Today I returned from a trip to Sydney. As I exited customs and headed for my taxi I kept feeling like I had missed something, some step in security – maybe I had taken a wrong turn? You see when I flew to Australia I had to fill in a card answering a number of […]
Entries from August 22nd, 2007
Iraq and the Just War Theory: Why I choose not to support the anti-war movement.
August 21st, 2007 3 Comments
I found this last night, I wrote it at the beginning of the US invasion in 2003 at that time I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq and was considering joining the anti-war movement in Dunedin. I posted it up on a newsgroup to get some answers from peace activists. I have edited it […]
Tags: George Bush · Saddam Hussein · War Ethics
The Question of Islam
August 21st, 2007 Comments Off on The Question of Islam
An interesting discussion of Islam has been occurring at Kiwiblog. Up until now I have merely chipped in to correct inaccurate claims about Christian beliefs and practices. However, for what its worth I’ll add my two cents worth here. Here is what I think the issues are. We are familiar with Christian teachings on the […]
Tags: Freedom of Religion · Islam · Religion in Public Life · War Ethics
Texan Justice and Liberal fiction
August 19th, 2007 Comments Off on Texan Justice and Liberal fiction
Texas is about to perform it’s 400th execution since capital punishment was reinstated in 1982. Stuff has an interesting article on this entitled “Religion, Culture Behind, Texas Execution Tally” The article suggests that outsiders find it puzzling that evangelical Christians support capital punishment. This surprise, I suggest, reflects the theological and historical ignorance of these […]
Tags: Capital Punishment · Ethics
Contra Christopher Hitchens
August 10th, 2007 Comments Off on Contra Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens’ critiques of religion get a thorough rebuttal here. My favourite paragraph is this expose, The effectiveness of Hitchens’ book is also undermined by the large number of errors it contains, many so glaring that they will be picked up by even a casual reader with some knowledge of history and theology. The Gnostic […]
Tags: Atheism · Christopher Hitchens · Religious History
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
