My son is 7 years old right now, and he's inherited my love of music. Over the last year or two he's gotten to where he enjoys going to sleep while listening to something. Currently, it's Jimi Hendrix's "Gypsy Eyes" on repeat. But he's also gone through periods where he only wanted "We Will Rock… Continue reading Objective Rock Music
Category: Agnosticism
Is It Fair to Expect Inerrancy from the Bible When We Don’t Expect It from Other Sources?
In the comment thread of my last post, some of us mentioned that it's hard for us to understand the point of view of Christians who believe the Bible can be inspired by God, without holding to the doctrine of inerrancy. unkleE left the following comment: How is it that in everything else in life… Continue reading Is It Fair to Expect Inerrancy from the Bible When We Don’t Expect It from Other Sources?
Letter to a Friend
Several months ago, I received a letter from a childhood friend whom I haven't heard from in a very long time. She and I were both raised in the same fundamentalist branch of Christianity (Church of Christ), and our parents are still very close. Her preacher recently did a series of sermons on evidences for… Continue reading Letter to a Friend
The Big Picture
We live in a world where it’s possible to question the very existence of God, even the supernatural altogether. Our world also contains many religions that, more often than not, tend to break out along ethnic and cultural boundaries. Most of these religions claim to be the one true way to win the “game” of… Continue reading The Big Picture
New Book About Hitchens Claims Too Much
Here in Birmingham, there's a writer and Christian apologist named Larry Taunton who has a new book called The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World's Most Notorious Atheist. I know. Just the title itself is enough to get your blood boiling. Taunton actually knew Hitchens personally, as the two engaged in… Continue reading New Book About Hitchens Claims Too Much
To What Extent Should Parents’ Religious Beliefs Affect a Child’s Well-Being?
Mariah Walton was born with a birth defect that could have been fixed rather easily, if her parents had only allowed it (if there's an ad in the video, it's worth waiting through it): I take parents' rights very seriously, but how many examples of children being harmed by their parents' belief in faith healing… Continue reading To What Extent Should Parents’ Religious Beliefs Affect a Child’s Well-Being?
New Information on Literacy Rates in Ancient Judah
A new study using computer-aided handwriting analysis suggests that literacy rates may have been higher in the ancient Kingdom of Judah than previously thought. The story's pretty fascinating, and you can read more about it at these links (thanks to SPG and Graham for sending these my way): http://gizmodo.com/artificial-intelligence-sheds-new-light-on-the-origins-1769736018 http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/new-evidence-on-when-bible-was-written-ancient-shopping-lists/ar-BBrDfep?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15 One of the things that… Continue reading New Information on Literacy Rates in Ancient Judah
Family Ties: Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and Nitocris
Regular readers of this blog may know that one of the first lines of evidence that caused me to begin questioning my Christian faith had to do with the Book of Daniel. There are a number of issues within the book that have led the majority of scholars to conclude that it was not written… Continue reading Family Ties: Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and Nitocris
A Modern-Day Abraham
Well, it's no longer a scenario we have to imagine. I'm sad to say that there's a case currently underway not far from where I live concerning a man who murdered his daughter because "Yahweh" told him to. You can read the full story here. Stephon Lindsay killed his 20-month old daughter Maliyah in March… Continue reading A Modern-Day Abraham
Can Natural Selection Explain Our Advanced Cognitive Abilities?
Yesterday, I was listening to a recent episode of The Atheist Experience, and it brought up an interesting topic. Russell Glasser was hosting, and he was joined by Neil Carter from Godless in Dixie. A little over halfway through, they had a theist named David call in who wanted to contrast theistic evolution with evolution… Continue reading Can Natural Selection Explain Our Advanced Cognitive Abilities?
Finding Truth 