Out of the Mainstream

By George Ricker (Author’s note: I first wrote this piece in 2001, just after the inauguration of George W. Bush and well before the tragic attacks of September 11th. Although it was never published in any national forum, I did distribute it to a few people via a modest newsletter called “One Voice” that I was …

The Trouble with Miracles

Why ‘magical thinking’ explains nothing On the last weekend of February, a fishing trip went tragically wrong in the Gulf of Mexico. A boat manned by four friends capsized in rough seas. Three of the four, two of them NFL players, could not be found and are presumed dead. The fourth, 24-year-old Nick Schuyler was …

From the Shores of Tripoli

The importance of some words in a treaty By George A. Ricker By coincidence, my birthday, May 26, falls on the anniversary of the date in 1797 on which the Treaty of Tripoli was communicated to the United States Senate for its consideration. Treaties are negotiated by the executive branch of our government but must be approved …

Irreconcilable differences: the myth of compatibility between science and religions

It is one of the great debates of our time, the ongoing argument between those who maintain that, ultimately, science and religions are compatible and those who claim they are not. There have been books, blogs, online debates, opinion columns, such as this demurral called “God and Science Don’t Mix” by Lawrence Krauss in a recent Wall Street …