Two of the most popular current television shows are also two of the most grim: AMC's "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead." If you want to go for a really depressing TV trifecta, throw in "Game of Thrones," which is not yet as grim as it’s going to be. Trust me. All three of these stories come from brilliant people with amazing talent. (I saw Vince Gilligan of "Breaking … [Read more...]
18 Questions: An Invitation to My Atheist Friends
As a worldview, can atheism, naturalism, and materialism answer some of most fundamental questions of human experience? If a worldview cannot produce a sufficient explanation to the wide variety of phenomena and realities that humans observe in this universe, if it has little or no explanatory power or explanatory scope, it should be abandoned in favor of another worldview. I … [Read more...]
Is Abortion Justifiable in the Hard Cases? Part I
Now we get to the really tough questions about abortion. Can we justify abortion in the really hard cases? Some might say that certain situations are so bad that even if we grant that the preborn are full human persons, we should still allow abortions to be legal, either for the sake of the woman or because it is assumed that a child would not want to grow up in one of these … [Read more...]
Theism and the Causal Principle: A response to DasAmericanAtheist
For whatever reason, the following YouTube video caught my attention annoyance. Perhaps it is because this person is speaking so close to his webcam that his face nearly fills out the entire screen forcing the viewer to constantly gaze upon his John Travoltesque chin and/or that being so close to the camera gives the feeling that he is literally in-your-face to go along with … [Read more...]
J.T.'s underwhelming critique of Christianity: Part One
Critiques of the Christian worldview are a dime-a-dozen in the vast expanse of the internet. The majority of them are deep on rhetoric, insult, and wow-factor presentation while being incredibly shallow on substance, critical thinking, and sound argumentation. As a lay apologist, I frequently come across various critiques and refutations of Christianity in one form or another … [Read more...]
9/11 – Two Worldviews, Two Responses
On this day, eleven years ago, this nation was struck with a terrible act of evil. I don't have to recount the events - if you don't know the story of 9/11, you must be living in a cave. Last year I published a post on 9/11 and religious pluralism, but this year I want to focus on two worldviews, the atheistic worldview the Christian worldview, and their responses to 9/11. … [Read more...]
Are Reproductive Rights Civil Rights?
Does a woman's "right to choose" constitute a civil right? Does the reproductive rights movement have the right to compare itself to the civil rights movement? Organizations like Planned Parenthood would argue in the affirmative, “Planned Parenthood believes that reproductive rights are deeply connected to civil rights for all Americans(1).” Is this true? Does the analogy fit? … [Read more...]
Is Agnosticism Tenable?
Over the years, I’ve encountered a few friends that have subscribed to agnosticism because they concluded that there is no way to possibly know whether or not there is a God. According to Oxford Dictionaries, agnostic is defined as, “a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God”.[1] I’ve heard prominent atheist Michael Shermer … [Read more...]
Media Review: Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a video (available in DVD and Blu-ray formats) by Illustra Media about the amazing biological transformation process from caterpillar to butterfly. The main feature is a little over an hour long and there is a good amount of bonus material. The main feature is so packed with information, that this review is only going to scratch the surface. I am not a … [Read more...]
On hypocrisy in the church
One common criticism of the church is that it is full of hypocrites, people who say one thing and do another. The problem with countering this criticism is that it is true. If we are honest, we will have to admit that none of us lives up to our own standard of behavior, let alone the standard set before us in Scripture. We all practice some level of hypocrisy in that there is a … [Read more...]