Month: June 2013

An Astonishingly Bad Argument against Gay Marriage

Over at The Christian Post, General Jerry Ralph Curry gives an astonishingly bad argument against gay marriage. Should SCOTUS actually declare homosexuality a civil right, it logically follows that polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality would one day also be declared a civil right by the Court. In spite of society’s thirst for more modernism, inclusiveness and diversity, who An Astonishingly Bad Argument against Gay Marriage

Did Jesus Exit? – Part 5

In his book Did Jesus Exist? Bart Ehrman argues for something like the following Minimal Jesus Hypothesis (MJH): ====================== There was a flesh-and-blood person who was… 1. named ‘Jesus’, and 2. a Jewish man, and 3. living in Palestine as an adult in the 20s C.E., and 4. known to be a preacher and a Did Jesus Exit? – Part 5

Kahane on Cosmic Insignificance

This paper is an absolute must-read. Abstract: The universe that surrounds us is vast, and we are so very small. When we reflect on the vastness of the universe, our humdrum cosmic location, and the inevitable future demise of humanity, our lives can seem utterly insignificant. Many philosophers assume that such worries about our significance Kahane on Cosmic Insignificance

New Puzzles about Divine Attributes

Abstract: According to traditional Western theism,God is maximally great (or perfect). More explicitly, God is said to have the following divine attributes: omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence. In this paper, I present three puzzles about this conception of a maximally great (or perfect) being. The first puzzle about omniscience shows that this divine attribute is incoherent. New Puzzles about Divine Attributes

If Theistic Belief Caused Gay Sex, Would There Be More Atheists?

I’ve been reading the reactions to the pair of SCOTUS rulings on gay marriage by religious conservatives. If you agree with these authors, the SCOTUS rulings mean “the end of marriage” and a number of other doomsday predictions for this modern jurisprudence apocalypse. This got me wondering. In light of how gay marriage (and homosexuality If Theistic Belief Caused Gay Sex, Would There Be More Atheists?

Jesus Wants You to Starve the Poor

From Good Christian Michelle Bachmann: And Jesus spake unto them saying, “Blessed are the rich, for they shall dine sumptuously. Verily, tiramisu and foie gras are their just rewards, for wealth is ever the product of godly diligence. But woe unto the poor! Bitterness shall be their meat and sorrow their drink, for, yea, the Jesus Wants You to Starve the Poor

Did Jesus Exit? – Part 4

When Bart Ehrman asserts that “Jesus existed”, he is asserting something like the following Minimal Jesus Hypothesis (MJH): ====================== There was a flesh-and-blood person who was… 1. named ‘Jesus’, and 2. a Jewish man, and 3. living in Palestine as an adult in the 20s C.E., and 4. known to be a preacher and a Did Jesus Exit? – Part 4