C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity was the first apologetic work I read, and two elements immediately rang absolutely true to me. The first is Lewis’s defense of an absolute morality (a law written on the hearts of Men) that is neither evolutionarily or culturally contingent. I am mostly in agreement with Lewis’s treatment of absolute morality (particularly his comment that the Law of Human Nature belongs, like mathematics to the class of real truths). I have frequently found that the... Read more
–1– I have a new piece up at The Huffington Post titled “A Tale of Phrenologists and Predatory Lenders” One preview quote from the piece: When is a product so harmful that it ought not be sold at all? When is a product so noxious that we can conclude that no one would freely choose to buy it if s/he was fully informed? Go on over and check it out! –2– My debate with Justin Martyr concluded this week, but,... Read more
For an explanation of what Weatherwax Wednesdays are all about, read the introduction post. This week’s Weatherwax quote is from Witches Abroad (a book I heartily recommend to everyone, but especially to the literary theorists who unexpectedly took over last week’s post on evolutionary psychology). This week’s quote occurs in Pratchett’s voice as narrator. Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They... Read more
A power outage has sidelined me, so I’m taking the day off. Regularly scheduled posting will resume on Wednesday, and the promised Monday Challenge that will list events that could convince me to take up religion will run next Monday. In the meantime, celebrate July 5th by checking out this article on Independence Day by David Wagner. Also, a delightful new video from Symphony of Science! Read more
Everyone in the DC area should be booking tickets asap to see New Jerusalem at Theatre J (major hat tip to Eve Tushnet). David Ives has done a magnificant job dramatizing Baruch de Spinoza’s trial for heresy in his own synagogue. I’ll be writing more about it soon, but don’t wait on me to get your tickets now. (I recommend buying seats in the bench section, which puts you onstage for the trial). In the play Spinoza questions assumptions about... Read more
This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as follows: Justin – Opening Statement Leah – Rebuttal –part 1 –part 2 Justin – Rejoinder –part 1 –part 2 Leah – Opening Statement Justin – Rebuttal Leah – Rejoinder In his last post, Justin has accused me of relying blindly on a “Naturalism of the Gaps.” In his view, my... Read more
–1– My debate with Justin Martyr of The Faith Heuristic is drawing to a close. His rebuttal to my opening statement is up here. My final post in this series will be up by Sunday. (This post will be sponsored by antibiotics and the friendly staff of Washington DC’s walk-in medical clinic. Thanks for getting me back on my feet guys!). –2– An interesting development following the ouster of Austrailian PM Kevin Rudd: his successor Julia Gillard is an atheist!... Read more
For an explanation of what Weatherwax Wednesdays are all about, read the introduction post. This week’s Weatherwax quote is also from Carpe Jugulum. This exchange occurs between during the denoument as Granny Weatherwax confronts the leader of the vampire family that has invaded the kingdom of Lancre. “We are vampires. We cannot help what we are.” “Only animals can’t help what they are,” said Granny. The rallying cry of the transhumanist movement is “To be human is to be more than human.”... Read more
Thanks all for your comments on last week’s post on standards of evidence (extraordinary and otherwise). As always, if you’d like to respond to a Monday Call to Arms in longer form as a guest blogger, please email me at leah (dot) libresco (at) yale (dot) edu. The highlighted comment from last week comes from No Forbidden Questions: If you asserted to me that you drive a Honda, I’d probably believe you with ultimately very little in the way of... Read more
This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as follows: Justin – Opening Statement Leah – Rebuttal –part 1 –part 2 Justin – Rejoinder –part 1 –part 2 Leah – Opening Statement Justin – Rebuttal Leah – Rejoinder Justin has maintained that the terms of this debate do not require him to defend the idea of the Christian god or,... Read more
Unequally Yoked
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