I need help from people who know more than I do about science — in particular about gravity and what we do or don't know about how it works. What I'm trying to do is to find another angle for breaking through the protective shell that makes communication with "creationists" almost impossible. Some of my best friends, as the saying goes, are creationists, and it isn't good for them. It warps their faith and it puts them on the wrong... Read more
An article in the paper this weekend quoted a religious leader from New Jersey describing the basic message of his faith. "People should have high morals and be kind to each other," he said. That seems hard to argue with. So let's argue with it. Because actually this religious leader's formulation bothers me. What troubles me is the way he presents what seem to be two separate, distinct ideas: "high morals" and "kindness." This doesn't seem to be a matter... Read more
David Waters has a good rundown and smackdown of religious right opposition to the expansion of hate-crime law to include violence intended to intimidate lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. The bottom line is that these supposed people of faith are arguing in bad faith. They know this legislation won't affect their religious freedom in any way, but its enactment will force them to find a new lucrative bogeyman for future fundraising letters. That was fairly straightforward, but let me... Read more
Author Tom Sine tells a story about his first encounter with Ron Sider's book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. It made him mad. Sider's book suggested that money was a major theme of the Bible. Tom knew better. He had read the Bible. He read it every day. Like any good evangelical, he had committed big chunks of it to memory. It might mention money a handful of times, but mainly it was about other things, stuff like... Read more
The American right wing's ability to make parody redundant has gone from being a bitter joke to being a bitter cliché. It's an observation so frequently made because it's so frequently true. For an astonishingly explicit example of this, check out the Conservative Bible Project* at Conservapedia. Yes, that's right, they've decided the Bible will have to be rewritten due to its obvious liberal bias. This requires a closer look precisely because of that old joke about the irrelevance of... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 94-104 Nicolae Carpathia, it turns out, is too busy to meet Buck for lunch at the Manhattan Yacht Club, so he's arranged to have Buck greeted there by their mutual friend, Chaim Rosenzweig. It's not meant to, but this strikes me as suggesting that Nicolae is both responsible and considerate. Say what you will about the Antichrist's evil agenda, but you can't deny that he's putting in the time and working hard at it. Being so busy,... Read more
They're rating it a 10 before they drop and die "Dance Across the Centuries," Johnny Clegg & Savuka"Dance and Boogie," The Pipettes "Dance Dance Dance," Lykke Li"Dance, Dance, Dance," Steve Miller Band"Dance Stop," Daniel Amos"Dancing at the Policeman's Ball," Mark Heard"Dancing in the Dark," Bruce Springsteen"Dancing in the Dark," Tegan & Sara"Dancing in the Shadows," After the Fire"Dancing Lessons," Sinead O'Connor"Dancing on Light," Terry Taylor"Dancing Queen," Abba"Dancing With Joey Ramone," Amy Rigby"Dancing With Myself," Billy Idol "'Dance Stop' instructions: You... Read more
I request the consent of the chamber to revise and extend my previous post. 1. The whale was in Pinocchio In discussing the book of Jonah, I try to avoid the notorious bit with the really big fish. That's what the story says — "fish," not "whale." If you're not familiar with that bit, here it is, briefly. Instead of heading east, like God told him to, Jonah sails west. So God sends a big storm that threatens to sink... Read more
Andrew C. writes with a good question: How do you explain the seemingly barbaric actions of God in the Old Testament? God outright ordered genocides, wars and brutal punishments upon his own followers. Not just a good question, but a canonical one. A question asked, in fact, by many people right there in the Hebrew scriptures. The author of Jonah thought this question was so important that he (or she) sat down and wrote the book of Jonah. That book... Read more
So I thought I'd be able to prep for this exam tomorrow and still get today's LBFriday installment posted. I was wrong about that. So there may be an LBMonday. Sorry about that. Read more
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