A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, “Religion?” The man says, “Methodist.” St. Peter looks down his list, and says, “Go to room twenty-eight, but be very quiet as you pass room eight.” Another man arrives at the gates of heaven. “Religion?” “Baptist.” “Go to room eighteen, but be very quiet […]
Humor — Religion and the afterlife Read More »
My “Making Life Meaningful Without Religion” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “… There’s a half-serious taxonomy that divides Christians into three types: Christmas Christians, Good Friday Christians, and Easter Sunday Christians. Christmas is about celebrating birth, benevolence, and the bounties of life. Good Friday is about suffering, sacrifice, and destruction. Easter
“Making Life Meaningful Without Religion” republished [Church and State] Read More »
My “On Natural Morality and Religious Amoralism” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “… religious belief is often autobiographical. That is, all religions have many messages and practices — some peaceful, some violent, and so on — and individuals choose among them to put together a personal religion that reflects the morality
“On Natural Morality and Religious Amoralism” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »
In his “Letter to the Americans,” bin Laden issued a call for morality: “We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gamblings, and trading with interest.” Americans’ failure to cleanse themselves of these sins is one of the justifications bin Laden
The Wages of Sin, according to Osama bin Laden Read More »
Theologian Richard Niebuhr called Friedrich Schleiermacher “the Kant of modern Protestantism.” Here is Schleiermacher himself: “The essence of religion is *the feeling of absolute dependence*. I repudiated rational thought in favour of a theology of feeling.” For more on Schleiermacher and his contributions to postmodernism, see p. 57 of my Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism from Rousseau
Friedrich Schleiermacher in Explaining Postmodernism Read More »
She was skeptical, but Mariana went with a friend to a multi-denominational religious convention. A Christian healer laid his hands on her and exclaimed, “In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, you will walk today!” “But I’m not paralyzed,” Mariana said politely, turning away. Then a rabbi laid his hands on her head and
A skeptic goes to a religious convention … Read More »
Some questions: Has religion helped or hindered the development of modern free societies? Did the Protestant work-ethic make capitalism? Do Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox explain why the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) have been among the most economically-troubled European nations? Is the economic backwardness of much of the Middle East due to Islam?
Religion and capitalism? Alvaro Vargas Llosa Read More »
At Britain’s CHURCH and STATE site, my article “Is Political Evil Built Into Religion?” has been republished. It is common in debates for atheists to cite the long history of fanaticism, torture, and war that religion has caused and for theists to respond that such evils are aberrations and that their own preferred religion, properly
“Is Political Evil Built Into Religion?” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »