September 18, 2015
Tongue-in-cheek, of course, but c’mon! What’s next? Polygamous Doritos that contain three flavors in a single bag? I can see the ad: “They’re Doritogomous!” Or perhaps Bisexual Doritos (Bi-ritos), where each chip contains two flavors?
It’s just amazing to me how brands like Oreos and Doritos are bending over backwards to promote the moral acceptance of homosexuality. Enough already. Let me eat my Doritos in peace. They are “food,” not propaganda.
May 6, 2015
The mythical being we call Santa Claus or “St. Nick” is loosely based on a real historical figure, Saint Nicholas of Myra. St. Nicholas served as the bishop of Myra in the early fourth century. While he is known as a giving man, most do not realize that he gave people more than money.
The story goes* that he was one of the bishops present at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, and was a defender of the full deity of Christ against Arius. When Arius took the floor and began to argue for his view of Jesus (a view that claimed Jesus was a created divine being who was less than fully God), Saint Nicholas’ heresy meter went off…as well as his temper. He entered the “ring” and proceeded to slap Arius in the face for speaking such heresies.
So next the next time you think of Santa Claus, don’t think of the jolly ‘ol fat man in the red suit; think of the fist-fighting defender of orthodoxy! Take that…and that…and that you heretics!
BTW, legend has it that when Nick slapped Arius, Arius yelled out “Ho ho homoousios.” If you didn’t get that, don’t worry. Just a stupid theology joke.
*I have to admit that there are not good historical grounds for the story. St. Nick is not mentioned as being present in the contemporary historical sources, and the story about him punching Arius does not appear in any literature until the late 14th century. Furthermore, Arius wasn’t even allowed to speak at the council since he was not a bishop (Eusebius of Nicomedia defended Arius’ position for him at the council), so he couldn’t have slapped Arius. Despite the questionable historical veracity of the account, it’s just too fun to pass up.
April 7, 2015
In light of my recent post regarding religious freedom, Lowder with Chowder has a great video talking about this issue. He illustrates it by showing what happens when a supposedly homosexual man asks a number of Muslim bakeries to bake him a same-sex wedding cake. The end is great too. He addresses the idea that people should not go into business unless they have no conscience or are willing to violate their conscience are willing to provide their services for any purpose.
February 19, 2013
Starting the week on the lighter side. Here are some famous misquotes and misattributions (from Wikiquote):
“All we want are the facts, ma’am.”
“All we know are the facts, ma’am.”
June 20, 2012
June 20, 2012
I am feeling prophetic today. Let me make a prediction about the direction of the music industry and music downloading. The price to download a single track will triple from $1 to $3 within two years, but the price to download an entire album will remain at ~$13. Why? Too many people are downloading singles rather than entire albums, and there is not enough revenue coming in for the record companies and recording artists. Having a higher price for singles will not only create more revenue than today, but it will also provide a good incentive to spend a few more dollars and purchase the entire album. Watch and see!
November 17, 2011
Dallas Willard on the ministry of Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist William Lane Craig: “He speaks to people who don’t want to know [the truth], and he makes them wish they did.” (spoken during his plenary address at the Evangelical Philosophical Society Apologetics Conference in Berkeley, 11/17/11)
Love it!
October 5, 2011
In October 2008 Richard Dawkins funded an atheism advertising campaign. On buses all over England there were signs reading: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy life.” Fast forward to 2011. William Lane Craig is about to go on a UK speaking tour, sponsored by Premier Christian Radio. They are advertising for one of the venues via a bus advertisement that—you guessed it—plays on Dawkins’ ad (see below). It reads: “There’s probably no Dawkins. Now stop worrying and enjoy Oct 25th at the Sheldonian Theatre.” (more…)
September 25, 2011
The earliest archaeological evidence for grocery shopping.
September 24, 2011
This one made me laugh: “Peter Atkins, a brilliant chemist for sure, says exactly what’s on his mind, even when there’s nothing on it.”—Joshua Warren
September 16, 2011
At long last archaeologists have finally determined the purpose of Stonehenge.
April 27, 2011
I was once told my theology professor to stop including so many “thats” in my papers. I complied, and remain critically aware of using unnecessary “thats” to this day. But there is a place for using “that.” Indeed, sometimes it is right to write multiple, consecutive “thats” in a single sentence.
For example, “I know that that professor does not like me using the word ‘that.’” But if it’s right to write “that” twice, could it be right to write “that” that much more? Yes. That “that that” is perfectly acceptable English should be obvious to all. But that’s not all the “thats” that that professor should allow. That that “that that” that I spoke of earlier is proper, no one can deny. But could someone deny that it’s possible to use six “that thats” in a single sentence? They could, but that would be a mistake because now that that “that that” that that professor did not like proved to be an acceptable use of English, there’s no telling how many more “thats” can be used in a sentence. Perhaps we could use as many as seven. But I would understand why, upon hearing that, that that “that that” that that professor initially objected to would no longer seem all that objectionable. And that is all I have to say about that.
April 1, 2011
I have been a Christian for nearly 20 years.
And I have spent much of that time studying the faith.
My motivation has been to overcome personal doubts.
Knowledge is said to dissipate doubts, right?
I have not found that to be the case, personally.
Doubts continue to plague my mind.
Do you know what that’s like?
I can no longer put up pretenses.
Now is the time for me to come clean:
God does not exist!
All the theistic arguments are flawed.
Personally, I don’t think I ever believed them.
Reality is, we are alone in this universe.
It is a sad fact, but we must face it.
Life is too precious to waste on religion.
For those who continue to believe, I wish you the best.
Outstanding claims require outstanding evidence, however.
Ontological commitments must be rationally based.
Living as if God existed is not something I can do anymore.
So I say sayonara to God, and good night to you. It’s been fun.
December 13, 2010
Check it out here. Very cool.
December 9, 2010
January 29, 2010
October 28, 2009
I’ve come to learn that while money cannot buy happiness, a lack of money can purchase a lot of misery.
June 30, 2009
Every once in a while I get a nice piece of hate mail from someone who disagrees with me. This one, in response to an article I wrote on the topic of celebrating Christmas, however, takes the cake:
You are a candy fanny, gutless coward attempting to rationalize your stupidity. God have mercy on fools like you who call yourselves men of God but have lace on your drawers and probably squat to pee. You are a liar and a fraud and a curse to Christianity.
I have to give it to this guy, he is original in his insults!
February 13, 2009
Have you ever seen those motivational posters that have a nice, serene or inspiring picture, and a word-message beneath it? For example, it might show a rock climber pulling himself over the summit of a mountain. And the word will be “achievement,” followed by some inspirational line about achievement. I hate those posters! I much prefer the ones created by Despair, Inc. One of my favorites is “Incompetence: When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there’s no end to what you can’t do.”
I would like to make a polemical “demotivational” poster of my own on the topic of “Atheism,” and I would like your help in determining the caption and picture. Here are the captions I have come up with:
Which is your favorite? Can you think of some alternatives? Paint for me a picture to go along with the caption you selected. For example, for the first caption I envision a big corporate conference room with a man sitting in the CEO’s chair on his lap, acting as if the CEO is not there.
Theosophical Ruminations
Thinking to Believe 