A View from the Right Science, POLITICS, & Religion

“Men seek an explanation of suffering in cause and effect. They look backwards for a connection between prior sin and present suffering. The Bible looks forwards (sic) in hope and seeks explanations, not so much in origins as in goals. The purpose of suffering is seen, not in its cause, but in its result. The […]

If you are at all familiar with Christian apologetics, whether engaging challenges from non-theists or from Christians with different views, you know that the topic of pain, suffering, and death is a major issue. (In fact, Darwin’s struggle with this was the impetus for developing his theory.) These things are considered “evil”, so the question […]

Once, when I was in junior high, someone found a typo in one of our school textbooks. One of the other students — might’ve been me, not sure — jokingly said, “We can’t trust it, now. Guess we’ll just have to throw out the whole book! Oh, well…” It then became a running joke for […]

I recently purchased Dennis Prager’s book Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. The title may seem a bit presumptuously America-centric, but knowing Prager, I suspect he makes a pretty good argument in support. Not sure when I’ll actually get around to reading the book, but I was skimming the […]

“Those who are unwilling or incapable of discerning or judging between good and evil are in this manner revealing either their disobedience or their immaturity.”   — Pastor E.L. Bynum In our last “episode”, we began to address the issue of what it means to “judge” others. Specifically, we took a practical, nonsectarian look at why […]

“Don’t judge me!” How many times have you heard that? When said seriously, the person’s tone is usually quite defensive. They don’t want someone else telling them that they are behaving in a bad, foolish, or ethically questionable way. Or, how about: “Who are you/we to judge?” In this case, the person is probably indicating […]

If you have been caught up in the hubbub about fiscal cliffs and taxing the rich and Tony Romo’s (in)completion record, you may have missed this particular news item. Remember Fantasia? No, not the Disney animated classic. Fantasia Barrino, winner of American Idol’s 3rd season? I don’t keep up on these things, but it seems […]

“She ain’t no Karl Rove. Karl Rove would eat her for breakfast.” — a major Obama donor, speaking of Valerie Jarrett The other day, I posted “Obama: Dispassionate Academic with Delusions of Grandeur“, which focused on the President’s arrogance and emotional distance as contributing factors to his amateurish performance in the White House. My source […]

Jesus is the Reason for the Season! At this time of year (in “the West”, at least), you see signs and bumper stickers and web images and all sorts of stuff that say this. Amidst all the Santas and snowmen and decorated trees and commercial hubbub, it’s a great reminder to all — Christian and […]

It is one thing to be extremely knowledgeable and/or talented and to “know it” — that is, adopt a cockiness or snobbishness as a result. At least there is a valid basis for the feeling of superiority, however annoying and insensitive it may be. It is another thing to find yourself in a position of […]