Author Archives: Valerie Tarico

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About Valerie Tarico

Seattle psychologist and writer. Author - Trusting Doubt; Deas and Other Imaginings.

Who Aborts the Most Fertilized Eggs? Families Like the Duggars

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A woman who values fertilized eggs or who believes her deity does should use the most highly effective contraceptive available. Most fertilized eggs spontaneously abort during the first weeks of life. Estimates of death before implantation range as high as … Continue reading

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Who, When, Why –10 Times the Bible Says Torture is OK

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When conservative Christians claim that the Bible God condones torture, they’re not making it up. A close look at the good book reveals why so many Christians past and present have adopted an Iron Age attitude toward brutality. The first … Continue reading

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Life in the Crosshairs—How Some Public Feminists, Atheists and Other Activists Cope with Death Threats

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More than twenty years have passed, but Jonathan Hutson still vividly remembers one specific day during his stint as editor of a New Hampshire weekly. [I was] writing a series on the titans of trash — about racketeering by the … Continue reading

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Shaman? Savior? Myth? Inkblot? — Why Christianity’s Main Man Remains So Elusive

Was there a man behind the myths? — Three approaches to the question. To my mind, the only thing in the world duller than a graduation ceremony is a traditional wedding. Not long after finishing my graduate studies in psychology … Continue reading

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It’s Not Rape If He’s a God — Or Thinks He Is

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Stories like the Virgin Birth lack freely given female consent. Why don’t they bother us more? Powerful gods and demi-gods impregnating human women—it’s a common theme in the history of religion, and it’s more than a little rapey. Zeus comes to Danae … Continue reading

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