This Is Not an Image of Muhammad

Expecting to see an image of Muhammad? Sorry.

In the shower I was thinking about the Muslim prohibition of depictions of Muhammad and was wondering how you draw someone we don't have especially accurate pictures of already. That really means it's more about the label than the image itself. That further got me thinking of Magritte's famous "This is not a pipe" picture. I wonder if a similarly themed "This is not an image of Muhammad" title would get you off the hook?

Civil Union for Everybody

Originally posted on my private blog June 21st, 2008.

The various efforts to ban gay marriage have me thinking about the issue and I believe the solution is quite simple: strip all legal ramifications away from religious marriage and make everyone have to get a civil union. The marriage ritual is essentially part of the party you choose to celebrate the legal connection you've just entered into and since it's such a loaded word, let's just strip it out of the equation. It furthers the separation of church and state as a byproduct, which is always a good idea anyway. Clearly my atheism has factored into this opinion considerably.

The One True Faith

If there really were a single true faith underlying all reality you'd expect to see the same religion, sharing the exact specific details, originate independently in isolated parts of the globe. Obviously this could only occur before quick transportation or information communication devices such as printing were widespread. There is in fact just such a system of religious belief that has cropped up time and again throughout history: atheism.