Monthly Archives: April 2009

EXISTENTIALIST CHRISTIANITY IN THE 21st CENTURY: Four Things That Every Honest Christian Must Face, Sooner or Later

It seems to me that every honest Christian living in the 21st century must, sooner or later, come up against four “truths”—and a question that must then be digested. Here are the four truths: There is no hell The Bible is … Continue reading

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Quote of the Day

In 1837, George Sand wrote: We cannot tear out a single page of our lives, but we can throw the whole book in the fire. I would qualify Sand’s observation by noting that many people are actually quite good at … Continue reading

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Why Are There TEN COMMANDMENTS (and Not, Say, Fifteen)?

Mel Brooks has a theory:

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From Liberty Bonds to Bailout Bonds?

The NY Times says that Barack Obama is contemplating letting small individual investors in on the bank bailout—wedding Main Street to Wall Street. Like a mutual or bond fund, you would buy shares, perhaps for as little as a few … Continue reading

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IRONY: There is a Young Earth Creation Museum in the American South, But No Major Museum Devoted to the Subject of Slavery

According to the NY Times, former governor of Virginia, Douglas Wilder, and entertainer Bill Cosby, are trying to fix that: The museum, once built, will be “transformative,” said Lyn Henley, a Topanga, Calif., exhibition designer whose past projects include the … Continue reading

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Barack Obama: The Leopard in the Book of Daniel?

The person in the YouTube video below says that he finds Barack Obama in Bible prophecy. President Obama, apparently, is the leopard found in Daniel: If anything that this prophet says makes sense to you, and you are taking medications, you might … Continue reading

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“The thing that made the things for which there is no known maker”: A Brilliant YouTube That Reflects on the Problem of the Infinite Regress

Intelligent Design in a nutshell:

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How Anti-Gay Marriage Sausage Is Made: Anti-Gay Rights Ad Audition Tapes are Leaked and Put on YouTube!

The making of an anti-gay rights ad ain’t pretty. First, you’ve got to find ACTORS who will PRETEND to be doctors, pastors, and besieged parents claiming that they are VICTIMS of pink fascism (that is, the gay rights movement). Here are the … Continue reading

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Barack Obama is Pitch Perfect on American Exceptionalism

Below is one of the reasons why I voted for Barack Obama. Name another politician who can think this clearly on his feet, and with equal measures of clarity and nuance. And notice how he keeps America’s best historical qualities … Continue reading

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OUT OF THE CLOSET: National Review Online Comes Out in Opposition to BOTH Gay Marriage and Civil Unions

National Review Online today conflated same-sex marriage and civil unions, declaring them both “unwise.” In other words, the editors of National Review not only oppose same-sex marriage, they oppose even civil recognition (and legal protection) of homosexual relationships: Vermont has … Continue reading

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Barack Obama’s Speech on Religion in Public Life

A few years back, in 2006, Barack Obama gave a long speech on religion in public life. During the 2008 election cycle James Dobson tried to make a political issue of the speech. Dobson didn’t like it. The full text of Barack … Continue reading

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Mental Health Break: A C-17 Landing on Ice

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Bearing Witness to Bush Era Torture: The Feet of Jose Padilla, a U.S. Citizen, Sticking Through an Opening

The photo of Jose Padilla’s feet (below) was posted at Andrew Sullivan’s website on March 29, 2009. Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was abused and tortured during George Bush’s administration, and the abuse and torture happened BEFORE he was presented … Continue reading

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“The Political Theory of Evolution”: See Here Santi Tafarella’s New YouTube Video

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BBC Chef Gordon Ramsey Was in Our House!

Metaphorically, so to speak. My wife (who is British) and I love to watch Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, and it turns out that The BBC’s uber-chef was in our town (in California) trying to shape up one of our local restaurants. This … Continue reading

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John Ashcroft: A Christian Complicit in Torture

Beliefnet today discusses John Ashcroft’s role in Bush era torture. Ashcroft, an evangelical, and George Bush’s first attorney general, was one of those who would have had to approve the key torture memos: Many of the key memos justifying torture … Continue reading

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One Reason I’m an Agnostic: Intelligent Design and the Multiverse Hypothesis Mirror One Another

Jim Manzi, at the excellent blog site, the American Scene, points out something quite profound and interesting: Whether one believes that something conscious and intelligent (“a god”) created the universe, or one believes that we live in a multiverse in which the cosmos … Continue reading

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Martin Luther King Died 41 Years Ago Today

It was on April 4, 1968 that Martin Luther King was shot and killed. Below is his famous last speech. King’s bravery is at once inspiring and something very hard to live up to. We didn’t deserve such a figure in our history, but we … Continue reading

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“That complete record will, in due course, come out”: Rachel Maddow Presses Colin Powell on Bush Era Torture, and Gets Powell Squirming and Hinting That the Torture Memos Will Tell a Fuller Story

It looks like we’re in for some very big (and disturbing) news surrounding the Bush-Cheney torture memos. And Rachel Maddow is my hero:

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TORTURE MEMOS: Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff Reports That a Dick Cheney Loyalist is Lobbying Barack Obama Hard, Trying to Stop Attorney General Eric Holder from Releasing Bush-Cheney Torture Memos

According to Newsweek, John Brennan is doing his very best—-raising ”holy hell”—in his efforts to protect Dick Cheney and George Bush. What a great patriot Brennan is, trying to shield the American public from evidence that the previous president and his vice … Continue reading

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