I was listening to a recent speech that Matt Dillahunty gave in Australia (listen here if you're interested), and in part of it he brought up the story of the Tower of Babel, found in Genesis 11. It's a story I've thought about several times since leaving Christianity. I don't recall everything Matt said about… Continue reading Skeptical Bible Study: Tower of Babel
Tag: faith
Public Office and Political Activism Just Don’t Mix
As I've mentioned before, my home state of Alabama has recently been wrangling over the subject of gay marriage. A federal judge in the city of Mobile ruled that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, which made us the 37th state legalizing it. Even though the state was dragged into this position, I couldn't… Continue reading Public Office and Political Activism Just Don’t Mix
Bloody Well Right
If God is love, how do we explain the Old Testament passages where he commands the Israelites to eradicate entire groups of people, even the children (Josh 9:24; Num 31; 1 Sam 15)? Sometimes people say it was to punish these people for their evil practices, like child sacrifice. Well, child sacrifice is certainly a… Continue reading Bloody Well Right
Letter to Kathy (the Bible Has Problems)
Dear Kathy, Since you graciously agreed (in our recent conversation) to let me present you with some examples of the Bible's problems, I decided to do it in this way so it would have its own comment thread. As I've said, when I was a Christian, one strike against the Bible was not enough to… Continue reading Letter to Kathy (the Bible Has Problems)
Does the Bible Contain True Prophecies?
When I was a Christian, one of the biggest reasons I had for believing the Bible was that it contained actual prophecy -- or so I thought. I mean, if a book gave specific, detailed prophecies that no one could have guessed, and then they came true, wouldn't that be good reason for believing that… Continue reading Does the Bible Contain True Prophecies?
Why Some People Believe the Bible (And Why the Reasons Aren’t Good Enough)
I'm writing this post in response to something a fellow blogger has written about why the Bible is trustworthy (though I've lost the link to the post). He and I come down on different sides of this issue, and I thought the best way to tackle this would be to respond to each of his… Continue reading Why Some People Believe the Bible (And Why the Reasons Aren’t Good Enough)
Kindergartner Told Not To Pray At School
This morning, as I checked my email, I saw a headline similar to the one that leads this post and inwardly groaned. It has all the markers of the kind of modern-day Christian persecution story that people love to rally behind, just like this one: http://youtu.be/bMjo5f9eiX8 But how believable are these stories? As one of… Continue reading Kindergartner Told Not To Pray At School
Fine-Tuning
There was a time when I found the fine-tuning argument alone to be sufficient for belief in god. I still think it's a pretty good one, though it doesn't get you anywhere close to the personal god that most religious people believe in. That said, I've reached a point where I no longer find it… Continue reading Fine-Tuning
Love and Compulsion
I'm currently reading a book where the author said that God remains hidden from us today so that we may freely choose to love him or not. You can't generate love through compulsion, he argued. And he's right about that. As an illustration, he gave Kierkegaard's story about a king in disguise: Once upon a… Continue reading Love and Compulsion
Have a Little Faith
I spent a long time as a Christian. I'm able to look back on much of that time very fondly. I loved my fellow brethren, and I truly wanted to learn more about God's will and do my best to follow it. But there was also a deep fear tied to my belief. I think… Continue reading Have a Little Faith
Finding Truth 