An Australian website asks people to fill in the blank. The answers have been shared not just on their website but by churches, as in this photo from St. Matthew's Church in Manly. Â Their willingness to let proposed answers appear in all their diversity, rather than only presenting ones they might be expected to approve of, is refreshing. What would you write in the blank? What would your little square say? Â Â Â Â Â Read more
Herein is the difference between private charity and social justice, between doing acts of mercy and confronting systems of injustice. Private charity responds to the needs of the homeless and the poor, but social justice tries to get at the reasons why there are homeless and poor people in the first place and offer constructive solutions.While charity is about giving a hungry person some bread, social justice is about trying to change the system so that no one has excess... Read more
In an interview that Richard Carrier gave on the show Inspiring Doubt, Carrier said that I am a great example of bias. He is, of course, correct. Let’s take Christianity, for instance. I grew up in a country where Christianity predominates. I grew up in a family in which I was raised in one of the many forms of Christianity. I had a life-changing experience in the context of another form of Christianity. I am currently a member involved in... Read more
The video above should let you watch the Richard Carrier interview as it is happening now. I’m liveblogging it. Carrier is now talking about people sowing doubt about biology, for instance. But that is precisely an example of people manufacturing controversy about a consensus. He says that consensus has value. So he is trying, it sounds to me, to have his cake and eat it too. When can you trust consensus and when can you not? The host borrows from Massimo... Read more
Greg Brahe, host of Inspiring Doubt, is going to have Richard Carrier on his show today, with the aim of telling him that he is wrong! The show will be broadcast live on YouTube at 6pm today (Eastern Time, I believe). Here is the blurb for it: I invited Dr Carrier to appear on Inspiring Doubt to discuss a recent article he published, “On Evaluating Arguments From Consensus” (http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/5553). By “invite”, what I actually said to him was : “Would you be available... Read more
The quote from the Faith and Theology blog will probably irritate some. But I think its point is well taken. To the extent that some wrongly claim that being in the midst of war causes people to lose their atheism as they find their lives in danger, being in the midst of war could just as easily be said to cause people to lose their Christianity as they seek to take the lives of others. If you would respond by... Read more
I’m joking about the title – the series is actually provisionally called “Volatile.” But my pastor, Tom Bartley, is seriously planning to preach about controversial topics, and why church is precisely where you ought to be able to talk about them openly, throughout the month of August. If you are in Indianapolis or its vicinity, this would be an interesting time to pay us a visit at Crooked Creek Baptist Church! Here’s what pastor Tom wrote on the church blog:... Read more
I really enjoyed Frozen. But I also really enjoyed the above alternate ending from How It Should Have Ended. Click the above to watch it. Hope you enjoy it too. Read more
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My friend Eldad Keynan has set up a website, focusing on tombs in Israel, a subject that greatly interests him, and me as well. I remember visiting a tomb with him in 2011 which is supposedly that of Joshua of Sakhnin, but which Bellarmino Baggatti thinks might have been the tomb of Jacob of Sakhnin, a Jewish Christian mentioned in rabbinic sources. Local Jews, Christians, and Muslims all revere the site, and one local Muslim said that Jacob was the name... Read more
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