transhumanism

2011-02-15T06:00:31-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Killer asteroid may interfere with Singularity

Last updated on: February 15, 2011 at 6:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

Wouldn’t that just be humanity’s luck? An asteroid hits earth and wipes out the human race just 9 years before the Singularity comes to pass and we all would have been made immortal. From AOL News: Not to alarm you, but Russian scientists estimate Earth will be hit by an asteroid on April 13, 2036. Should we start packing our bags now? And where would we go? In 2004, NASA suggested the possibility that the asteroid called Apophis, bigger than... Read more

2011-02-15T05:38:36-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The King’s Speech

Last updated on: February 15, 2011 at 5:38 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

We finally saw the multiple-Oscar nominee The King’s Speech. What a great movie! I had expected in this account of King George VI and his speech therapist a light-hearted and humorous ‘enry ‘iggens My Fair Lady story in reverse. But it was so much more than that, an in-depth character study of the king’s second son, so dominated by his royal father and tormented by his shallow elder brother that he suffers from a major speech impediment, a problem with... Read more

Movies

The King's Speech

2011-02-15T05:00:27-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Humans tie with computer in Jeopardy

Last updated on: February 15, 2011 at 5:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

The computer could not defeat humanity in Jeopardy, at least in the first round. They tied. The showdown between “Watson,” a specially-programmed computer from IBM, and Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday. The show is syndicated and is usually on at 7:30 p.m. ET. Man matches machine in Jeopardy! showdown • The Register. So even if Watson wins, will that mean that computers have a greater mental capacity than human beings? I would... Read more

technology

television

artificial intelligence

game shows

Jeopardy

Watson

2011-02-14T06:00:42-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Adult culture

Last updated on: February 14, 2011 at 6:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

Picking up from the music posts last weekend. . . . Country music draws from the world of adults: marriage, family, work, church, but also alcoholism, adultery, divorce. (Country music is not intrinsically more wholesome, though. It is very frank about sex–premarital, extramarital, but also marital–and is full of bad examples.) The other popular musical genres–indeed, virtually all of pop culture, including television and the movies–draws from the world of young people: dating, singleness, play, undefined spirituality, drugs, premarital sex,... Read more

2011-02-14T05:45:51-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Romantic love and marriage

Last updated on: February 14, 2011 at 5:45 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

For St. Valentine’s Day. . . . Did you realize that romantic love, as it blossomed during the Middle Ages, was originally nearly always outside marriage (e.g., Dante and Beatrice) and often adulterous (e.g., Lancelot and Guinivere)? And did you realize that romantic love was brought into marriage, both as a precursor and as a fruition, by the Reformation? See C. S. Lewis, The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1958), pp. 13-15,... Read more

2011-02-14T05:00:39-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mubarak steps down in Egypt

Last updated on: February 14, 2011 at 5:00 am By Gene Veith

0 Comments

President Mubarak, despite what he pledged just the day before, stepped down from power, the result of an 18-day popular uprising in Egypt. The military is in control for now and has promised both democracy and continued peace with Israel: The ruling military pledged Saturday to eventually hand power to an elected civilian government and reassured allies that Egypt will abide by its peace treaty with Israel after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, as it outlined the first cautious... Read more

International

Islam

Egypt revolution

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many chapters does the book of Judges have?

Select your answer to see how you score.

25 21 23 19

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Evangelical