A couple of photos I took on the Butler University campus today. Read more
A couple of photos I took on the Butler University campus today. Read more
As I was gearing up for the second class period focused on The Communist Manifesto in my First Year Seminar course, this video came to my attention on several blogs I subscribe to. How can anyone think that this degree of inequity is acceptable? And it pales in comparison to the inequity that exists on a global rather than a national scale. I lived for a few years in a post-communist society, as well as for longer still in another... Read more
This is the song that sparked off my recent bit of songwriting. I reworked the melody for this recording, having revised it multiple times already because I wrote it in a range that few people can sing in, least of all me. I hope to have at least one version to share in the near future with someone else singing the lead vocals, so that you can hear it as I imagine it in my head, and not merely in... Read more
Michael Bird shared this Mitchell and Webb video about an imagined conversation between Richard Dawkins and his publisher. It actually gets at a really good point, which connects with an issue I often blog about, namely the embracing of Jesus-mythicism and other such fringe ideas among atheists. There is something enjoyable in denying what others affirm, and in believing oneself smarter than the majority of people who affirm whatever it is. And so I suspect that the love of denial,... Read more
The attempt at an alliterative title hopefully will not obscure what this post is about, which is an attempt to clarify my thinking about Adam in Paul’s letters. This is a follow-up to my earlier post, in which I explained some of the reasons for concluding that Jesus and Paul were not literalists, which in turn emerged from the comment thread on an earlier post about evolution. In saying that Paul was not a literalist with respect to the Adam story, that... Read more
Several posts and graphics have come my way that intersect under this heading. First and most directly is this Chuck and Beans cartoon (HT David Meadows): Next, Tony Jones shared an excerpt from Peter Rollins’ book which mentions the Sirens’ song of offering a product that will fill a gap in our lives, even if we call that product “God”: Finally, at Stuff Fundies Like there’s a post about the appeal of returning to fundamentalism when one has left it,... Read more
A friend shared this cartoon from “Inherit the Mirth” on Facebook. I was entertained by it immediately, but only later it struck me that it can also be used to make a serious point. The Bible and other ancient Jewish and Christian texts use manna as a symbol – for the word of God, for wisdom, and/or for Jesus. There are a lot of religious believers who undiscerningly accept whatever is offered to them, as long as the one offering... Read more
It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts and history and science, all of which are thoroughly modern concerns. If we look at what Jesus is depicted as saying about Genesis 2 in the Synoptic Gospels, he points to the story about God making two people out of one, and then goes on to talk (as Genesis does) about two becoming one flesh. Not literally... Read more
Another rock mass has been brought to my attention, this one by a French progressive rock band called Offenbach, not to be confused with the earlier composer of that last name. The above is one part of it. Read more
The notification below came via e-mail from the American Academy of Religion (it did not include the logo, which I added just for fun, because I did not previously know that this was another thing that “AAR” stood for): PAPERS DEADLINE EXTENDED – SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS NOW MARCH 6, 2013 Dear AAR Members, The Program Administration Proposal, Review, Evaluation, and Submission System (PAPERS) server went down from 10:50 pm to 12:22 am EST last night. As a result, hundreds of... Read more
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