Last week I spoke at Massey Presbyterian Church on the topic “Is it arrogant to claim Jesus is the only way?” The following is an abridged version of the talk I gave. I was recently on a panel at Auckland University where an audience member raised the issue during the Q&A of religious pluralism. The issue […]
Entries Tagged as 'Islam'
The Pretensions of Democracy and the Egypt Riots
February 9th, 2011 81 Comments
The secular west has a secular gospel. It is the good news of democracy. When problems assail a nation, all would be assuaged if not solved if it had more democracy. And so it has come to pass with respect to Egypt. The West is not unique in that it has its own version of […]
Tags: Democracy · Egypt Riots · Islam · Political Philosophy
September 11
September 11th, 2009 15 Comments
Today I reflect, as do many, where I was and what I was doing when I first heard about the attacks on the World Trade Tower. Like my parents generation’s remembrance of where they were and what they were doing when Kennedy was assassinated and their parents remembrance of the news of V-Day this was […]
Mumbai, Muslims & Libertarian Su
December 2nd, 2008 5 Comments
Like most people, Matt and I are pretty horrified at what is going on in Mumbai. We have wanted to write something on it but just now I found this piece by Susan the Libertarian, oft heard quoted on Newstalk ZB. Whilst I would not describe the abuse Sus experienced as “feudal nonsense” (chivalry came […]
Tags: Islam · Libertarian Sus
Mayra Veronica and the Troops in Iraq: Where the Islamists Have a Point
December 12th, 2007 2 Comments
I am a fan of Bill Vallicella’s blog. A few days ago I found a post of his which is worth reproducing [link to post now broken Jan 2011]. He led with a picture of a scantily clad and busty Mayra Veronica and wrote: Don’t expect any more ‘eye candy’ on this site, but now […]
Tags: Bill Vallicella · Islam · Mayra Veronica · Religion in Public Life
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
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.
Easy Dupes: Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari “Gay Girl in Damascus”
July 3rd, 2011 7 Comments
Narratives are powerful. They control what we identify as significant data or facts, how we empirically apprehend the data, what interpretations and shades of significance we place upon the evidence, and the conclusions drawn. Absolute objectivity is impossible. Only relative neutrality and disinterestedness are possible. The cut of our jib determines the winds we catch […]
Tags: Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari · Gay Girl in Damascus · Homosexual Conduct · Islam · Israel · Palestine · Paula Brooks · Syria · Tom MacMaster