Category: Of Random Interest

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This was a very interesting read. “Unfortunately, a few years later my marriage ended—a pain known too easily by too many. At this point, the divorce allowed me to explore my homosexuality for the first time in my life. At first, I felt liberated. I dated some great guys, and was in a couple of long-term relationships. Over several years, intellectual honesty led me to some unexpected conclusions: (1) Creating a family with another man is not completely equal to creating a family with a woman, and (2) denying children parents of both genders at home is an objective evil. Kids need and yearn for both.”

I’m Gay and I Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

While religion and tradition have led many to their positions on same-sex marriage, it’s also possible to oppose same-sex marriage based on reason and experience. 

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How quickly academics turn on their fellows when they betray the prevailing orthodoxy. Thomas Nagel has the audacity to hold views such as this: “If the materialist, neo-Darwinian orthodoxy contradicts common sense, then this is a mark against the orthodoxy, not against common sense. When a chain of reasoning leads us to deny the obvious, we should double-check the chain of reasoning before we give up on the obvious.”  This, of course, generated huge pushback. “In a dazzling six-part tour de force rebutting Nagel’s critics, the philosopher Edward Feser provided a good analogy to describe the basic materialist error—the attempt to stretch materialism from a working assumption into a comprehensive explanation of the world. Feser suggests a parody of materialist reasoning: “1. Metal detectors have had far greater success in finding coins and other metallic objects in more places than any other method has. 2. Therefore we have good reason to think that metal detectors can reveal to us everything that can be revealed” about metallic objects. But of course a metal detector only detects the metallic content of an object; it tells us nothing about its color, size, weight, or shape. In the same way, Feser writes, the methods of “mechanistic science are as successful as they are in predicting and controlling natural phenomena precisely because they focus on only those aspects of nature susceptible to prediction and control.” Meanwhile, they ignore everything else. But this is a fatal weakness for a theory that aspires to be a comprehensive picture of the world.”

Interesting throughout. 

The Heretic

Last fall, a few days before Halloween and about a month after the publication of Mind and Cosmos, the controversial new book by the philosopher Thomas Nagel, several of the world’s leading philosoph… 

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I truly, truly feel bad about laughing at the Jesus Hyena. And yet I am still laughing.

Chrisendom: Theological vocabulary of the day: “to jesus” (verb)

Theological vocabulary of the day: “to jesus” (verb). jesusing. Now let’s gerund this baby, and lop off the “ing” as well. And we get: IMG_2427 · download. Antonym: jesushyena · IMG_1622. posted by Ch… 

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Dr. Bill Newsome, recently tapped to co-chair the BRAIN initiative, is a follower of Jesus. I’ve had him preach in my Chi Alpha ministry before. You can see him being interviewed about the BRAIN initiative at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/newsome/ and see him talking about his faith at http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2006summer/newsome.html

Of two minds — Stanford Medicine Magazine — Stanford University School of Medicine

By WILLIAM NEWSOME. When I discuss religion with my fellow scientists — which is not often — I find that many perceive religious faith as a uniquely irrational aspect of human life andtherefore highly… 

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Choco De Jesus, one of the pastors from my denomination (the Assemblies of God), is featured on the cover of TIME magazine. Congratulations, Pastor Choco! http://georgeowood.com/pastor-choco-graces-cover-of-time-magazine/ 

Pastor Choco in TIME Magazine

A big congratulations is in order today to our AG brother, Pastor Choco. His image graces the multi-fold cover of TIME magazine today as a leader of the Hispanic Evangelical Community. Several AG p.….. 

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I just read a very insightful discussion about race and Christianity between Thabiti Anyabwile and Doug Wilson: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2013/04/02/a‑black-and-tan-round-up/ — it’s long but worthwhile (tip: I opened up all the links in new tabs and worked through them one at a time).

A “Black and Tan” Round-Up

For the past couple of weeks, Douglas Wilson and I have carried on a discussion of his book, Black and Tan. The book and its prequel, Southern Slavery As It Was, triggered controversy that’s lasted th…