Theologian Calls New U2 Album ‘Most Thoroughly Christian’ Project to Date | Christianpost.com

Theologian Calls New U2 Album ‘Most Thoroughly Christian’ Project to Date | Christianpost.com.

Conspiracy theory:

What if U2 is really a band co-opted by JP2 to promote Catholicism to popular culture?

Bono pretending to meet the pope for the first time

U2 wouldn’t need the pope to do that, I suppose, but I’ve always wondered why the large number of otherwise agnostic U2 fans worship their music.  Are they not listening to the words or do they choose to ignore them?

Or do they quietly respect a pious band?

U2′s most religious songs are among my favorite in their catalog.

They are one of the few bands that can produce a serious song about a serious topic and still get air time.

I hope they’re not the last.

The new face of reading? Some e-books now outselling hardbacks – CNN.com

I didn’t think this would happen so soon.

The new face of reading? Some e-books now outselling hardbacks – CNN.com.

I always assume the number of people who are less tech-y than me is far greater than those are more tech-y.

Where’s my abacus?

Compulsory voting

Compulsory voting – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Many countries force their citizens to vote.  Would this work in America, or would we fight for our right not to vote?

Would it make a difference politically?

frontline: memory of the camps: watch the full program online | PBS

frontline: memory of the camps: watch the full program online | PBS.

Sixty years after WWII, have we remembered the Holocaust?  Is it possible?

I watch this video every now and again to remind myself.

WikiLeaks: Ethics, Ideals and Questions « DigiDave

WikiLeaks: Ethics, Ideals and Questions « DigiDave.

Have you heard of WikiLeaks?  Is it the future of investigative journalism?  What does it mean for journalism when so much of the reporting is based on anonymous sources?

Does the Internet Already Know the Future?

From New Scientist.

Very similar to a concept touched on in the podcast (or at least my blog) in the past– web bots & 2012:

National Pork Board: Defender of Unicorns

Via BoingBoing.

iCampaigns

From the AP.

If religion is a side effect of sex, does that mean God doesn’t exist?

I’m not sure where to start any commentary on this article:

If religion is a side effect of sex, does that mean God doesn’t exist?

Don’t let the title of this link prejudice you on it’s contents.  Read it.

I’m particularly interested in the comments about the attribution of religion to anthropomorphism.  It relates to some of my beliefs about the historical relevance of the bible.

To be brief, I wonder if it matters whether the events in the gospel ever actually happened.

What if the gospels are a way for those who experienced a high-level of spirituality to share their experience and lessons in a way we could all comprehend?  Instead of writing a high-minded spiritual text,what if they embodied their experience into a person (Jesus).  Someone we should aspire to.

I don’t think the gospel stories have any less value if they’re not historically accurate.

The arguments over the historical accuracy of the bible seem to take from the discussion we should be having over how we (should) treat each other.

In this case, perhaps the medium is not the message.  The message is the message.

There, I got it back to the topic of media.

All Things Considered: Author of ‘The Shallows’, Nicholas Carr

In an interview NPR’s All Things Considered, Nicholas Carr describes some of the findings published in his book The Shallows, which he was inspired to write after observing his own ability to concentrate and think deeply starting to wane in relation to all the time he spent on the Internet.

He notes that the reading and info processing styles encouraged on the web do help us to practice multi-tasking, but at what cost?  What have you noticed about your own ability to sit, read deeply, and carefully contemplate a long and complex piece of information?  Is the age of truly deep wisdom coming to an end?