Remember the extended family -- the living arrangement in which several generations and/or distant relatives all live together in close proximity, so that there is strong bonding and support among them? Older generations help raise the young, and the younger generations care for the old. Each person has a large…
Since we're on the subject of Bible contradictions, did you know that there are at least three different versions of the Ten Commandments? The Jews have one, the Catholics have one and the Protestants have one. This is one reason why posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings violates the U.S.…
Okay, ladies too. But I was going for a "Sunday, Sun-nday Sunda-ay" feel with the headline. I've always liked this Watterson throwaway reply to Karl Marx from 1987-ish. But, after reading some of the firestorm of responses to Erich's post about Misquoting Jesus, maybe religion hasn't really lost any ground.…
Debate goes on, seeming forever, about the issue of religious belief in a secular society. The validity of sacred texts becomes grist for the mill and sides line up over What Would Jesus Do bumper stickers. We see competing fish on cars–Darwin fish with feet in answer to the unembellished christian fish symbol, then a bigger fish labeled Truth swallowing the diminutive Darwin fish, and on and on.
What is really at issue here hasn’t got one thing to do with who believes in god or evolution. Belief is a self-contained, private matter. The issue that gets lost in all the polemic is very simple: behavior.
Those who would sap the poison from the “inerrant word” crowd are defending their assumed right to live the way they want. One might argue that belief in god doesn’t really limit people, and as far as it goes, that is true. If you, as an individual, choose to believe in god, then you have elected to reform your life according to the tenets of your new faith. You may adopt whatever modest or byzantine traditions and habits you wish. After all, you have chosen this, you get to do it.
What you don’t get to do is tell everyone else to behave accordingly, and that’s where the meat of the issue lies.
Because fundamentalists–and we’re talking about fundamentalists here for the most part, of any stripe–do not adopt such an extreme view of faith out of intellectual curiosity or even spiritual need. They …
Check out this article and video posted on Think Progress. Don't forget to read the citations to "stay the course" and the comments. Hey! Somehow, this man is still in charge of our country. Really, time kick this fratboy out of the oval office before he accidentally (or intentionally) launches a nuke.