A couple of posts struck me as insightful and quotable, and related to the same theme, so I will share links to and quotes from them together. First, Carson T. Clark wrote about doubt as a Christian virtue: Many Christians see doubt as the opposite of faith. This I find rather bizarre because I see doubt as the opposite of certainty. With that understanding, I would suggest that doubt is a reality of life. Experience tells me that all people have doubt. It’s... Read more
A Bible used as a weapon against other human beings, is always a Bible misused. A recent post by Kristen Rosser ended with a phrase that was so quotable, that I made it into two meme images. Please feel free to circulate either or both! Read more
I had it pointed out to me recently that there is a song about St. Jerome. And so here it is. Read more
I found the Doctor Who episode “Into The Dalek” felt rushed – they could have easily made this a two-parter and taken the time necessary to introduce characters and explore details. But the concept and the themes explored are fascinating, and give viewers much food for thought. Spoilers ahead! The episode introduces the question of whether there can be a good Dalek. Clara’s comment when the Doctor says there’s no such thing gives an insight into how things will unfold. She... Read more
In a recent online article, Valerie Tarico suggests that “a growing number of scholars” are concluding that there was no historical Jesus. It isn’t clear to me that Richard Carrier, Robert Price, and Thomas Brodie represent a “growing number” compared to past generations. If one goes back half a century or more, the idea had more credence than it does now, because we had less evidence about ancient Judaism than we do now, not to mention rampant antisemitism that preferred a... Read more
The above cartoon by David Hayward seems to me to make much the same point as Dostoyevsky’s famous parable of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov. Some people find freedom to be a burden, and prefer what rules offer: in particular, the sense that we are passing the responsibility for our views and our decisions to someone else. But of course, that sense is an illusion – the fundamentalist is still deciding what to believe, and is only pretending to merely... Read more
The quote comes from The Spiral Staircase. Read more
Doctor Who Extra has a YouTube channel, and so wherever you are in the world, you can now watch the new behind-the-scenes series about the making of Doctor Who, which is rather like “Doctor Who Confidential” used to be. The first episode, embedded here, is all about the new Doctor and the making of “Deep Breath.” Read more
Gavin Rumney shared the above, and it made me chuckle. Given that at least most atheists don’t take advantage of the gullibility that characterizes at least some Christians (and clearly some people who at least claim to be Christians do take advantage of that gullibility for their own profit), does this prove clearly and unambiguously that the line between the moral and the immoral does not follow the border between atheists and religious believers? Read more
This response to a common argument from conservative Christians is brought to you by the blog God of Evolution. Read more
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