February 2006 Bookshelf
I have been too busy to write as frequently on this site as I would like (law school and professional obligations have kept me swamped); however, February did bring a good book on the synthesis between Christianity and science as well as a superb book by Harvard economist Jeffery Sachs. Daniel Dennett's new Breaking the Spell is as thorough and profoundly insightful a review of religion as I have yet encountered. I have not resonated with a book this much for some time. More essays and book reviews on Dennett and Sachs' books coming soon.A Double Dose of Doubt
My last post has generated more commentary than any other post other than - interestingly enough - my writing on homosexuality. I thought I would link to two separate essays I wrote last year about doubt because I think so much is misunderstood about people such as myself who thoughtfully but firmly have walked away from the faith of their childhood. Take these as partial pictures of a deeper personal story. Part 1 - Understanding Doubt and Part 2 - Is Doubt Healthy?.Misquoting Jesus: the Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
In Ehrman’s book, the paucity of evidence for his claims is not the problem, rather the implications to theology if they are taken seriously. Ehrman avoids adopting the more extreme forms of textual criticism and instead focuses primarily on showing how manuscripts evolved and how, during particular crises in the church, copy can be shown to have mysteriously made its way into the canon in order to support those making singular claims as to orthodoxy. This is a serious book but because it is written for the conventional reader, it will be largely overlooked by the evangelical anti-intellectual quasi-scholarship that is prevalent today.The Festering Wound
The most recent disclosure of pictures from Abu Ghraib remains a festering wound for America. Hoping that it can simply weather the storm, the Bush Administration continues to believe it can repeat the mantra of "safety" and "terrorism" long and loud enough to get people to overlook abuses of power that are systematic. Lest we allow the very real evil we face, which Al-Quaeda represents, to taint our democratic ideals, we must say "no" and urge our leaders to embrace limits to the powers they employ in the name of keeping us safe. How interesting that this moral caution is said best by the German Philosopher Friederich Nietzsche when he wrote: He who fights with monsters ...Secular Spirituality - Introduction
In this series, we will explore the non-theistic attempts to develop a spiritual sense. Does man need God to be moral? To have a sense of spirituality? What have other cultures not bound to the Judeo-Christian ethic found in their pursuit of this question? What might Buddhism suggest as an answer to this? The first part of this exploration follows.Harris Presents Another Compelling Argument
Another very good article from Harris has been posted at TruthDig.Com. One of several important quotes follows: "The notion that the bible is a perfect guide to morality is really quite amazing, given the contents of the book. Human sacrifice, genocide, slaveholding, and misogyny are consistently celebrated. Of course, God’s counsel to parents is refreshingly straightforward: whenever children get out of line, we should beat them with a rod (Proverbs 13: 24, 20:30, and 23:13-14). If they are shameless enough to talk back to us, we should kill them (Exodus 21:15, Leviticus 20:9, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Mark.7:9-13 and Matthew 15:4-7). We must also stone people to death for heresy, adultery, homosexuality, working on the Sabbath, worshipping graven images, practicing ...About MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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