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What DOES the First Amendment Say?

March 16th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Political Issues | 2 Comments »

Once again, another court case is on the books regarding separation of church and state. This time due to high-school officials taking down a copy of the Ten Commandments from a student’s locker. Fortunately, this was reversed and the student is now allowed to post the Commandments on his locker again. Read the article here.

If only people could take a moment to think about not only what the First Amendment entails, but also what it doesn’t entail, we would see fewer of these types of things happening. It goes further than the idea that some people want to abolish religion altogether. Perhaps the point of my frustration with this is the lack of thinking that goes into these things.

Misuse of Truth

March 9th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Christian Living | Comments Off

Many people who fall away from the Church have a number of reasons for doing so. While a number of the more outspoken of them tend to claim that they left the Church due to intellectual reasons. However, it seems that when one hears their “un-testimony” it becomes clear that they are more likely emotional reasons.

In most of these cases, someone at the church did something or said something that caused them to leave. Perhaps a pastor had a moral failure. Perhaps the person had his own moral failure and failed to find forgiveness or compassion in the church. Maybe the people were overly judgemental or had the “holier-than-thou” attitude. It could be that the people were hypocritical.

The Rhetoric of Philisophical Naturalism

March 1st, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Apologetics | Comments Off

It is no secret that rhetoric can be very powerful when used the right way. It can be a very effective tool to persuade people to your point of view without ever offering any sort of argument or evidence to back them up.

There have been so many times that I have heard this tactic used to make Christianity, or even theism in general, seem ridiculous. However, when it is used in the way I’ve heard it so many times, there is a hidden assumption being made. I want to take a look at one of the most common uses of such rhetoric and the assumptions that I have yet to hear anyone address.

Assuming Evolution

February 22nd, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Apologetics | Comments Off

It seems to be taking me an obscenely long time to read through Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. One reason for this is the fact that shortly after starting the book, I began to realize how utterly ridiculous Dawkins’ arguments were against theism. They were riddled with double-standards and self-refuting ideas.

There is one particular thing that I would like to draw attention to that is in his book. It is also an argument that I have heard much about and seen many blog posts, magazine articles, debates and so forth discussing. And in all of these, there seems to be a crucial oversight, it seems to me.

Inconsistent Skepticism

February 15th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Belief | Comments Off

It seems that the more I read or listen to many of the common arguments from non-believers, there is a very narrow range of types of objections to Christianity or any sort of theism. One such argument has to do with the level of skepticism they have regarding any claims of a divine being. What I have found, however, is that this argument tends to be every bit as inconsistent as many others.

For example, one argument along this type of thing is with regards to why God doesn’t give everyone “first-hand experience” of Himself. They may argue that, rather than directly appearing or speaking to a small handful of select people throughout history, why couldn’t God reveal Himself in a more tangible or obvious way to the non-believer in order to show that God is real?

Since It’s Gross…We Can Admit It’s Bad

February 8th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Political Issues | 2 Comments »

Recently, I read a news article about the now famous (or infamous) abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell who was recently charged with eight counts of murder for abortions he performed. The story is not for the faint of heart, so if you’re going to read the entire article, please be prepared.

There were a number of things that concerned me while reading through this. And that’s in addition to the gruesome details of the things this man did with these tiny, helpless human beings. Part of what bothered me was because of the reaction by some people who otherwise don’t seem to be particularly bothered by abortion.

Judging Inconsistencies

February 3rd, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Society & Culture | Comments Off

Recently, I’ve been listening to the Unbelievable? podcast, available on iTunes. In my usual, borderline OCD manner I had to start listening beginning with the oldest podcast available, so I started listening to episodes from the end of 2007.

On one such episode, they had a guest on the show who was a Reiki healer named Beverly. While there were a number of things that she said that I took issue with theologically, one of the things I wanted to cover today was with regards to a discussion she had with a Christian on the program regarding God’s judgment.

Some Just Refuse to Believe

January 25th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Apologetics | Comments Off

There was a podcast that I used to listen to called The Atheist Experience. One of the hosts, Matt Dillahunty, was once a Christian and was planning to go into seminary until he eventually lost his faith because he felt it was not reasonable to be believe any more.

On one particular show, I remember him talking about the evidence that it would take to believe. He was asked if he would believe if his grandmother, who was deceased, came back from the grave and told him that there was a God. His response was that, even if his grandmother came back from the dead and told him that God was real, he would not believe it.

The Most Dangerous Book in the World

January 19th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Bible & Scripture, Christian Living | Comments Off

As a Christian, you might expect me to say that I believe that the Bible is the greatest book in the history of the world. The doctrines taught in the Bible have, arguably, led to more philanthropy, selfless action and other beneficial things such as schools, hospitals, etc. than any other book, religion, worldview or ideal.

Many critics of Christianity might also point out the number of people who have died as a result of the doctrines people have learned from the Bible. While such things contribute absolutely nothing to the truth value of scripture, it is a glaring enough problem, from an emotional standpoint, that it would seem that the Bible is also the most dangerous book in the history of the world.

Indoctrination of Children

January 12th, 2011 by Dan Carrington posted in Apologetics | 1 Comment »

Perhaps the most outspoken person against the idea of religious indoctrination of children is Richard Dawkins. When writing about it in The God Delusion or talking about it in interviews and such, he becomes quite venomous toward those who would teach their children their own system of beliefs.

What I find interesting is that he doesn’t seem to even realize that he is begging the question. While Dawkins is a renowned biologist, one thing that those who have critiqued such works as The God Delusion or The Blind Watchmaker have all concluded is that Dawkins is a very poor philosopher and a worse theologian.

What DOES the First Amendment Say?

Misuse of Truth

The Rhetoric of Philisophical Naturalism

Assuming Evolution

Inconsistent Skepticism

Since It’s Gross…We Can Admit It’s Bad

Judging Inconsistencies

Some Just Refuse to Believe

The Most Dangerous Book in the World

Indoctrination of Children

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