I recently shared a picture under the title “Target 1, Atheism 0“. A Target employee had managed to place a price sticker in such a way that the title of Christopher Hitchen’s book became God is great (or more precisely God is [price sticker] great). Target seems to have wanted to even things up. Below is a photo (shared by Pat McCullough) of the religion book section display at a Borders store. Kind of evens things up. Read more

I have struggled for some time with a problem that I know has plagues other Windows Vista users too – after logging in, instead of going to the usual desktop, Vista would bring you to a black screen with Windows Explorer as the only thing visible. Many have discovered the work-around, which is to press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and run explorer as a new task. But this is not a solution to the problem. I am happy to offer those struggling with... Read more

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away” (Philip K. Dick, “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”, 1978) Read more

Those of us who teach at universities with professional majors but a strong Liberal Arts focus know something about how students view the ‘core curriculum’. It is core in the sense that it is what everyone is supposed to take in common, alongside their courses for their majors. But rather than being viewed as ‘core’ in the usual sense, such courses are often despised as irrelevant, and at best regarded as tangential or peripheral to their majors. If we think... Read more

“My own tentative suggestion would be that sperm, perhaps Joseph’s, found its way into Mary’s womb by some unusual but scientifically explicable way” (Peter Kirk, in a comment on the Metacatholic blog). The ongoing discussion there on the infancy narratives and the virgin birth are intelligent, in a way that my finding this statement amusing obviously is not… Read more

Here’s the latest banking scam spam to grace my inbox. I don’t share stuff that my spam filter catches, only the ones that make it through. This one is supposedly from U.S. Bank. That was the first giveaway – I don’t have an account with them. But even if you get an e-mail from a bank or company you know, never just click a link to go to them. Type in the address by hand. Or, at the very least,... Read more

Standard sticker, in the standard place…but look what it did to the title of Christopher Hitchens’ book! HT Why Faith? Read more

As someone who appreciates satire, and occasionally engages in it himself, I was delighted to discover a web site devoted to theological and religious satire, called The Wittenburg Door. I can’t imagine that if you are reading this blog of your own free will (assuming you believe in that sort of thing), you will not enjoy paying The Wittenburg Door a visit. Read more

The worst kind of creationist is the Bible-believing, dinner-making, knife-wielding, drunk kind, as apparently they are liable to kill you. HT Pharyngula Read more

For many people, the title of this post may be meaningless. “What is penal substitution?” would seem to them a better question. But if I explain that it is the idea that there is a penalty for sin, and God punished Jesus instead of us, they will immediately recognize it and say “That’s what I believe!” So forgive the technical shorthand if it is unfamiliar to you. I abandoned the penal substitutionary view of the atonement while I was an... Read more