Mike Pence and I have something in common. We both attended the now-defunct Christian rock festival Ichthus (“the Christian Woodstock” or some nonsense like that) in Kentucky and had significant experiences in our religious development there. For Pence, Ichthus was formative in becoming an evangelical Protestant. Pence was raised Catholic, his siblings remain Catholic to … Continue reading Losing My Religion
Tag: Christianity
I’m an atheist, but there aren’t many websites or blogs on atheism that I follow and read because there’s not a lot of “breaking news” to deal with and, frankly, each person’s atheism is an individual thing, so one person’s experience may not really match up with mine. One I do read on occasion is … Continue reading A Mistake or Not
Perhaps I’d still be a Christian had there been more dragons. Many elements of the traditional Nativity scene — in particular, any animals whatsoever — aren’t Biblically canonical. They all derive from apocryphal scriptures, essentially early Church fanfic, such as this passage from Pseudo Matthew about the infant Jesus and the dragons during the flight … Continue reading The Dragons of Christmas
Here are some things I read today that interested me. Do Christians And Muslims Worship The Same God? – Yes. Next question? (For more about this, see my link round-up for December 17th.) NPR 12 Days of Christmas Songs: ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ Is A Hymn for the Ages – As part of their “12 … Continue reading Link Round-Up: December 21
We start today’s link round-up with something I wrote on Facebook this morning. It relates to two of today’s links, and I’ll link a third article in this: Christians and Muslims worship the same god. This isn’t and shouldn’t be a controversial statement. As a matter of history, it’s as much of a fact as … Continue reading Link Round-Up: December 17
Some links for today. We’ll start with Star Wars and go from there. The Best-Case Scenario: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – There’s a new Star Wars film out this week. It’s a total surprise; I haven’t seen ads or merchandise for it anywhere. Reviews are starting to trickle in, albeit ones light on details. … Continue reading Link Round-Up: December 16
I tried to steer clear of the Meme Wars over Syrian refugees on Facebook last week. I saw things on both sides that irritated me; from friends on the right I saw things that were occasionally racist, and from friends on the left I saw things that mocked both religion and culture. I learned a … Continue reading Syrian Refugees, Meme Wars, and Ethical Imperatives
I love it when Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, writes me. He’s usually incensed about something and expects me to be so, as well. And, of course, he then hits me up for money. What has raised his ire this week? President Obama’s appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, which I … Continue reading The Ire of Reince Priebus
On Thursday, President Obama addressed the National Prayer Breakfast, as has been his custom during his presidency. This year, his remarks drew the ire of conservatives and religious conservatives; as an example, Bloomberg News headlined an article with the verb “Troll” to describe the president’s remarks. What was so controversial? The president acknowledged a settled … Continue reading Obama, the National Prayer Breakfast, and the Crusades
I saw a link to this on Twitter — Today Christian posted 10 Questions For Every Atheist with this challenge: “Some Questions Atheist Cannot Truly and Honestly REALLY Answer! Which leads to some interesting conclusions…” I look a good challenge. Let’s take a look, shall we? 1. How did you become an atheist? I was … Continue reading Answering the Ten Questions for Atheists
This morning, I ventured out to the Post Office. I had to mail some packages for Christmas, and I wanted to get my Christmas cards in the mail. I thought about going into Randallstown, but they have a small, difficult-to-navigate parking lot. Eldersburg, I decided, would be easier to get to. I expected, since it … Continue reading On Leesburg’s Christmas Controversy
My niece turned three on Monday, and on Saturday I went down to Virginia to spend the day with my sister and her family to celebrate my niece’s birthday. For my niece’s birthday, I gave her some Christmas socks and a recordable storybook of A Charlie Brown Christmas that I picked up at Hallmark a … Continue reading On Linus and the Meaning of Christmas