The Warfare Is Mental

On The Whole “Gay” Thing

July 29, 2012

I’ve been going through the comments, and Adam writes,

You wrote in your about page that you believe the church made a colossal error regarding homosexuality. I am a Christian and I agree with you on this, but I haven’t found a post about this topic (probably because it isn’t about (a)theism). Long story short, I used to be firmly against homosexuality, then wavered when my wife’s father was a homosexual, decided to give it a fair shake for the sake of family and found that I wasn’t uncomfortable with his sexuality or willing to reject him completely based on his position. The man is also a minister and loves God and I do not see his sexuality interfering with thus.

My request is if you could spell out your case for why you believe the church made an error in this area (I always hear people who are against homosexuality say that it is condemned in the Bible and I have no answer for that), I am most interested in your response as opposed to the liberal Christian moderating the faith for the culture because you approach these things with logic that is well beyond my own capabilities.

Thanks.

Thank you for the compliment. I’ve never posted on this subject because it’s an overcharged topic that tends to encourage binary thinking. It’s part of the whole “culture war” thing I really want to avoid (though one can’t help stumbling over the occasional land mine). On top of all that, “gay marriage” is actually a very complex issue that requires one to think deeply through their own positions, lest one be found inadvertently attacking another. Today I’ll try to explain my views on the whole “gay” thing, then answer Adam’s questions.

Random Links & Snippets #5

July 28, 2012

Sorry for the two-week absence. Sometimes other interests take center stage. I intend to catch back up to the few conversations still percolating, but it’s about time for another Random Links & Snippets post.

False Argument #35: Religious Disagreement

July 16, 2012

Paraphrased, the Argument from Religious Disagreement (ADR) asks: if an all-powerful, all-knowing God really does exist, why do we observe so much religious disagreement?

Indeed, many religions exist and not all of them are compatible. Even within a single religion like Christianity, many factions exist, and some of their tenets are mutually exclusive (e.g., Calvinism and Universalism can’t both be true). Atheists and skeptics attempt to use this disagreement as evidence against the claim that any given revelation is actually from God, but I believe the underlying premises are naïve. Further, when one looks more carefully, I believe we should expect the religious disagreement we observe—especially if the Bible is true.

This Just Made Me Kinda Sad

July 11, 2012

Heard about Google Glass yet? “The digital world at every moment!” they proudly proclaim. It makes me sad that with all the problems our world is facing, the most powerful companies in the world seems primarily concerned with turning out cooler and more convenient gadgets year after year. Two things: we need another flood, and I hope I die before there’s no natural humanity left.

The Hypocrisy Of PZ Myers & Team FTB

July 10, 2012

So PZ Myers has responded to Thunderf00t via video!

Pareidolia & The Darwinian Narrative

One source defines pareidolia as, “the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist.” Of course, the atheist / materialist crowd loves to cite pareidolia as an explanation for belief in things “supernatural,” but I find that ironic. After all, we’ve got no shortage of confirmed pareidolia in the “science” of the Darwinian narrative. Quite literally, some of these “scientists” see grandiose patterns from nothing more than a few teeth or part of a skull.

Time For A Blog Plug!

July 9, 2012

I stumbled across an antinatalist blogger named Karl who hosts Say No To Life. Despite our obvious ideological differences, I seem to jive with most of what I’ve read. In particular, I recommend,

Incidentally, in the wake of the various paedophile scandals in the Catholic world, there has been lately a popular call for the Church to revoke the rule of celibacy for its clergy, which I personally believe would be a disaster. The Church is what it is because it rejects the whimsies and fickle demands of the masses; that’s why it’s survived for two thousand years and still commands respect, even amongst its most bitter enemies. Contrast this with the Protestant churches of Ireland and England, utterly ineffectual echo chambers of the secular societies they inhabit.

By way of a conclusion, for me the genuine religious person is someone who does not feel at home in this world. He or she dreams of something better, and attempts to embody in their own life what they think the world should be with the hope perhaps that others may follow their example. To mount that tired old nag of a cliché for one last trot, if you want to change the world, change yourself. (Real Christianity)

…and,

…a number of astronomers were asked what they hoped for in terms of the future of Astronomy and the study of space. My stomach turned at their answers: all of them were eager for bases and colonies on the moon, missions to Mars and, of course, the prospect of humanity colonising the solar system seemed to have them creaming their trousers with anticipation. (Leave Space Alone!)

Refreshing, spending legitimate time on a mostly non-(a)theist blog.

Question #4: Proxies and IP’s

I am requesting your help here, people. I suspect twimfanboy will never let the light of reason shine on this issue unless other people get involved. If you care at all about truth, or me, or twimfanboy, or web technology… or if you’re just bored and enjoy puzzles, please get involved here. The question presumes one has at least a basic understanding of web technology, without which a meaningful answer can’t be supplied. As addressed here and here, twimfanboy has accused me of “blatant dishonesty” because, in a thread three years ago, I said both that I comment using different IP addresses, and that I’ve never commented by proxy in my life. From those statements, twimfanboy concluded that I was lying. I submit that twimfanboy’s conclusion does not follow from his premises, and I grant that the premises are sound (IOW it is true that I often comment using different IP’s, and that I’ve never commented by proxy).

The question: does a concession to using different IP addresses falsify a claim that one has never commented via proxy? Is twimfanboy’s logic tight? Why or why not?

Twimfanboy: Bells On!

My dedicated hater twimfanboy has made the following statement:

If and when you can ever be ‘legitimately engaged’, cl, I’ll be there with bells on.

Of course, twimfanboy arbitrarily declared that the topic in question didn’t “cut the mustard,” so this thread is dedicated to any topic of twimfanboy’s choice. You, dear readers, can decide whether the engagement is legitimate or not (provided twimfanboy accepts the gauntlet he threw out).

Ed Kroc: Another Atheist Bigot

July 8, 2012

Sorry, I was on the internet too much today. I found this kookery over at Paul Zachary’s “free thought” blog, and I felt it needed to be called out for the small-minded bigotry it is:

There are three kinds of religious scientists (and mathematicians): cowards, liars and idiots. The cowards need to be reassured and rescued, the liars need to be challenged and contested, and the idiots need to be exposed. It is because of this that I have become an engaged atheist, outspoken and loud, a “new” atheist if that’s what you want to call it. As long as the cowards, liars and idiots are protected by our silence and general disinterest in anything not directly related to our research, they will continue to compromise the credibility of our fields. You can be a brilliant scientist and still believe in god, but you can’t do it sincerely. That’s a problem. Sooner or later will be a clash, whether it’s in the form of muddling research, deceiving students or misrepresenting reality in a public statement or lecture. If you’re going to devote your life to the pursuit of truth, then you better have enough guts to stomach the implications, all of them.

Right, because conflicts of interest *ONLY* arise when scientists are religious. Bigoted kookery! And only the super-rational atheist scientists are metaphysically sincere! Bigoted kookery! Of course, Ed Kroc the bigot forgot all about the fourth kind of religious scientist: the ones who contribute more knowledge to science to science than Dawkins, Myers, Harris and Coyne combined. Who cares though, because, via revelation from Ed Kroc, we can be certain Francis Collins will be out there muddling research, deceiving students or misrepresenting reality, sooner or later. After all, only *THEIST* scientists do that!

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