When I was 15 I thought Christians were all idiots. And I had good reason, based on what little I knew. Raised in a home where the most religious thing we ever did was say grace at dinner, I had very little exposure to church. I'm not even sure I knew it existed. Despite this, I was always instinctually curious about religion. I was raised to be a reader, and at 14 I had … [Read more...]
Evaluating Naturalism
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: Naturalism can be summed up with Carl Sagan’s well-known mantra, “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.”[1] This worldview holds that everything about reality can be reduced to and explained by … [Read more...]
Why I am opposed to same-sex marriage
I confess that the title to this post was meant to be blunt, but please don’t think it was intended to be rude. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is an unfortunate tendency in our culture today for people to be drawn to the sensational and controversial. So I avoided the temptation to go with a more philosophical title in hopes that by being straightforward and blunt … [Read more...]
Love Wins Critique (Part 5)
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 (In this part I examine Bell's motivations and supporters for this book/view) What are Bell’s Motivations? This is a difficult question to answer as no one really knows the inner thoughts, desires and motivations of another individual (except God). I’ve also asked myself if Bell is intentionally trying to deceive the reader. Some of his … [Read more...]
Cynicism
“I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're led to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it's worse than fear - it's active disengagement.” - Ken Burns Standing on the sidelines and making witty commentary is much easier than full-throated engagement in the fray. It’s easy to ridicule what has not worked, it’s much harder to … [Read more...]
Trilemma or Quadrilemma? Answering the "Legend" Critique of C.S. Lewis's Trilemma
C.S. Lewis's famous Liar/Lunatic/Lord trilemma has been criticized for leaving out a fourth option: Legend. There are historical and textual reasons to doubt the legend hypothesis, but I believe it fails even apart from that external evidence. It's vanishingly unlikely to be true, based upon merely the New Testament documents themselves. … [Read more...]
The Atheistic Leap of Faith
In the course of having thousands of conversations about the ultimate issues of life, I’ve encountered many skeptics who, out of a deep respect for their religious friends, are reluctant to explain their objections to faith. These skeptics have noticed that, for their friends, the practice of religion is fundamental to filling their lives with meaning, purpose, joy, and service … [Read more...]
Poll: What grounds objective moral truth?
Choose one option from this poll: What grounds objective moral truth (think “human rights”)? The good is a construct of God, man or nature. God wills the good in accordance with his loving nature. Nothing, there are only constructs which do not obligate. Or, in other words: The good is a construct of God, man or nature—the good is created (made up). God wills the … [Read more...]
Intolerance and Piers Morgan's Recommendation to Amend the Bible
In the course of his interview with Pastor Rick Warren, Piers Morgan expressed an idea that is becoming increasingly common: “The Bible and the Constitution were well-intentioned, but they are basically inherently flawed,” Morgan said. “Hence the need to amend it.” “My point to you about gay rights, for example, it's time for an amendment to the Bible,” he said. … [Read more...]
You're only an atheist because you were raised in an atheist home.
Contributed by Matthew Clayton of Loving Christ with Your Mind. One time, if I remember correctly, for my brother's stagecraft class, he had an assignment to make a birdhouse and it seems as though one of the requirements was that it be painted. I believe he was busy (I don't know the situation's exact details) so he asked my sisters if they'd like to paint it. And, of course, … [Read more...]