Is global warming now beyond debate? When does dissent become Untruth and lose the rights and respect due to "legitimate dissent"? Who decides—and how—what dissent deserves to be heard and what doesn't? When do journalists have to "protect" readers from Untruth masking itself as dissent or skepticism?

No, not why I'm not skeptical, or critical-minded, because those traits are essential in science. Rather, I don't consider myself a "skeptic," as in a card-carrying member of a skeptical society, because most (not all) of the people I know who belong to such societies are loud, arrogant, angry, and cynical. I prefer to spend time with people who are quiet, humble, calm and hopeful.

I used to think of skepticism as a primary intellectual virtue, whose goal was truth. I have changed my mind. I now see it as a weapon.

A collection of writings, quotes, and debates regarding God, Jesus Christ, Bible, Christian apologetics, theology, church, atheism, skepticism, The Jesus Seminar, G.A. Wells, Darwinism, Intelligent Design, evolution, theistic-evolution, eugenics, the Kansas State School Board evolution ruling, and historical quotes by the Founding Fathers regarding America's relationship with God. Richard Dawkins, Stephen J. Gould, William Provine.

To be in Washington tonight reminds me that the only person to ever offer me a job in Washington was Daniel Patrick Moynihan. That was thirty years ago, and he was working for Nixon at the time. Moynihan was a hero of mine, the exemplar of an intellectual engaged in public policy. What I admired was that he confronted every issue according to the data and not a belief system. Moynihan could work for both Democratic and Republican presidents. He took a lot of flack for his analyses but he was more often right than wrong.

To summarise - what we are seeing is a revival of mythic thinking. Whilst this blog examines integral approaches we actually live in a time when the rational stage is being eroded by the mythic. Al Gore’s book is about the many ways that mythic thinking (ideology is a form of mythic thinking) has replaced reason in US politics.

Beliefs come in three flavors: true, false, and untested. Obviously we should want to have only true beliefs if we are to function as rational participants in a social and political world as complex as ours. One thing in our favor is that we cannot hold a false belief. If that sounds odd then just think of the many examples that occur daily. I believe I left the keys in the car, but when I go there to get them, they are not there. I can no longer hold that false belief. Or, I feel drops of water on my neck during a rain storm and believe the roof has sprung a leak (again). But, looking around I see that my grandson has just shot me from a fair distance with his new water pistol. I cannot hold that leaking roof false belief any longer.