In his book Evil, psychologist Roy Baumeister busts what he calls the myth of pure evil, the idea that evil is, the intentional and gratuitous infliction of harm for its own sake, perpetrated by a villain who is malevolent to the bone, inflicted on a victim who is innocent and good. We see depictions of this sort of evil all the time in horror films, fairytales, news coverage and statements by global political leaders who are seeking to justify yet another... Read more
In his his Sept. 24 speech to the UN general assembly, President Obama said, As an international community, we must meet this challenge [of religiously motivated fanatics] with a focus on four areas. First, the terrorist group known as ISIL must be degraded, and ultimately destroyed. A couple of minutes later, he followed this up with: the future belongs to those who build – not those who destroy. Apparently, according to his own words, Obama doesn’t think the future belongs to... Read more
In a recent piece written for the Huffington Post, theologian Stephen Phelps argues that the US political system is gridlocked over climate change due to “a confusion of climate change denial with so-called conservative values.” In order to help people pull their heads out of the tar sands, Phelps seeks to establish how the term “conservative” has been distorted over time. From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the 1960s, “conservatives” were those who regarded with deep skepticism humans’ powers to... Read more
Several years ago I worked on a documentary called spOILed, which takes a rather unique look at our relationship with fossil fuels. In the film, we argue that contrary to what we’re told by the anti-oil industry (a.k.a the environmentalist movement), fossil fuels are the cleanest, safest form of energy ever discovered, and that anyone who argues otherwise simply doesn’t understand the role fossil fuels play in our lives–and what life would really look like if we stopped using them. If... Read more
Harold Camping was the Christian radio broadcaster who issued multiple failed predictions of when the End Times would begin, making him famous and generating millions of dollars. Now a new film called Apocalypse Later: Harold Camping vs. the End of the World has just been released that documents Campings rise and fall. Filmmaker Zeke Piestrup had exclusive access to Camping in the days leading up to May 21, 2011, which is when Camping predicted Judgment Day would begin. In fact, he was... Read more
I have four children, ages 6-14. Two boys and two girls. I absolutely love being a dad, a development in life that caught me completely by surprise, seeing as I had no desire to have kids, and the first baby I ever held was my son Huw the day he was born. But being a dad also has its down sides. Namely, conflict in the home. Whether they’re arguing about who should sit where in the van, who gets the... Read more
Simple: It demands the least of us in terms of both compassion and creativity. Rather than sacrifice our time, resources, rights or comfort in an effort to resolve a conflict, violence allows us to foist the total cost of a conflict onto our enemies. Think of it as the fast food of conflict resolution. The path of least resistance. A cacophony of sugar, salt and fat that gives us a momentary shot of euphoria and sanctimony but whose long-term effects are... Read more
In a recent blog post, David French, Senior Counsel at the staunchly Zionist American Center for Law and Justice, argues that in the face of violence, Pacifism… is nothing more than compelled helplessness… [it] is thus the worst possible response to attack, not just tactically and strategically stupid in secular terms but also a direct abdication of a sacred responsibility. So, with a clear conscience and firm conviction, our nation’s Christian citizens can and should send President Obama a clear message: ISIS should... Read more
Hellbound
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