Category Archives: History

Galileo Gambit

Not long before dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Perry decided to defend his skepticism of climate change by playing the Galileo Gambit: The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would … Continue reading

Posted in History | 7 Comments

Defining Exodus

James McGrath at Exploring our Matrix has a question about the historical Exodus and its lack of evidence: To treat the Exodus story as literal, factual history, one would have to believe that at some point God devastated the agriculture, … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, History | 26 Comments

Theological Discussions Now vs Then

From “The 9 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered: Part 2“: These days most theological discussions break down thusly: Person 1: I believe in X. Person 2: I believe in Y. Person 1: You’re a Nazi fag. Back in the … Continue reading

Posted in Fundamentalism, History, Humor | Leave a comment

World Without Jesus

We’ve joked about this, but someone is apparently taking is half seriously: what if Jesus was aborted? That’s the question asked at the website of the conservative coalition known as the Manhattan Declaration. The question basically translates to, “What would … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, History | 45 Comments

The Feats of King Jong II

Good point.

Posted in Christianity, History, Miracles | 7 Comments

Paganism and Christianity

Michael Bird at Euangelion wrote a triumphal and rather manichean piece about how Christmas should represent the triumph of Christianity over Paganism: Christmas means that Jesus has defeated the powers, the pagan gods that military rulers used to bring their … Continue reading

Posted in Christianity, History | 15 Comments

No Call for Fanaticism

In a recent entry in his Through a Glass Darkly column here at Patheos, Joseph Susanka reviews the classic movie A Man for All Seasons. Susanka considers himself a “dyed-in-the-wool fence sitter,” and perhaps because of that he admires the … Continue reading

Posted in History | 9 Comments

Why Black Friday is More American than Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with all the traditional festivities, food and family squabbles. If you want to vent about that last one, Slacktivist has an open thread for those who have been dealing with Fox Geezer Syndrome. … Continue reading

Posted in History | 3 Comments

O’Reilly Flunks History

I don’t follow Bill O’Reilly, so I don’t know what possessed him to write a history of the Lincoln assassination. I could have predicted that it would be bad. Making a real contribution to the scholarship on a topic that … Continue reading

Posted in Books, History | 13 Comments

Remembering Frances Wright

Jen McCreight, alias Blag Hag, is a little miffed about the Brainz.org list of the Top 50 Most Brilliant Atheists. Not only are there just three women on the list, but those three women are Katherine Hepburn, Jodie Foster and … Continue reading

Posted in Biography, History | 11 Comments