Category: Enlightenment Warrior

We’ve heard the argument a bazillion times: Consensual sex is legal. Exchanging money for goods and services is legal. Why then, when we combine these two legally sanctioned activities, do they become illegal? The reasons for this are many and complex. Some branches of feminism view prostitution as a form of sexual slavery. The scriptures…

I’ve been forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh many times over the last decade. Recently I was in a situation where I was exposed to three hours of his radio show a day for two solid weeks. The Limbaugh fans around me perpetually challenged me with their favorite pundit’s logic(?). It was an interesting experience,…

This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive: I would like to affirm my enthusiasm for City life. Cities are awesome. The cultural Mecca that is New York, the architectural fantasy that is Chicago, and the endless otherworldliness that is…

Cross-posted at the Centrist Coalition

This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive: On January 25th, your paper reported that Diebold had withdrawn their electronic voting systems from North Carolina districts rather than comply with new North Carolina certification standards. That same day, the other…

Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” is the brilliant tale of a child prodigy coming of age in a world at war with extraterrestrials. It tackles deep ethical conundrums and delves into many fantastic science fiction concepts. The book, I believe, will last for decades as one of the masterpieces of science fiction literature. That’s why…

Cross posted at the Centrist Coalition: In the FISA Wiretapping debate, pundits on both sides of the aisle are citing various opinion polls to make their cases. As someone who samples a wide variety of political opinions (one of the reasons I enjoy this blog), I’ve noticed that similarly conducted polls are yielding widely different…

Ask ten different people, “What is Spirituality?” and you will get ten different answers. Monotheists have a different conceptualization of it than polytheists. Sub-sets of Monotheists, such as Christians, Jews, and Muslims, will have different explanations for it. Sub-sets of any of these religions, like Baptists, Episcopalians, and Catholics for Christianity, will also give widely…

This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive: Your recent opinion piece, “Senate will confirm Alito, but shouldn’t,” fell into the same trap so many of Alito’s other opponents have succumbed to: focusing too much on Roe VS Wade. Yes,…

This is a letter to the editor I published at the Daily Advance. Posted here for posterity, since they have no online archive: A recent exchange of political letters in your paper truly disheartens me. Richard T. Cartwright’s “Bush imperils right to criticize” and E.C. Toppin’s “Writer is wrong about Bush, war” both rely on…

I’m serving on my department’s Morale Committee for the next year, part of a group responsible for organizing events and opportunities for coworkers to socialize in an environment devoid of work-related stress. With the Holidays we’ve been tasked with setting up luncheons, charity events, and whatnot. December’s multitude of events have proven especially challenging due…