For those of you who have been having conversations with apologists for a long time will probably roll your eyes at this, but anyway, here goes…. Over at the Reasonable Faith podcast, William Lane Craig has been sniping at my Year Without God for the past few months. He started with a podcast devoted to my journey called, The Danger of Trying on Atheism. I won’t waste my time or yours trying to straighten out all the mistakes he makes about me... Read more
In my pursuit of historical and original sources regarding philosophy, science, and rationality, I recently picked up Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason and a collection of his political writings. I’m already so fascinated by Paine. Then, to my delight, one of my favorite contemporary authors and social critics, Chris Hedges, himself from a religious background, wrote a short piece about Thomas Paine for Truthdig entitled, “Thomas Paine, Our Contemporary.” There were numerous American leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, who hoped... Read more
I wrote the article below in August of last year on a progressive Seventh-day Adventist website where a group of us were blogging through the book, Postmodern Apologetics? Arguments for God in Contemporary Philosophy, by Christina M. Gschwandtner. (The title is misleading. It’s nothing like what the word ‘apologetics’ would lead you to think and it’s less arguments for God and more like possible room for God). I ran across it while trying to locate the other pieces I wrote for this... Read more
Much of my pastoral ministry in the final 5 years was spent in active interfaith partnerships, including relationship building, educational efforts, and social service and advocacy partnerships. It was one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. Now, as I’m standing between atheist and theist communities, I once again find myself moderating conversations and facilitating understanding. There is much that Christians do not understand about atheists and what atheism means and doesn’t mean. There is also much that atheists... Read more
One of the first people I thought of when I decided to take this year and fully explore the questions that had been building up about my faith, was Eric Criswell. Eric is a filmmaker that lives in my neighborhood. We met for the first time last year when our mutual friend, Kevin, introduced us on Facebook. Kevin was one year ahead of me at Weimar College, the little fundamentalist, Seventh-day Adventist Bible College we both graduated from in the... Read more
In my previous post, TG(oodness)IF, I mentioned that I met a couple of people from RatioChristi when I spoke at ReAsonCon in North Carolina. It hadn’t occurred to me that there were Christians in the audience, even though the organizers made it clear that a diversity of people were invited, including Christians. Thankfully, I took a gracious approach to Christianity and the church. It would have been easy to pander to the crowd and take a cheap shot or two.... Read more
Who wants to join fellow Patheos Atheist Channel blogger and philosopher Dan Fincke, for a philosophical study of the existence of God? I’m going to be sitting in on this online class and I’d love to have you join me, especially if you’re a Christian who has these questions or are on the fence. I’ll be participating in Class Version Two: ”Debating the Existence of God” Option 2: Saturdays @ 9 am-11am & Sundays @ 6 pm-8 pm PDT (running... Read more
Fridays and weekends have never meant so much to me. Because I was a Seventh-day Adventist pastor my entire adult life, I never had a free weekend and Friday, so far from being something to thank God for, was the most stressful evening the week. As my friends were easing into the weekend, I was bracing for a day of performance anxiety, public speaking, and listening intently to people’s personal needs. Friday morning brought the familiar sense of dread—feeling unprepared... Read more
Today over at Old Piano blog, Sincere KIrabo published an interview he did with me a couple of weeks ago. I appreciated the questions he asked as they prompted me to think about a few issues I hadn’t expressed in quite this way. ———– SINCERE KIRABO: Many things are expected of a pastor of a church. He or she is the leader of the flock, a phrase which evokes allusions to lowly creatures, a congregated collective steeped in groupthink, seemingly oblivious... Read more
I leave tomorrow morning for Hickory, North Carolina, where I will be attending and speaking at the first annual ReAsonCon event, hosted by Myth Understood Alliance: An Alliance of Skeptic, Freethinker, Agnostic, Humanist, Secular and Atheist Groups. Check out the schedule and line up of speakers at the website. Of course, if you’re in the area, please come by and say hello. I’m speaking at 10 am on Saturday (just like old times). The keynote speaker is Dr. Richard Carrier, philosopher and... Read more
Year Without God
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