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Prepare ye the way. But what is the way now?

Prepare ye the way. But what is the way now?

The following is a sermon I delivered at Bethesda UCC on Sunday, 24 November 2024. The readings were Isaiah 40:3-5 and Acts 2:42-3:8. Several weeks ago, before Pastor Jill asked me if I’d be willing to sub for her today, I had a dream. I was

Introducing Search.BeneHomini.Com

Introducing Search.BeneHomini.Com

We're launching a new service: curated lists of resources that help make the world a better place for everyone without discriminating against anyone because of who they are. We are looking for organizations that support the social contract of tolerance. This means that you should not have to

The role of effective altruism

The role of effective altruism

Effective altruism is a growing movement, but its basis in utilitarianism can lead to some seemingly outlandish results. This is not an indictment of utilitarianism but how the effective altruism movement uses it. In the long term, effective altruism will likely do more harm than good if it's

Introducing BeneHomini.Social

Introducing BeneHomini.Social

The news cycle has been filled recently with Twitter. People have been leaving for the Fediverse, mainly joining instances running Mastodon (see "Mastodon and the Fediverse: Beginners Start Here" for more details on the Fediverse and Mastodon). That's been great, but it's also been

Graceful degradation of infrastructure

Graceful degradation of infrastructure

Have you ever been at home and had the power go out on you? Have you had a water main break, and you lose water pressure? Have you gone to the store and been unable to find what you were looking for? It's a headache, but you know

Creating a moral habit

Creating a moral habit

This article is a meditation on what constitutes moral character when assuming that empathy should guide our decisions rather than religion. Of course, the relationship between morality and religion is complex. Still, no one should have to believe in a supernatural agent watching them, accept any dogma, participate in rituals,

Choosing our future

Choosing our future

Information is about surprise. If this comes as a surprise, then read on! Think about the last time a friend surprised you: they did something that you didn't expect them to do. And in that surprising moment, you learned something new about your friend that you didn'

A modern ten commandments

A modern ten commandments

The Abrahamic ten commandments [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments] are seen by many as the basis for our laws [https://www.deseret.com/1998/12/10/19418564/10-commandments-are-basis-of-u-s-law] , even though they aren't [https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/are-the-ten-commandments-really-the-basis-for-our-laws] . These commandments are examples of early legal codes

We are what we create

We are what we create

We are creators made in the image of gods. While other animals can create things like nests (birds) and artificial ponds (beavers), only we can create anything and everything, from practical, concrete things like beautiful clothing and gourmet food, to highly abstract, like paintings and scientific theories. Things are created

Retiring early with empathy

Retiring early with empathy

Who doesn't want to retire early or gain financial independence? Having the luxury of walking away from your job if you don't like it frees you to be yourself. You no longer have to pretend to be the employee your boss wants. You no longer have

We probably aren’t alone

We probably aren’t alone

This post isn't about UFOs and aliens, though we'd forgive you for thinking so. Instead, it explores what history tells us about our assumptions about our place in the universe and what we can expect in the future. In the Abrahamic religions, God created Adam and

Democracy at work

Democracy at work

The U.S. presidential election is over. States are still counting some votes to determine close races. But they've counted enough votes to know how the election will play out for the U.S. president. Crowds took to the streets to celebrate. Many felt relief that there was

Answering Pope Francis's challenge

Answering Pope Francis's challenge

Recently, His Holiness Pope Francis delivered a TED talk from Vatican City concerning the global climate crisis. The whole video is worth watching, but we'll look at the main points here and how Bene Homini addresses them. In his message, Pope Francis calls on us to tackle climate

Selecting our filter

Selecting our filter

In 2008, Alan Liu gave a talk titled"Peopling the Police: A Social Computing Approach to Information Authority in the Age of Web 2.0." [https://alanyliu.org/citation/peopling-the-police-a-social-computing-approach-to-information-authority-in-the-age-of-web-2-0-dhsi-u-victoria/] He reimagined Internet filtering [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-control_software] that wasn't one-size-fits-all [https://en.

No one should profit off the suffering of others

No one should profit off the suffering of others

According to the Census Bureau [https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html], about 1 in 12 people in the U.S. don't have health insurance. Even with health insurance, costs can be prohibitive. Some of the cost is from hospitals, drug companies, and medical device