Jim Wheeler
BS, USNA, Annapolis, 1959; MSA, The Geo. Washington U., 1975; Submariner, Commander, USN, 1959 - 1981; Aerospace battery engineer & mgr., 1981 - 1999; Political affiliation: Mainly of the Democratic persuasion but not a fan of the extremes on either side.
Copyright Notice
Still Skeptical After All These Years by James R Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at jwheeler59@me.com. Copyright 2015 James R. Wheeler
Category Archives: Religion
Want to Understand Islam?
What with all the hysteria over terrorism in this political season, I found it satisfying to find this straightforward explanation published in the Washington Post by professor of religions at Georgetown University John L. Esposito onSunday, July 22, 2007. Nearly half … Continue reading
Posted in Islam, Religion
Tagged Islam, Islamic State, jihad, Koran, Muhammad, religion, Shiite, Sunni, Sunni Islam
17 Comments
. . . For the Bible Tells Me So
Unless you’ve been living in a cave or on a desert island you know that religion is a prime political topic these days. You are unlikely to meet anyone who doesn’t have an opinion about the differences between Christianity and … Continue reading
Posted in Religion, War
Tagged bible, Crusades, demagogues, fundamentalism, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, jihad, Muslims, old testament, Quran, religious violence, terrorism, Trump
25 Comments
A Choice: Skepticism or Dogma?
A news item today presents a useful example of the difference between science and religion, something that continues to confuse many people. The announcement, confirming that the oldest fragment of the early Earth is 4.4 billion years old, is based … Continue reading
Posted in Religion, Science / Engineering
Tagged age of the Earth, creationism, dogma, Earth Sciences, radioactive dating, radioactivity, religion, science, uranium, zircons
7 Comments
The Eyes Have It
Contrary to the beliefs of some, science doesn’t attack religion, it simply fails to explain it. Religion on the other hand has historically often attacked science, perhaps first notoriously in the case of Galileo Galilei. Religion recoils when science presents rational … Continue reading
Ban That Movie!!
A podcast piqued my curiosity while I was at the gym this morning. It was the latest in a unique on-going NPR series entitled “Stuff You Should Know”. I was a little put off by the format when I first … Continue reading
Political Apostasy?
The internet headline from the respected but oxymoronically-named Christian Science Monitor this morning said, “Car bombings hit Shiite pilgrimage, underscoring Iraq’s sectarian divide”. It was not an unusual headline, just another bloody day in Baghdad with at least 63 dead … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Religion
Tagged atrocities, Baghdad, Civil War, Iraq, Middle East, religious sects, religious violence, religious war, sectarian strife, Shia Islam, Shiite, suicide bombing, Sunni, Sunni Islam, Syria
8 Comments
The Next Step?
Conservatives, in harness with the Catholic Church, say they are still outraged over the ACA requiring that insurance companies provide access to contraception at no additional cost to customers of insurance companies. They believe that the Obama administration has violated … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Religion
Tagged Catholic Church, contraception, gluttony, greed, Obama administration, pope, priesthood, Seven deadly sins, Sin, Sloth
5 Comments
Life Begins At . . . ?
The recent dust-up between the Susan G. Komen charity foundation and Planned Parenthood coupled with the newly-introduced contraception provisions of the Affordable Care Act, have provided right-wing conservatives with a red-meat issue of the kind they’ve been seeking, never mind … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Politics, Religion
Tagged Abortion, Blastula, Catholic Church, clerics, Conservatives, contraception, DNA, Embryo, evolution, IUD, Planned Parenthood, Prenatal development, Pro-life, Susan G. Komen, the pill
22 Comments
Politics and Faith
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” – from the First Amendment to the Constitution Never before in my lifetime of over seven decades do I recall the intersection of religion … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Religion
Tagged Ayn Rand, Cokie Roberts, faith, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, God, Great Depression, John C. Calhoon, John F. Kennedy, politics, religion, religion in politics, Separation of church and state, Tea Party, Tim Tebow, tyranny of the majority
43 Comments
That’s The Way It Is
All too often newspaper commentary is banal, predictable and light on originality, so when I find a column that is none of those things I think it is worth some attention. Investigative reporter and journalism teacher Max McCoy (whose picture … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Evolution, Religion
Tagged Dinosaur, Earth Sciences, evolution, Human, Joplin Missouri, optimism, Religion and Spirituality, Reptile, survival trait, Tornado, tribes, Walter Cronkite
21 Comments
Still Skeptical After All These Years 