Our voting papers for the smacking referendum arrived in this afternoon’s post. Matt managed to make it home just before the post shop closed so our completed ballots are already in the mail on their way back to the Returning Officer. It was easy; no driving, no parking, no queuing, no mucking around with ID. […]
Entries from July 31st, 2009
The State is Not Above the Law: Bennett and the Beneficiaries
July 31st, 2009 14 Comments
In their haste to jump to the aspect of the Paula Bennett and the beneficiaries story that best supports their political view, most commentators seem to be missing the fact that Paula Bennett, government Minister, arguably broke the law when she reached into her department’s records and made public the precise amounts of welfare each […]
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Key and Goff on Family Matters at the 2009 Forum on the Family
July 30th, 2009 3 Comments
The 2009 Forum on the Family is nearly upon us. This year John Key and Phil Goff are slated to face-off, Lord of the NZ Blogosphere, David Farrar, will be making an appearance, details of the rest of this years lineup are on the poster (click on the image if you cannot read it). You […]
Tags: Forum on the Family · John Key · Phil Goff
Auckland Bloggers Drinks
July 29th, 2009 Comments Off on Auckland Bloggers Drinks
On the first Thursday of every month, Auckland bloggers gather for the Bloggers Bar Bash: What: A social gathering of bloggers and bloupies (those who read, comment on and hang out with bloggers)When: 6 August from 6.30pmWhere: Galbraiths, 2 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland Open to any blogger who happens to be in Auckland. […]
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Dr Glenn Peoples on Abortion, Morality and Law
July 27th, 2009 2 Comments
Canterbury student group Prolife UC have organised for Dr Glenn Peoples to deliver some free public lectures at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch on Abortion, Morality and Law. Thursday 30th July 7.30 pm“Chasing the Justificatory Goalpost: Public Justification and Religious Beliefs” There is a broad political tradition that we are a part of that […]
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Sunday Study: Abraham and Isaac – Did God Command the Killing of an Innocent?
July 26th, 2009 17 Comments
Perhaps the most infamous passage in the Hebrew scriptures occurs in Genesis 22:2, Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Of course, as anyone who […]
Tags: Abraham · Abram · Ethics · Genesis · Isaac · John Hare · Kant · Kenneth Kitchen · Killing Innocents · Louise Anthony · Old Testament Ethics · Philip Quinn · Robert Adams · Selection · Stephen Evans · Sunday Study
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.
(dis)Honest to God: How Not to Argue about the Smacking Referendum
July 28th, 2009 73 Comments
Given that yesterday we advertised Dr Glenn Peoples’ upcoming public lectures and because the smacking referendum begins on Saturday, I thought we’d share this article critiquing bad anti-smacking reasoning by Glenn. (dis)Honest to God: How Not to Argue about the Smacking Referendum Ian Harris tells us (“Honest to God,” Dominion Post, [Dominion Post. Saturday July […]
Tags: Glenn Peoples · Ian Harris · Referendum · s59 · Smacking