Medical history is going to be attempted in 2017 with the world’s first head transplant. Does anyone see any implications this might have for substance dualism?
September 14, 2015
Head transplants and substance dualism
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Dualism[9] Comments
September 5, 2015
Christians should be made to take homosexuality off of the sin list
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality[83] Comments
Back in April, Frank Bruni wrote an opinion article for the New York Times on the Indiana religious freedom debacle. Bruni is very negative toward conservative Christians in his article. In his opinion, conservative Christians can support homosexuality, but choose not to do so. Instead, they cling to outdated interpretations of an outdated text. Bruni writes:
So our debate about religious freedom should include a conversation about freeing religions and religious people from prejudices that they needn’t cling to and can indeed jettison, much as they’ve jettisoned other aspects of their faith’s history, rightly bowing to the enlightenments of modernity.
September 3, 2015
New pronouns for the gender confused
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality[2] Comments
The University of Tennessee is inventing new gender neutral language for those who do not want to identify by the traditional gendered “he” and “she.” Instead of “he” and “she,” it’s ze and xe. Of course, these need object and pronoun forms as well. Here’s the interpretive chart:
Insanity.
September 3, 2015
To issue or not to issue a marriage license – Kim Davis and the law of the land
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Political Incorrectness, Same-sex Marriage[23] Comments
Kim Davis, a clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Supreme Court of the United States created a right for same-sex couples to marry in all 50 states (and at this point refuses to issue any marriage licenses at all). The reason? It violates her conscience and Christian faith. She was sued and lost. A request for a stay on the decision was even sent to the U.S. Supreme Court and denied. As an elected official, she can’t be fired. But she can be impeached, fined, and even jailed for her refusal to carry out her state-mandated duties.
I must say that I am amazed Kim Davis is standing alone on this issue. Surely there are thousands of Christians employed across our nation to perform the same job as Kim Davis, and yet Kim Davis is the only person who has the courage to stand by her convictions. Perhaps others quit in protest, but I imagine that most Christians just went along with the program.
September 1, 2015
Judges in Ohio: Marry same-sex couples or find a new job
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Political Incorrectness, Politics, Same-sex Marriage[10] Comments
That’s the recommendation of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct. In their opinion, judges should not be allowed to marry only opposite-sex couples or even forego marrying anyone in order to avoid marrying same-sex couples. Either marry same-sex couples or find a new job:
A judge’s oath to support the constitutions of the United States and the State of Ohio requires the judge to recognize and adhere to binding court interpretations of the same. A judge’s unilateral decision to refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on his or her own personal, religious, or moral beliefs ignores the holding in Obergefell and thus, directly contravenes the oath of office.
In other words, Christian judges who want to be faithful to their God and their conscience need not apply. Religious liberty and the freedom of conscience is not allowed as a judge. We are watching religious liberty and the freedom of conscience erode before our very eyes and yet few hear the alarm going off. We said it would happen, and it’s happening left and right. This is just the beginning.
Everyone on the left said that giving rights to gays and allowing same-sex marriage wouldn’t affect anyone. It was a lie. The effects have been immediate. Think of all the professions that Christians are being excised from by the threat of the law: judge, county clerk, florist, wedding photographer, wedding cake baker, wedding planner, adoption agency. The list will continue to grow. People outside of the law and wedding industry are already starting to lose their jobs simply for believing in natural marriage. I fear this trend will only grow in the coming years.
HT: The Blaze
September 1, 2015
Chaplain required not to say homosexuality is a sin…or lose his job
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality, Political Incorrectness[2] Comments
The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice had threatened Chaplain David Wells that if he does not sign a state-mandated document promising not to identify homosexuality as a sin, he will lose his chaplain credentials. He would not sign it, and thus lost his credentials after serving for 13 years.
Once again we see how the push for homosexual rights hasn’t affected anyone!
The state is being faithful to the gay rights agenda. The question is whether or not Christians will continue to be faithful to Christ or will buckle to Caesar. I congratulate David Wells for standing strong.
August 30, 2015
Do you still think that sexual orientation is biologically determined?
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality[6] Comments
There is no evidence that sexual orientation is biologically determined. In fact, there is evidence that disproves it. They are called twins. Since identical twins experience the same hormone bath in the womb and the same DNA, when one twin is gay, both should be gay 100% of the time. But both are gay less than 15% of the time (11% for men; 14% for women). In fact, non-identical twins are twice as likely to both be gay as identical twins, which can only be explained by environmental factors, not DNA. At best, sexual orientation may be biologically influenced. But clearly, the major cause of same-sex attraction is social in nature. It is nurture, not nature that is the primary cause of sexual orientation. And sexual orientation is not something that is fixed and unchanging, but changes over time.
And now, there is a report released showing that 49% of young people in the United Kingdom say they are not 100% heterosexual, but experience degrees of same-sex attraction. And what’s really interesting is seeing how this compares across other age categories: (more…)
August 30, 2015
Man proposes to his boyfriend at United Methodist church
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality, Same-sex Marriage[6] Comments
This has been making its rounds in the media. This pastor, and all those clapping at this immorality will have to give an answer to God one day for their actions. It is shameful to celebrate as beautiful something God considers to be abominable, and to do so in the name of Christ. I sympathize with those who experience same-sex attraction, but the church ought to be there to help them resist their temptations, not to applaud them for giving in to them.
August 26, 2015
The push for homosexuality continues in the comics
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality[3] Comments
We find out that Catwoman is bisexual, the Green Lantern, Loki, Iceman, and many more are gay. Now, Wonder Woman is officiating a same-sex wedding. It seems that DC Comics and Marvel are bending over backward to push homosexuality. And who are they pushing homosexuality to? Your children. Parents, it’s time to parent.
August 23, 2015
What Americans and Pastors think about justifiable divorce
Posted by Jason Dulle under Sin, Theology[2] Comments
LifeWay Research conducted a survey of 1000 American adults and 1000 Protestant pastors to get their take on what is considered a justifiable divorce and what is not. Only 38% of Americans think it is a sin to get a divorce on the grounds that a couple no longer loves one another. It’s no wonder we have so much divorce.
Ironically, the percentage of American people who see divorce as being wrong is consistent, despite the reason. For example, 39% think it is sin to divorce one’s spouse for adultery, and 37% think it’s a sin to divorce one’s spouse due to physical abuse. Protestant pastors, on the other hand, were much more discriminate. Here is a chart detailing the responses:
August 10, 2015
Child raised in a same-sex home opposed to same-sex marriage
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Same-sex Marriage, Same-sex parenting1 Comment
Back in February, Katy Faust penned an open letter to Justice Kennedy (whom everyone recognized would be the swing vote on the same-sex marriage case the U.S. Supreme Court decided recently), arguing that he should not make legal provision for same-sex marriage in the U.S. What makes Katy’s letter so interesting and pertinent to the debate is the fact that her mother is a lesbian and she was raised in a same-sex household. This gives her an interesting and important perspective on this debate.
Katy points out that the reason government involves itself in the institution of marriage is for the sake of children. The welfare of children is the only reason for the government to be involved in anyone’s romantic relationships. She further argues that children have the right to their natural parents and the influence of both genders: “Each child is conceived by a mother and a father to whom that child has a natural right. When a child is placed in a same-sex-headed household, she will miss out on at least one critical parental relationship and a vital dual-gender influence.” Same-sex marriage is an injustice because it intentionally robs a child of their fundamental right to both of their parents.
August 6, 2015
Democrats drop Jefferson and Jackson like a bowling ball because of their slavery ways
Posted by Jason Dulle under Odds & Ends, Political Incorrectness[7] Comments
Political correctness has progressed from silliness, to annoying, to downright stupidity. From CTPost.com:
Under pressure from the NAACP, the [Connecticut] state Democratic Party will scrub the names of the two presidents from its annual fundraising dinner because of their ties to slavery.
Party leaders voted unanimously Wednesday night in Hartford to rename the Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner in the aftermath of last month’s fatal shooting of nine worshipers at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.
Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were wrong to think they could own black people. We see that clearly now, but these men were men of their generation. We honor them, not because of their actions in regards to slavery, but for their many other accomplishments in the founding of this nation. To remove their namesake because they did not think and act like people in the 21st century is absurd. What’s next? Should we throw away the Declaration of Independence since Jefferson the slaveholder wrote that too?
In the future, when America comes to see that abortion is a moral tragedy, and the practice is outlawed, will we remove the names of Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton from everything their names are attached to as well? Will we fail to honor them for whatever good they were honored for, just because they could not see as clearly as future generations will see? No. We honor the people of the past for the good they did, not for their flaws. To remove their names from monuments or anything else due to their flaws is wrongheaded and petty.
August 4, 2015
New manuscript discoveries: Leviticus and the Qur’an
Posted by Jason Dulle under Bible, Manuscripts, Textual Criticism, Theology[5] Comments
This past week has brought to the public’s attention the discovery of two important manuscripts: one of Leviticus and one of the Qur’an.
Leviticus
The Leviticus manuscript was actually discovered in 1970 in a Torah ark from a Byzantine-era synagogue excavated at Ein Gedi in Israel. It was burnt by a fire, however, and could not be deciphered until now. The scroll was found to contain Leviticus 1:1-8. It is dated no later than the 6th century A.D. (when the synagogue and village were burned).
Qur’an
Two pages of the Qur’an (portions of Surahs 18-20) were discovered inside the codex of another late 7th century Qur’anic manuscript at Birmingham University. Radiocarbon dating of the manuscript has revealed an age of A.D 568A- 645. Muhammad lived from A.D. 570 – 632, making it a live possibility that the manuscript fragment was composed while Muhammad was still alive.
August 4, 2015
Angela Merkel Opposes Same-Sex Marriage
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Same-sex Marriage1 Comment
A story broke on July 15 that I’ve been meaning to write about. During an interview[1] with Florian Mundt, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, made it clear that she does not want Germany to follow the American example of making legal provision for same-sex marriage. Merkel said she supports civil unions with benefits equal to marriage, but she “make[s] a different at some point.” For her, that point is the definition of marriage: “For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together.”
While I disagree with Merkel that same-sex couples should receive the same benefits as married couples, her position is actually quite sensible. Essentially she is saying “Same-sex couples should be treated as equal to married couples in every way, but they have no right to have their relationship called a ‘marriage’ because a marriage is, by nature, a male-female union.” She is drawing on the intuition that “marriage” has an essence – that marriage is fundamentally a male-female union, and thus it is impossible for a same-sex union to be a marriage. This position is quite rational since it is based on objective observations about human nature and biological function.
July 30, 2015
The Legalization of Polygamy Is Next
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Polygamy, Same-sex Marriage[6] Comments
Conservatives have long argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage will likely lead to the eventual legalization of polygamy because the same principles used to argue for same-sex marriage apply equally to polygamy. Liberals tended to say this was nonsense. Now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land, however, they are beginning to talk more openly about the legalization of polygamy.
In the New York Times, William Baude asks this very question: (more…)
July 21, 2015
Feelings don’t need to be protected by the law
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Political IncorrectnessLeave a Comment
I thought it was only Europe and America that had fallen victim to thinking people have a right to not have their feelings hurt. Now, it appears that Russia is falling into the same stupidity. They have blocked an atheist website because the content is offensive to Christians. Waah waah. Cry to mommy and then suck it up. There is no right not to be offended. Get a grip and man up!
July 17, 2015
Boy Scouts approve gay scout leaders
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Homosexuality, Political Incorrectness[8] Comments
Only the blind could have failed to see this coming. The executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America has unanimously approved a new policy that allows practicing homosexuals to be scout leaders. Not long ago they lifted their ban on openly homosexual scouts. It was just a matter of time before consistency caught up with them.
It is disheartening to see how the Boy Scouts has capitulated to public opinion rather than holding true to their ideals and mission. Being a Boy Scout requires that one be “morally straight.” This change is a clear signal that the Boy Scouts now considers homosexuality to be morally good. This is moral confusion from an organization that is built on a strong foundation of moral integrity.
The Boy Scouts is supposed to be an organization that teaches young men how to lead, and yet the leaders of the Boy Scouts have failed to model that. Strong leaders stay true to their convictions; they do not capitulate to public pressure when their convictions become unpopular. What a shame!
July 17, 2015
Here is a great video summarizing the homily to the Hebrews.
June 16, 2015
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP president of Spokane Washington. She has recently been outed as a white woman. Her bloodline is Czech, German, and Swedish, not African. Yet, she has been posing as a black woman for several years now. According to her interview on the Today show, she has identified as a black woman since she was five years old.
What I would like to know is why those who side with the transgender are up in arms over Rachel Dolezal. She is simply transracial. Her true self is a black woman, but she is trapped in a white woman’s body. It is not her fault that she was born in the wrong body. Remember, the mind trumps the body. It doesn’t matter that her body is as white as they come. What matters is how she perceives herself. Since she perceives herself as black, she is black, and she ought to be able to undergo skin darkening treatments to align her body with her true identity.
Those who think transgenderism is normal, and the proper treatment is gender reassignment surgery, please tell me why you think that Rachel Dolezal is not black. After all, race is not as fixed as sex. There are only two sexes, but there are many races, and race is not as clearly defined as sex. New races can be created by consistently mixing two people of different races. The same cannot be said of sex. Indeed, what is the racial identity of mixed race children? If a Mexican woman has a child with an African man, is the child Mexican or African? Something else? Race and racial identity is rather fluid. So if anything, we ought to be more supportive of the transracial than the transgender.
June 14, 2015
Ireland approves same-sex marriage
Posted by Jason Dulle under Apologetics, Same-sex Marriage[68] Comments
I know this is old news (May 24), but I am behind on my news and I am simply posting this for documentation purposes.
Ireland had a popular vote to determine whether the country would allow same-sex marriage. A full 62% of the country voted to approve the measure. They are the 20th country to create same-sex marriage, but the first country to do so by popular vote rather than the courts or the legislature.
Thinking to Believe 