When he was only 23, Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was excommunicated from the Jewish community in Amsterdam. His precocious intellect has already formed and argued themes that were to be developed into his mature works, Theological-Political Treatise (published anonymously in 1670) and Ethics (1677). The excommunication document said, in part: “no one should communicate with him, […]
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“The Pope’s Four Big Mistakes About Libertarianism.” Co-written by María Marty and Stephen Hicks for PanAm Post. Also in Spanish: “Los Cuatro Errores del Papa Francisco Sobre el Liberalismo.” “What Good is Religious Freedom?” Tara Smith in Arkansas Law Review. “Which Religion is the World’s Best?” My thoughts on the best religion ever, at Savvy
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My article, co-written with María Marty, was published in PanAm Post: The opening: “Pope Francis has given us several glimpses of his position on liberalism. His are criticisms are direct and sometimes crude. And while the Pontiff got some points sort-of right, his message revealed mostly a lack of knowledge—or an intentional denial—of the principled
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Tara Smith has a very good article reinvigorating and extending the philosophical arguments for religious freedom: “What Good is Religious Freedom? Locke, Rand, and the Non-Religious Case for Respecting It” (Arkansas Law Review 69:4). Along the way she discusses the arguments and counter-arguments of John Locke, Brian Leiter, Jeremy Waldron, Ayn Rand, and others. Direct
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Stephen Hicks y María Marty en PanAm Post: Los cuatro errores del papa Francisco sobre el liberalismo. English and Portuguese versions forthcoming soon. Relacionado por María Marty: “Papa Francisco y la riqueza: ¿Integridad o hipocresía?”
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Stephen Fry was asked: If you were to meet God, what would you say? His answer: “How dare you create a world in which there is such misery?” For that he is being investigated by a government for violating blasphemy laws. In the 21st century. In Europe. On the philosophy: my introductory lecture on the
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Pope Alexander VI knew how to throw a party. Rodrigo Borgia became Alexander VI in 1492 and livened things up at the Vatican. As reported in William Manchester’s A World Lit Only by Fire, p. 79: ‘Once he became Pope Alexander VI, Vatican parties, already wild, grew wilder. They were costly, but he could afford
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Without comment, I offer this excerpt from the Gospel of Thomas (114): Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself
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