June 30, 2013
I give up. I wasn’t gonna do it, but I caved under (imagined) pressure. I wanted to blog on something else this week, but with the recent SCOTUS rulings involving same-sex marriage, I felt sort of obligated to publish some commentary of my own. So, though I had intended to save this for a later […]
Tags: America founded on Judeo-Christian principles, America is a Christian nation, anti-gay bigotry, benefits of marriage, Christians aren't the only conservatives, Christians in the public square, evangelicals in politics, Founding Fathers, founding principles, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, gay marriage, gay royal manicurists in ancient Egypt, institution of marriage, libertarian stance on SSM, one-man-one-woman, redefining marriage, religious arguments, Republicans, RNC stance on SSM, same-sex marriage, secular arguments, SSM, threat of theocracy?, tolerance, traditional marriage
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
June 23, 2013
I just saw an article about fracking that reminded me of a conversation I had on Facebook a couple months ago. (Yes, another one….) A liberal friend of mind had shared the anti-fracking image below from New Yorkers Against Fracking. It expresses a concern that isn’t usually highlighted in anti-fracking posts & rants. (At least, […]
Tags: anti-fracking poster, dangers of fracking, does fracking waste valuable freshwater?, fracking, fracking technology, how fracking works, hydraulic fracturing, John Ransom, Mike Stephenson, natural gas, New Scientist, New Yorkers Against Fracking, NYAF, questionable anti-fracking science, renewable energy, water wastage
Posted in Politics, Politics & Science, Science |
June 16, 2013
Part 2: Propositions and Logical Relationships “Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed ere long into an amiable indifferentism which to outward appearance differed but little from the indifferentism….” — Samuel Butler, iconoclastic Victorian author Despite what you […]
Tags: categorical propositions, contradictory relationship, contrary relationship, critical thinking, good arguments, good logic, how to argue better, how to think better, informal logic, logical argumentation, logical relationships, logical thinking, making an argument, particular affirmative, particular negative, poor logic, rational thought, reasoning skills, square of opposition, subalternation relationship, subcontrary relationship, subjective and predicate, universal affirmative, universal negative
Posted in Politics, Politics / Science / Religion, Religion, Science |
June 12, 2013
Part 1: Firm Foundation “I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.” — Popeye, the sailorman Given the subjects that I usually read and write about on this blog, critical thinking really comes in handy. Not that I’m some great logician or anything. Far from it! But, over the last few years, […]
Tags: critical thinking, good arguments, good logic, how to argue better, how to think better, human logic vs God's logic, informal logic, logical argumentation, logical thinking, making an argument, poor logic, rational thought, reasoning skills, Western logic vs Eastern logic
Posted in Politics, Politics / Science / Religion, Religion, Science |
June 5, 2013
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) Previously, I introduced “Darryl” and his idea that “sin is ultimately a consequence of Creation… albeit, an unintended consequence.” In fact, in an effort to exculpate God from all responsibility for sin, he hypothesized that perhaps “God sovereignly created a ‘Law of […]
Tags: Adam & Eve, Did God create sin?, doctrine of sin, God's sovereignty, hamartiology, Is God ultimately to blame for sin?, law of unintended consequences, Man's free will, moral free agents, original sin, sin as unintended consequence, the Holy Trinity, unintended consequences, Was sin part of God's plan?
Posted in Religion |
June 2, 2013
We often hear people speak of “unintended consequences”. It certainly comes up a lot in talks of politics & economics. But, the other day — OK, it was a few months ago — I heard the term used regarding quite a different topic. I was browsing a Facebook thread, in which a bunch of people […]
Tags: Did God create sin?, doctrine of sin, God's sovereignty, hamartiology, Is God ultimately to blame for sin?, John Macleod, law of unintended consequences, Man's free will, Mark Whorton, moral free agents, original sin, sin as unintended consequence, unintended consequences, Was sin part of God's plan?
Posted in Religion |
May 26, 2013
In an effort to remind myself (and others) of the many lives lost, sacrificed in the service of this great country, for the freedom of her people and those of her allies, I have reproduced the 1986 Memorial Day speech given by President Ronald Reagan at Arlington National Cemetery: “Today is the day we put […]
Tags: Arlington National Cemetary, freedom is never free, honoring the military, lives lost in war, Memorial Day, need for strong military, Reagan speech 1986, Ronald Reagan, sacrifice for freedom, Three Servicemen, war memorial
Posted in Politics |
May 19, 2013
I confess, I’m not really a “Tenth Amendment” guy. Not that I don’t recognize its importance in our founding and our ongoing freedoms. I definitely do. It’s just that First (and sometimes Second) Amendment rights are usually those that catch my attention. But, with the recent, national attention to certain issues — e.g., gun control […]
Tags: 10 Amendment, federal overreach, federal power grab, Federal supremacy, Federalist papers, James Madison, nullification, State sovereignty, states rights, TAC, Tenth Amendment Center, unconstitutional legislation
Posted in Politics |
May 12, 2013
While I work on a new series of articles, I’d like to offer you a little economics lesson this week, courtesy of Jay W. Richards and his terrific book, Money, Greed, and God (2009). In the midst of a chapter discussing capitalism, consumerism, and the local vs. global issue, Richards gives a little perspective on […]
Tags: assembly line, bigger not always better, capitalism, consumerism, Costco, diseconomies of scale, economics in retail, economies of scale, global vs local, Jay W. Richards, Kava House, mom-n-pop vs big chain store, Money Greed and God, Starbucks, Target, Walmart
Posted in Politics |
May 5, 2013
“[S]cience and religion are two essential components in the search for truth. Denying either is a barren approach.” — Dr. Martin Andreas Nowak, mathematical biologist Once upon a time (actually, it was about a year ago) in a land far, far away (OK, it was here in NE Florida), I had a brief but interesting […]
Tags: can a religious person be truly scientific?, Can scientists believe in the Bible?, Christian scientists, Christians in science, Jewish scientists, revealed wisdom, scientific method, special revelation, theistic scientists
Posted in Religion, Science, Science & Religion |