March 4, 2011
I know I’m a little late on this, but… This past January, King Day at the Dome was held on the northside steps of the State House in Columbia, SC. The annual rally in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. drew 1200 observers. In addition to honoring MLK’s civil rights legacy, the event gives […]
Tags: black racist, George Washington, George Washington in a box, George Washington statue, honoring King's legacy, King Day at the Dome, Martin Luther King, MLK, NAACP, offended by George Washington, right to not be offended, South Carolina secession, victim mindset
Posted in Politics |
February 27, 2011
A day or two ago, a more liberally-minded friend sent me a message on Facebook. He pointed me to an article on HuffPo, which asked the question (prompted by liberal theologian / “social justice” activist Jim Wallis), “What Would Jesus Cut?” Of course, it refers to the federal budget and is a challenge to let […]
Tags: battling evil, Biblical principle, budget cuts, cost of education, cost of military, cost of peace, federal budget, fighting for freedom, foreign aid, helping the poor, helping the sick, ineffective government programs, Jesus, Jim Wallis, misusing Jesus' words, national budget, purpose of government, purpose of military, redistribution of wealth, social justice, words of Jesus
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
February 26, 2011
“[A] fair result can only be obtained by stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.” — Charles Darwin To most in the U.S., February 12th is known & celebrated as Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. But, to a growing number, that date has become Darwin Day, in honor of Charles Darwin. […]
Tags: academic freedom, academic freedom bills, Academic Freedom Day, ACLU, Charles Darwin, creation vs evolution, creationism, Darwin Day, Darwinism, education legislation, evolution, evolutionary theory, February 12, ID, intellectual freedom, Intelligent Design, Louisiana Science Education Act, National Center for Science Education, NCSE, pro-Darwin establishment, scientific censorship, scientific consensus, scientific controversy, teaching evolution
Posted in Religion, Science, Science & Religion |
February 18, 2011
“A people contending for life and liberty are seldom disposed to look with a favorable eye upon either men or measures whose passions, interests or consequences will clash with those inestimable objects.” — George Washington, letter to General Thomas, 7/23/1775 I’d like to pick up from the preceding post, which included an excerpt from Senator […]
Tags: appreciation of freedom, balancing force and freedom, big government, civilization requires restraint, Daniel Webster quote, dependence on government, freedom, government intrusion, government is the problem, making government our master, moral cause of freedom, morality of liberty, overregulation, politicians with good intentions, Saving Freedom, Washington quote, welfare, what is freedom
Posted in Politics |
February 16, 2011
“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” — Thomas Jefferson Why is it that so many people fail to see the dangers in giving increasing power & authority to the government, of becoming more & more dependent upon it for our livelihoods and well-being? Can’t they see how this […]
Tags: appreciation of freedom, big government, dependence on government, freedom, government intrusion, government is the problem, Jefferson quote, making government our master, overregulation, politicians with good intentions, Reagan quote, Saving Freedom, welfare, what is freedom
Posted in Politics |
February 14, 2011
Came across these yesterday and decided it was time for a light-hearted post: “I’m not the only taxpayer who has no idea what he’s sending to the IRS. This year, only 28 percent of all Americans will prepare their own tax returns, according to a voice in my head that invents accurate-sounding statistics.” “Here’s my […]
Tags: accurate-sounding statistics, Congress on Survivor, Dave Barry, political humor, tax code, tax reform, taxes
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized |
February 10, 2011
Today, I continue what could be called “My Conversation with Michael the Heathen Gnostic.” As Michael and I traded comments about the Gospel of Thomas (among other issues), the issue came up of which were/was likely written earlier — those manuscripts that became the four Gospels in the Bible OR the Gospel of Thomas (GTh). […]
Tags: ancient manuscripts, Bible manuscripts, Coptic translation, dating the Bible, dating the gospels, doubting Thomas, gnostic writings, gnosticism, Gospel of Thomas, how early were the Gospels written, hypothetical Q source, Nag Hammadi, New Testament criticism, Quelle, synoptic gospels, textual criticism
Posted in Religion |
February 8, 2011
This is the continuation of a post that I pieced together from a forum discussion I had with a religious skeptic named Michael, but who gave himself the handle “Heathen Gnostic”. This particular thread has to do broadly with historical manuscripts and the canon of the Bible and more specifically with the Gnostic “gospels”. (I […]
Tags: ancient manuscripts, Bible manuscripts, dating the Bible, dating the gospels, doubting Thomas, gnostic writings, gnosticism, Gospel of Thomas, how early were the Gospels written, Nag Hammadi, New Testament criticism, synoptic gospels, textual criticism
Posted in Religion |
February 6, 2011
Some time ago, I had an interesting discussion with a guy on a (marketing) forum about various aspects of Biblical reliability & canonicity, testing historical manuscripts, corruption in “The Church”, differences between major Christian branches, etc. It ran quite the gamut, with several threads going at once. At some point, I decided to start copying […]
Tags: ancient manuscripts, Bible manuscripts, dating the Bible, dating the gospels, doubting Thomas, gnostic writings, gnosticism, Gospel of Thomas, how early were the Gospels written, Nag Hammadi, New Testament criticism, synoptic gospels, textual criticism
Posted in Religion |
February 2, 2011
Normally, when a conservative such as I mentions healthcare in the UK, it is to decry the largely socialist nature of their system — complete with reports of people waiting for years to get treatment or surgery, plus the occasional horror story from the news of people literally dying of neglect in their hospital beds […]
Tags: benefits of free market competition, health care, healthcare, healthcare reform, hospital competition, National Bureau of Economic Research, National Health Service, NBER, NHS, Obamacare, UK healthcare system
Posted in Politics |