If one God, why not 1,000?
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
- Stephen F. Roberts
This quote was given in a recent discussion as to why one should embrace atheism or at least agnosticism. Is the monotheist dismissal of polytheism the same as the antheists dismissal of monotheism?
I contend that logically polytheism is bankrupt, while a case can be logically made for monotheism.
Electronic underdogs
I will be the first to admit that I am a Apple and Nintendo hack. From the first time I used an Apple to do layout and photo work, I knew this was the computer from me. Since the good old days of NES, I have never owned anything but a Nintendo gaming system (although I never progressed past the N64).
It is with great glee that I give you these two wonderful stories from the beginning of the holiday shopping season: Gamers: Wii beats PS3 and Zune has long road ahead.
Christmas not part of Christmas
In what has to be one of the most absurd decisions, the city of Chicago forced the Christkindlmarket Chicago to remove the upcoming film, The Nativity Story, from the list of sponsors.
What do you want on your tombstone?
A Wiccan widow is fighting for the right to place a Wiccan symbol on her veteran husband’s tombstone.
A Fun Way to Start Your Thanksgiving
Here’s a classic TV clip to start off your Thanksgiving celebration. (Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Turkey primer
With Thanksgiving coming up, much of the nation’s focus turns to turkey and how the animal gets to the Thanksgiving table. Growing up on, and still living near, a turkey farm, I can tell you that most people have no idea of what happens.
If you could care less about what happens on a turkey farm, skip this post. If you are curious this time of year about your traditional meal, then here you go, have at it.
Nicaragua bans all abortions
Just as we should investigate the impact of gay marriage in European nations, the recent banning of all abortions in Nicaragua should allow research to be done on the impact of pro-life legislation.
Will this lead to all of the horror stories that abortion advocates claim or will this lend support to those in favor of strict abortion laws?
The minimum they can do
One of the Democrats top agenda items for Congress in 2007 is an increase in the minimum wage. They play on the emotions of people by trotting out single mothers scrapping by on $5.15 an hour, suggesting she is the norm for minimum wage workers.
But, is that the truth and how much will a raise in the minimum wage help low income workers? Will it help at all or could it do damage to the economy?
Some MP3′s for Your Travels
One of my favorite podcasts is the University Channel Podcast from Princeton Univ. Here are some of the interesting speeches which you can listen to while you travel or whatever – get that ipod out.
American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation – Jon Meacham, managing editor of Newsweek and author, chronicles America’s ongoing struggle between politics and
religion from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. He examines the role
religion has played in many of the major events in our nation’s history
such as the Declaration of Independence, the Civil War and Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s call for civil rights. Meacham’s latest book looks
at how our founding fathers’ views on faith have shaped religion’s
place in American public life (read my post on it)
How to Develop a Christian Worldview
I’ve read numerous articles and books that emphasize the importance of developing a Christian worldview but very few that actually offer any practical advice on how to do it. Thankfully, Joe Carter has come to the rescue with some excellent advice on how to change your mind.
As the infamous slogan says, just do it.
My Two Cents (11/17)
Vanilla Jesus, Chocolate Buddha: Get your favorite religious icons in chocolate.- Floating Toilets and More: Visit the site of the 2006 World Toilet Expo for some video on the latest potties.
- Listen up, Zipalids: Ever wonder about how they cursed in ancient times? Explore the roots of profanity past and present (explicit). You may also find such gems as "Sir, you have farted in front of my wife.” “Sir, I am sorry, I didn’t know it was her turn.”
- Book Addicts and their wives: If you are a book fanatic, then this hilarious situation will crack you up, like it did me. Zing!
Tommy Thompson to run for White House
and all across the nation, millions of people are asking “who?”
A fitting death
In what may be a fitting death, considering the current big government state of the Republican party, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman has died.
Winthrop is the new Gonzaga
Remember when Gonzaga was an upstart that couldn’t crack the polls, but was a consistent tournament team and one that nobody wanted to play? Today the Bulldogs are a college basketball powerhouse with games on ESPN.
The next Gonzaga has arrived and they are located less than an hour from my house – meet the Winthrop Eagles. The #2 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels certainly did last night.
My Two Cents (11/15)
Nation of Islam: Jeff has posted a nice review of the book The Nation of Islam: Understanding the Black Muslims- Homosexuality and the Bible – Gary Demar, of American Vision, has posted a hard-hitting two part post at TRE. Of course, I also posted on this subject a while back.
- You Are Going to Hell – Paul at TRE has a post critical of hellfire preaching, plus you really need to check out yourgoingtohell.com (reminds me of the infamous Chick Tracts)
- White Flight from Europe: Looks like nationals are moving out of Britain, Holland, and Germany in droves while mostly Muslim immigrants move in. Unrelated? I think not.
- China Turns Christian – While Europe is turning Muslim, China is becoming Christian at a rapid pace.
You Might Be A Christian Fundamentalist IF
Prosthesis has started something which I think deserves to be expanded upon. His entry is
- If you think the most important aspect of the Ted Haggard story is that Mike Jones is a man, you might be a [Christian] fundamentalist.
I include:
- If you refuse to take a snake bite kit when hiking
- If you think "Hard Music" is music that’s difficult to play
- If you use the words "thee", "thou" or "fornication" in everyday speech (you can be doubly sure if you pronounce the latter word "fornification")
- If you purposely call Santa "Satan" and then coyly act as if it was an honest mistake
- If you believe that a fat preacher has the right to preach about the virtue of self-control
What is a “Typical” Evangelical?
A recent comment here suggested that the typical Evangelical family is like the one described in My Half-Year of Hell With Christian Fundamentalists. Thankfully, this portrait, while perhaps more common that we would like, is certainly not the common evangelical, though it may be the typical self-described fundamentalist (see the chart in this post for the differences). It’s a sad story, but thankfully, it’s representative of a minority (though larger than it should be).
The Christian History of the US Government
There are plenty of books out there declaring the US to be a "Christian nation," and rebuttals. But for fun, I wanted to publish some documentation that shows that many, if not most, of our founding fathers did NOT have the strict separation of church and state in mind that modern liberals are in love with.
In fact, looking at the facts, the best interpretation of the establishment clause of the constitution, and the prohibition on a "religious test for office" is best interpreted as "no DENOMINATIONAL test." Requiring a man to be Christian in order to hold office was entirely consistent with the founders’ world view.
Thank you veterans!
I meant to do this Friday, but I didn’t have the time. Thank you to all of our nation’s veterans. Thank you all all of those who served and didn’t come home, dying for our freedoms. Thank you to those who served and came home to a thankful family. Thank you to those who are serving our nation right now. Thank you to those are in harm’s way defending my freedom to write this today. Thank you to all the men and women in uniform who represent the best and brightest of our nation.
The Retort Driven Life
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Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life (review) is one of the bestselling books of all time. Although I don’t like its watered-down, often oversimplified approach, I do like it’s content, and it is worth re-reading and actually implementing. In fact, I think it is essential reading for the thinking Christian, but I hope he comes out with an updated edition that passes by a better editor. The fact that the book integrates well with his four stage Christian maturation program is another plus. Of course, since Warren (correctly) addresses both man’s divine nature and his need for God, rather than one or the other, fundies from both sides of the spectrum (religious fundies who only want to preach man’s need for God, and humanists who only want to preach man’s beauty and potential) have come out against him. I had previously seen the religious responses to his book, such as John MacArthur’s Bible Driven Church and Middlemann’s Market-Driven Church, but yesterday, I came upon the secularist’s retort – The Reason Driven Life. It is a satyrical, chapter by chapter send-up of Warren’s book, but with a lot of real secularist views on each subject. I pity such self-assured anti-religious hubris, but just wanted to let you know that Warren is being attacked and lampooned from both extremes (and don’t get me wrong, I like John MacArthur). |
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