November 30, 2006
Christianity and Homosexuality
In the very first
Carnival of Citizens, there is a post at
HeartFulls (a blog with which I was not previously familiar) in which the author wants to know
how Christians deal with homosexuality. She seems to be particularly concerned with the question of gay marriage (which is presumably why this post was included in the Carnival of Citizens). She cites a few Scripture passages that are commonly used in arguments, but doesn't present a clear picture of how and why these arguments cause Christians to hold the positions they do (presumably, she doesn't know quite how these passages are interpreted, which is why this is part of her "I want to know" series). In this post, I will try to explain how these verses are interpreted, and how they should influence Christians' actions, especially in the political realm...
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November 28, 2006
US Mint Out to Get the Liberty Dollar?
It seems, over the last few months, that the U.S. Mint has suddenly been out to get the Liberty Dollar. This after years of investigations by the Secret Service and others which concluded that there was nothing criminal about it whatsoever. In the latest Liberty Dollar newsletter, which will be available on their web-site shortly, we read that "'threatening' letters have been received via certified mail by all the [regional currency officers] and [monetary architect Bernard von NotHaus] from Daniel P. Shaver, chief counsel for the US Mint." Also, NORFED, the organization behind the Liberty Dollar, has had their bank...
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November 19, 2006
NBC Censoring Veggie Tales?
I'm an online survey respondent for
Zogby. The latest poll contains this question:
NBC recently cut references to God and the Bible from the popular children's television show, Veggie Tales, which encourages moral behavior based on Christian and biblical principles. NBC claimed the goal was to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view. Do you agree or disagree with NBC's decision?
A later question reads...
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November 15, 2006
On Synergism
Gerald has a piece on
Augustine and the synergism/monergism distinction up at
Iustificare. Gerald believes that the real question is not about synergism vs. monergism, but rather about the resistability of grace. I think he is probably right about this, but I question his definition of synergism, since synergism is
working together, but he seems to interpret it as simple concurrence. If I want God to do something, but have no power in myself to make it happen, it's not clear that this is synergism. However, Jesus does say "this is the work of God: that you believe in the One He has sent" (John 6:29). So let's suppose that believing or willing is a "work" (
ergon) for the purpose of synergism. I have two points to make...
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Neurological Study of Glossolalia
An article in the
Penn Almanac reports a
neurological study on glossolalia (speaking in tongues). The researchers reported that brain activity observed while subjects speak in tongues suggest that they "are not in control of the usual language centers during this activity, which is consistent with their description of a lack of intentional control" ...
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November 8, 2006
Election Results
Well, the two Libertarian candidates I was watching most closely (Bruce Guthrie for senate from Washington and Michael Badnarik for congress from Texas) did not do nearly as well as I had hoped they might, but the election results are, in my opinion, far from being a total loss. Firstly, we have a Democratic house and an evenly split or Democratic senate, with a Republican president. This is good in two ways: (1) the Democrats have enough power to stop Bush from pushing his terrible ideas through the legislature, but not enough power to push their own terrible ideas through...
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November 7, 2006
Philosophers' Carnival 38
I'm extremely swamped right now (in the second round of midterms, and in tech week for
Othello) and don't have time to post anything substantive, or keep up on what's going on on the other blogs I ordinarily read, for which I apologize. I do however, want to point all of your attention to
Philosophers' Carnival 38 which is up at
The Splintered Mind with a link to my post on
Moore's "two hands" argument for the existence of the physical world.
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November 1, 2006
Quote of the Day
ALCIPHRON: ... But what apology can be made for nonsense, crude nonsense? ... Look here, said he, opening a Bible, in the forty-ninth Psalm : ... "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the wickedness of my heels shall compass me about?" The iniquity of my heels! What nonsense after such a solemn introduction! EUPHRANOR: For my own part, I have naturally weak eyes, and know there are many things that I cannot see, which are nevertheless distinctly seen by others. I do not therefore conclude a thing to be absolutely invisible, because it is so to...
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