Several discussions, occurrence and articles over the last few months have led me to develop a unifying thought about the concept of linguistic prescription and its manifestation in the social and political realms. In particular, it seems to me that many of the world’s great debates, and the problems that arise from them, are centered … [Read more…]
I recently took the Which Early Christian Heresy Are You? quiz and my result was Arianism. I posted on Facebook my disappointment at not receiving Pelagianism. But after a few days of contemplation, I’ve started to wonder if I’m really that disappointed. Pelagianism and Me In a nutshell, Pelagianism is the idea that there is no … [Read more…]
According to Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, you can’t be both Catholic and libertarian. Well, I guess that basically consigns all the members of the Catholic Libertarians Facebook group to hell. The problem is, Cardinal Maradiaga doesn’t seem to know much about libertarianism. Here are some comments in reply to particulars from the article: 1. Catholics … [Read more…]
I’ve been contemplating a concept for awhile now that I call “mesotheism” – that is, a middling belief in an overarching spiritual power, which many people call “god.” The idea is that there is a valid positive belief somewhere between theism and atheism that isn’t due merely to confusion, weak will or apathy. Some people … [Read more…]
I just finished Sam Harris’ new book on Free Will. It’s a shortish tome, only about 66 pages plus notes, but it doesn’t suffer for its brevity, and it may even be praised for it’s succinctness and clarity. The basic premise is this: That free will is a sham. Based on recent neurological experiments, we … [Read more…]
Kennedy — the erstwhile MTV VJ (when MTV still had had Vs to J, and no that’s not a euphemism) — published an article over at Reason.com the other day explaining why she thinks atheism is a religion. As a mesotheist, I’ve often thought that some atheists exhibit some similar tendencies as theists, so I … [Read more…]
Last night, I saw pianist Tim Minchin play at the Wilbur Theater in Boston with two of my friends, Dave and Matt. I never heard of the guy before a few weeks ago when Dave asked if I wanted to go. Not having many expectations going into it, I have to say I was absolutely … [Read more…]
Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy has some problems with a recent U.S. District Court decision that ruled a teacher’s comments about creationism violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am not a lawyer, but it seems that the problem has less to do with the fact that public … [Read more…]