Hermant Mehta of Friendly Atheist has ended his atheist fundraiser to help two churches that were defaced by Flying Spaghetti Monster graffiti. Both churches were able to do cleanup with their usual maintenance staffs, so Mehta donated the money raised, as promised, to the Foundation Beyond Belief. I donated to his fund, and posted his fundraising widget on the blog, to allow other atheists to donate, but I was a little uncomfortable making a donation to a religious group; I never … [Read more...]
Trying to Love My Enemies
June 9, 2011 By 41 Comments
Just a cautionary note: trying to figure out how to love your enemies is something that can be totally appropriate to do from a long ways away. If you are ever in severe physical or emotional danger from a person or community, your first priority should be escape. Self-reflection can wait til you're safe. I'm not calling anyone to martyr themselves by enduring abuse for the sake of converting their tormentors or retaining a sense of righteousness or for almost any other reason. Without … [Read more...]
Call him Voldemort!
June 4, 2011 By 38 Comments
"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself" -- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I was dumbfounded by a "On the Square" feature at First Things this week. Christopher Kaczor gave advice to Christian parents who aren't sure whether to have their children vaccinated against HPV and adopted the tone of someone teetering at the edge of a precipice. After considering several … [Read more...]
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