The Best Christian Song I've Heard...

A few months ago I added the KLOVE Christian music station to my presets.  I soon realized every single song is a theologically neutral, upbeat pop song about Jesus Christ.  This is fine at first, but after a while I found myself asking, “Is this all we’ve got?”

But... Are They "Persons"?

I once heard this amusing observation about the abortion debate:

The Pro-Life side is usually characterized as being religious.  And religious people – as everyone knows – hate the natural sciences.  “Pro-Choice” people tend to be secular.  And secular people – as everyone knows – love the natural sciences.

Now, the central question to abortion is the status of the thing growing inside the mother’s womb.  If that thing is a little human being, then you cannot do violence against it.  If it is a blob of amorphous tissue, then do whatever you want to it.

In regard to this question, the Pro-Life side is happy to appeal to the findings of the natural sciences.

“Here is an ultrasound,” says the pro-lifer, “Here are some medical journals on gestational development.   Here are some biology textbooks defining terms like ‘human’ and ‘life’ and ‘organism’.  Let me know if you have any questions!”

In the face of this question it is the supporters of abortion legality who suddenly put on a philosopher’s hat, furrows their collective brow, and ask:

“What is a human person anyway?  What does it mean to be a person? Can a child in the womb write poetry?  Can it do mathematics?  Does it feel emotions?”  

This philosophical rumination forms the basis of what I call the Argument for the Legality of Abortion from Personhood (AFLAFP).

So... What Caused God?

"OK... what caused God?"

"Well, nothing.  God has just always been around."

"That seems rather convenient."

This exchange usually occurs when someone argues that God must exist because... well... where did the universe come from?

Even if one puts forward a solid case for why the universe needs some kind of creative cause, one quickly finds that there is more work to do. Because in the mind of a skeptic the idea of God existing infinitely into the past seems just as absurd as the universe doing the same.  So if the universe demands a cause, why not God?    

Answering this question will require us to take a look at two classic arguments for the existence of God.  Most people think of these arguments as trying to prove God's existence from reason - which they do - but they also help us clarify what God  is (and isn't).

So let's dive in.

The Culture and Marriage - Where were we? Where are we? What now?

Ever since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, it was only a matter of time before Anthony Kennedy decided every state in the union had to change its definition of marriage.  It was clear by his reasoning that the question regarding the nature of marriage itself was settled in his mind, and the only reason a person could disagree with him was some manner of irrational hatred or bigotry.

When the inevitable occurred, it was a moment of reflection. How did things happen so fast... or did they?  Who was to blame?  How much effort was spent supporting the natural-conjugal definition of marriage... and was it for nothing?

Now that chapter is over with the wave of a judge’s pen.  But those thoughts gave way to the next question… now what?