Viet Nam: A Personal Retrospective

Viet Nam: A Personal Retrospective

We were so young. We were told we had to stop communist governments from taking over all of Asia by defeating them in what was then South Vietnam. China supported the communist North Vietnamese government. The United States supported the capitalist South. I spent the...
We Evolve Together

We Evolve Together

Evolution is often understood as life-and-death competition between and among organisms where the “fittest” ones survive. That way of thinking rings true in a profound way, but it often creates a misunderstanding of how evolution actually works. We don’t survive and...
Merchandizing Evolution

Merchandizing Evolution

Evolution may have a difficult time finding its rightful place in school curricula in the United States, but it certainly has established its presence in the commercial marketplace. Retail stores use iconic evolutionary concepts like these to attract customers. At gut...
The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon

In a moment that would surely rankle Mormon Senator Mitt Romney, one of the fictional elders in the smash hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, exclaims, “We’re not Christians. We’re Mormons!” But the point of the play is not simply to ridicule the Mormon faith,...
Not of this World?

Not of this World?

This symbol represents the “Not of this World” subculture of religious fanatics who take it upon themselves to announce to commoners like us they are just a bit too good for life on Earth. They’re going to heaven and you probably aren’t. Meanwhile, many of the rest of...
Understanding Social Darwinism

Understanding Social Darwinism

Understood correctly, social Darwinism refers as much to cooperation and community as it does to individuals looking out only for their immediate self-interest. Our hominid ancestors learned to cooperate in order to hunt and raise families successfully. It’s true of...