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 […]
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, […]
“[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 […]
People make excuses. Nobody likes to be blamed or accused of doing something bad or wrong. We don’t like to be punished or embarrassed. We don’t like to be made to feel guilty — even if we are guilty of wrongdoing. We usually realize that what we were caught doing (or habitually do) is illegal […]
“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 […]
Welcome back! If you’ve been following along, you know that I recently had a civil-but-slightly-frustrating exchange on Facebook with a young-earth creationist (YEC). (Well, there were more involved in the larger “discussion”, but I’m focusing on the interchange between the two of us.) He was making rather confident — even dogmatic — assertions about what […]
As you may know, I sometimes post parts of exchanges I’ve had with skeptics and young-earth creationists (YEC) on Facebook or some other forum. They can be informative and instructional — at least, to me, and hopefully for others “listening in”. They can also be as frustrating as all get out, whether because a) the […]
Hi, there! Yes, it has been more than two weeks since my last post. (I try to average one per week.) Beyond not feeling particularly “inspired” to write on anything for awhile (despite the two party conventions and various “silly season” topics), now that I’m back in school (part-time), I have less time to research […]
Preface: Why a “revised and expanded” version of this article? Following the (admittedly, rushed) publication of the original post a couple nights ago, I did some more research and was forced to reassess a couple of points (h/t Mark E. on FB). Rather than edit the existing post, I thought a new post with additional […]
