About

An irregularly updated blog about religion, politics, philosophy and other ephemera.

On Twitter: @thinking_reed

Header image: Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Disciples See Christ Walking on Water

31 thoughts on “About”

  3. Hello, I wanted to email you but could not find your email adress.

    Basically I wanted to share with you this following link to an article called, “Why Angry Atheists Get it All Wrong”:
    http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-20/what_the_angry_atheists_get_wrong

    Although you may not agree with this article in its entirety, I think that some of the issues that they raise may pique your interest and that of your readers. The premise for this article is how one’s belief in God is inessential to religious life, but they say so by looking at how people elevate the importance of their beliefs to the detriment of the actions that they make in real life. Atheists focus too much on the non-existence of God that they become blind to the essential source of good that religions provide towards humanity whereas, people who take religious stories literally forget that they were made in a different time that does not exactly correlate to ours.

    Please, if you have any reaction to this article, blog about it or provide a link of it to your website~

    Peace, A

    Reply

  4. Oh yeah, p.s. I forgot to mention in the synopsis of the article that they also illustrate their points through a critical analysis of the role that myths play in religion.

    Reply

  5. Hey Lee, I’m curious what your thoughts are concerning egalitarianism as it regards men and women relationally.

    I searched for the word, and you use it often enough, but not in this way. Thoughts? Blog post?

    Reply

  9. New Book Examines the Promise and Perils Awaiting Those Who Seek
    Answers to Questions about Identity and Roots in their Strands of DNA

    We work with Jon Entine, author of Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People as there has been a lot of controversy and discuss about DNA and Race recently especially with the Ann Coulter comments and then James Watson.

    Entine marries genealogy, genetics, and religion to vividly bring to life a new understanding of Western identity and the shared biblical ancestry of Jews and Christians. Entine also focuses on the effort to identify cures for diseases that disproportionately impact specific populations and the social and political tempest that a renewed focus on “race research” is stirring.

    Jon Entine is an international columnist and adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. An Emmy winning TV producer for Tom Brokaw at NBC News and for 20/20 and PrimeTime Live at ABC News, Entine has been awarded numerous prizes and fellowships for his journalism. He is the author of the bestseller Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It.

    Further details about Entine and the book Abraham’s Children can be found at http://www.abrahamschildren.net.

    Please let me know if you are interested in a review or Q & A with Jon Entine for your print version, website or blog to discuss ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People (Grand Central Publishing; $27.99 hardcover/$34.99 Canada; October 24, 2007).

    Below are many more details. I look forward to hearing from you,

    Tracy G. Minsky Tracy G. Minsky Meryl Moss Media Relations, Inc., tracy@mediamuscle.com

    NEW ANCESTRY.COM SURVEY

    REVEALS GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE USING

    DNA TESTING TO PURSUE THEIR ROOTS

    New Book Examines the Promise and Perils Awaiting Those Who Seek

    Answers to Questions about Identity and Roots in their Strands of DNA

    A recent survey published by Ancestry.com found that 25.4 percent of respondents have turned to genetic researchers for more information about their ancestors. Roughly 11 percent have taken or sponsored a single test, while another 14.4 percent are already on their second test and third, according to the survey. In addition a staggering – 57.3 percent – plan on taking steps to learn more about their own genealogy. “Just as with conventional genealogy, the more who participate, the easier it becomes for each of us to find others who share common ancestors,” notes the survey.

    This comes as no surprise to international columnist and bestselling author Jon Entine whose new book, ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People (Grand Central Publishing; $27.99 hardcover/$34.99 Canada; October 24, 2007) examines the role of genetic genealogy in resolving ancient biblical mysteries and the shared genetic makeup of people of many faiths.

    One of the most exciting large scale studies of genetic genealogy analyzed the DNA of 188 Jewish males from Israel, England and North America. The results, reported in Nature, were astonishing. Analysis of the subjects’ Y chromosome markers led researchers to identify a highly unique array of six chromosomal markers – a distinct genetic signature – in 97 of the 106 who identified themselves as descendants of Cohanim, descendants of the Jewish priestly family who claim to be direct descendants of the biblical Aaron.

    Jon Entine, Emmy award winning 20 year veteran with ABC and NBC News, adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former adjunct professor at Miami University in Ohio and New York University. Entine, has been awarded numerous prizes and fellowships for his journalism. He is author of the bestseller Taboo, as well as Let Them Eat Precaution and Pension Fund Politics.

    I look forward to speaking with you shortly about setting up an interview with Jon Entine.

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Publicity Contact: Meryl L. Moss Media Relations

    Tracy G. Minsky

    Meryl Moss Media Relations, Inc.

    tracy@mediamuscle.com

    “An epic tale of ‘The Chosen People’ [Entine’s ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN] serves as an excellent catalyst for discussion as many continue to ask the question, ‘What does it mean to be Jewish?’ Engaging and informative reading for Jews and non-Jews alike”

    –– Kirkus Reviews

    Can Identity or Religious Roots be Found in a Pinprick of DNA?

    Geneticists Are Mapping the Threads of a Shared Ancestry between

    Modern Christians, Mormons, Muslims and Jews

    ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN

    Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People

    Jon Entine

    In a famous Harper’s Magazine article published in 1899, Mark Twain noted with some amazement that world Jewry, but one quarter of one percent of the human race, was “a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk . . . . What is the secret of his immortality?”

    While Twain may have been writing about the stellar accomplishments of the world’s minority Jewish population, Jon Entine’s eye-opening new book, ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People (Grand Central Publishing; $27.99 hardcover; $34.99 Canada; October 24, 2007), reveals another sort of Jewish “immortality” altogether. Why is it that Jews, Twain’s puff of stardust, dominate the lists of Nobel Prize winners and top achievers in so many categories?

    In his quest for the Lost Tribes – a central narrative for Christians and Jews alike – Entine examines how discoveries in the field of genetics are awakening Christians, Mormons, Muslims and others the world over to strands of a deeply persistent and far reaching shared Israelite ancestry in far flung corners of the globe. A scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, he, introduces readers to a black African tribe, the Lemba, almost certainly of Israelite ancestry and the probable builders of the only surviving architectural wonders of any note built in pre-industrial Africa. ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN recounts how some Hispanic Americans – unknowing descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition – are suddenly able to make sense of the Jewish practices their own parents and grandparents inexplicably incorporated into daily routines upon learning of genetic evidence of their own buried Jewish ancestry.

    Judaism DNA is both a time machine and microscope, observes Entine, offering a fascinating journey back in history and an opportunity to reconnect with biblical ancestors. Tracking the mythic and actual migrations of Jews around the world, including Europe, South Africa, India, China and the United States (among Native Americans or Mormons), Entine examines the role of DNA in shaping ethnic and religious identity.

    These advances in genetic research hold special significance for Jews and those interested in the Israelite roots of Western culture, according to the author.

    “Like adoptees in search of their birth parents, Jewish men and women are besieging genetic researchers hoping to piece together the evidence of their ancestry erased during the Diaspora or Holocaust,” notes Entine.

    While some search for evidence confirming ties to the Jewish Cohanim, a priestly line that traces its genetic lineage back to the time of biblical Aaron, others are on a life and death quest to determine if they carry certain disease mutations, including for breast cancer and neurological disorders, that disproportionately target Jews .

    Entine’s insightful examination sheds new light on the relevance of issues of “chosen-ness,” the controversy over whether Arabs or Jews have an ancestral claim to ancient Palestine, the threat of Jewish assimilation, and more incendiary notions of racial strengths and weakness in this thought provoking book.

    Those interested in learning more about what genealogists call their “deep ancestry,” will find more information about using the increasingly sophisticated tools genetic genealogy offers to probe ancestral vaults once thought lost to history in Entine’s book.

    # # #

    ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN
    Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People
    Jon Entine

    Grand Central Publishing

    $27.99 hardcover/$34.99 Canada

    October 24, 2007

    ISBN: 978-0-446-58063-2

    420 pages

    Non-Fiction

    Jon Entine is an international columnist and adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. An Emmy winning TV producer for Tom Brokaw at NBC News and for 20/20 and PrimeTime Live at ABC News, Entine has been awarded numerous prizes and fellowships for his journalism. He is the author of the bestseller Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It.

    Tracy G. Minsky
    Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.
    tracy@mediamuscle.com

    Reply

  13. I don’t know if you’ll find this funny, but when I first read the link to your blog I thought it read:

    “Thinking Greed”.

    I thought, um. that’s an interesting name for a Christian blog.

    This is a christian blog, no?

    Reply

    2. Just a hugh fan who wanted to tell you how much I loved Starfire Angels. I haven’t read any of your other work yet but am about to start. BTW I’m 65 years old so your books certainly appeal to a WIDE range of ages! I’ve been reading Science Fiction my entire adult life. Some is fantasy, some, I believe may not be.

      Reply

  19. Wow! It is my honor to stop in a blog like this where thinking and creativity are promoted together with the context of spiritual aspect. I am really unsolved and hungry for more article in this site. Keep up the best work!

    Reply
  23. MG

    Lee, I’ve really come to appreciate your site and I value your view on things. Do you interact with people via email? There is a book you’ve mentioned on Twitter that you were reading but never did a write up on. I’d be interested in interacting with you regarding it if you have the inclination. I’ve provided my email in your comment box. Thanks.

    Reply
  25. MG

    Keith Ward’s Christ and the Cosmos specifically. I’ve read quite a few books by Keith Ward and I’ve interacted a little with him via email so I would be interested in your take on that particular book. You blog has been extremely valuable to me, literally, since I usually purchase many of the books you mention. Apparently we have similar tastes and while I would consider myself a-political, you’ve opened my interest in that area a little as well.

    Reply

  26. Ah yes–I wanted to post something on that but have struggled to organize my thoughts. I read it when it first came out, but probably need to read it again to properly absorb the argument. Hopefully I’ll find time to do that soonish. Thanks for reading!

    Reply

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