Michael's Picks

by Michael De Dora

* The website Skepchick is running a series in which men speak out against hate directed against women in the secular and skeptic movements. I was invited to participate, and gladly accepted. You can read my entry here. 

* Should there be restrictions on watching pornography and other mature content in public? That’s the question the New York Times takes up in this interesting article. 

* People For the American Way released an updated edition of its fantastic pamphlet 12 Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics, with a foreword by Bill Moyers.

* Kenan Malik does an interview with The Browser in which he makes just about as much sense as possible on the issue of religion and morality.  

* A doctor in Washington who fought for passage of the state’s assisted suicide law is now preparing to use it. 

* For a long time, moral beliefs and values have been either rejected as unfit for political discussions, or else thought of as the domain of far-right religious groups. But that’s changing, says philosopher Julian Baggini. 

* What does a killer think? For some insight, take a look at this fascinating article, written by Columbine author Dave Cullen, on the mentality of killers.

* Should our judgment of art take into account the moral and political merit of the artist and his or her message? Or should we judge art through something other than our moral and political filters? Dhanuka Bandara proposes some answers.