Monday, March 27, 2006

13 hours

I just finished and submitted the slides for talk in Venice. 13 hours of work because, apparently, chalk has gone out of style. Anyway, I'm rather of the opinion that conferences are not actually a very good way to share information, at least not when they're organized the way I've seen them done.

Anyhoo, if anyone wants to know how to make slick slides in LaTeX, I'm your guy.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Things that probably make me a bad Catholic

(It being Lent and all...)

I have no problem with abortion.

Specifically, I do not believe that "life" begins at conception. I give it quotes because, obviously, every cell is alive.

I favor contraception.

I'm not altogether clear in my mind on the meaning of eternal life. In fact, the notion of living forever as the being that I am--living for even, say, three hundred years--sounds unspeakably tortuous.

I think God has no problem with homosexuality whatever.

I think it is a sin to condemn people for being and/or living as homosexuals.

I think that God is sometimes cruel and is not actually being kind in some mysterious way. God loves us, but when a new mother dies painfully of breast cancer, there is no mercy hidden in it.

I think God created evil. I do not think he makes mistakes, however.

I think God is also the god of hate and pain.

I think that Hell will be empty. (Maybe I actually think that Heaven and Hell are the same place, and being a certain kind of person makes it what it "is.")

I do not particularly respect Benedict XVI.

I think it is a sin to argue that women should be barred from the priesthood.

I don't think that Jesus enjoyed being Jesus. I don't think it was kind to Lazarus to raise him from the dead. I don't necessarily think he usually understood what he was doing or what he was in real time. I don't think he especially enjoyed rising from the dead--actually, that was probably really awful.

I don't think that the powers of the time particularly cared about Jesus.

I think atheism should have the status of a religion.

I don't think it's a sin to ask God for an apology.

I'll let you know if come up with anymore.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Sectarian

Sometimes, even your friend and humble narrator can't help himself:
evangelicals. But obviously, the writer at slactivist proves that I'm being a dick.