TreesNightly

The following is an interview with Thom Burkett of A Hopeful Hero's View . Since a requirement for priesthood is celibacy, atheists often think those who would choose to enter the clergy are less into women than the average population. In your experience, did you find that your fellow priests struggled with their abstinence? Could the prohibition of healthy sexual relationships be a contributing factor into the Church�s history of sex crimes and scandal? Sexual orientation is certainly a controversial topic regarding a seminarian�s choice to be celibate or abstain. While I do believe based on my experience that many young men entering the seminary, at least whilst I attended were gay, I do not believe it was because of their sexual orientation they choose to be celibate.  Rather celibacy, based on theological teaching that homosexual behavior is a sin/immoral, is an option in the Christian life. In fact Bishops have called for homosexuals to engage in abstaining from sexual ac...

Meet Bob. he�s the last person on planet Earth. Due to a massive Goat Flu epidemic or a hydronuclear summer or a quantum-volcano eruption, the vast majority of the world�s population has expired. Bob, who was held up in an adamantium mine shaft or a bug-out bunker or an abandoned Blockbuster, managed to survive when no one else could. Good for Bob. I pose this unlikely scenario to ask this question: is morality relevant to Bob moving forward? Christian apologists argue that morality is an objective truth that transcends human experience. If this is accurate then hypothetical Bob still has valid morals to follow. Granted, most Biblical laws don�t apply to Bob�s situation. He can�t very well kill, steal from, or covet his neighbor�s wife, for example; he has no neighbor. However, Bob can surely violate some religious rules. He could masturbate, he could make a false idol, he could have any number of impure thoughts, or he could attempt to make love to an irradiated buffalo corpse (which...

So we have Dzhokhar Tsarneav in custody, a kid with a charge of �using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.� It�s an impressive crime, insofar as crimes can be impressive, but I kinda wished they tacked on a possession of marijuana charge for good measure. As it is, this kid either faces life in prison or the death penalty, which got me thinking more about the surviving Boston marathon bomber. First, there�s way too much unneeded discussion on the guy. I know the 24 hour news cycle needs to fill time and I�m as tired of Justin Bieber stories as he next guy, but it�s already starting to sound like the bomber is a victim in the narrative. Frankly, I don�t care if the surviving bomber came from a culture where brothers stick together and was stuck with a manipulative extremist sibling. I don�t care if he came from a hostile environment, was indoctrinated or was born with a dusting of psychopathy. We are all victims of our brain chemistry, genes, upbringing and surroundings--th...

I�ve been trying out hypothetical as a way to show believers where their beliefs originate. The best example I�ve worked out is directed specifically toward Catholics. I ask: If a future Pope reversed the Church�s position on gay marriage, would you also reverse your position on gay marriage? The word Pope could be substituted for �religious leader� to make this less Catholicism-centric, but the Catholic Church is fairly unique in that it�s doctrine trumps even the Bible in the eyes of its congregation. Seeing how the Pope is the infallible spokesperson for the Church, his word matters immensely. Now, let�s look at what the possible answers mean. If a believer who opposes gay marriage answers in the affirmative, they show that their assessment of morality and their opinions of what is or isn�t discriminatory are based solely on authority. Whatever the Church thinks is how they think. The Pope is the Borg Queen in this scenario. If the believer instead says they would maintain their o...

After the man we know as Jesus kicked the bucket, his followers had a hard road ahead. The ruling class was largely unimpressed by the alleged miracles and sought to suppress speech and action that could be seen as revolutionary or offensive to their god of choice. Early Christians would meet in secret for their safety at a kind of church speakeasy. I imagine the first rule of Christ Club was that you did not talk about Christ Club. When met with a newcommer, they faced a dilemma. Should they turn away a person of faith or reveal themselves to a potential sting operation? I doubt what follows is the invention of the secret handshake (especially since hands aren�t involved,) but it was likely an early iteration of the concept. Here�s how it went down: A Christian would draw an arch in the sand with his sandal, then a second Christian would reveal himself as a friend by drawing an intersecting arch--making what we would recognize as the Jesus fish in the sand. A Catholic priest told me t...

�Objective morality is revealed to us by God� --this is as close to a Christian universal as I can get. A question I often ask is: how do we know what actions are objectively right and which are objectively wrong. I get one of two answers: (a) that the Word of God is spelled out in the Bible and we should follow it�s guidelines for morality, or (b) that we are born with a moral compass that shows us God�s Nature. The first answer is an assertion that their holy book isn�t just a good idea, it�s the law--and that�s all it is. Claims can be made about anything when there is no expectation to back them up. The second answer is more interesting, and one in which I have gained extra insight in the last couple years. I�m the father of twins, a boy and a girl. It certainly seems like they were not born with morality. They are born to suck. It�s wired into their little brains to find a boob or bottle and suck vigorously. When they get a little older, their nature is to crawl. Before they have ...

The following is an interview with Very Rarely Stable of Atheist Biblical Criticism . You are an ex-evangelical Christian who writes �a blog devoted to biblical studies without a confessional bias.� You may not have a confessional bias, but since no one can criticize completely objectively, what would you say your bias is now? How do you try to stay objective, if that is indeed your goal?  Firstly, many thanks for offering to interview me; as a new blogger, this makes me feel like something of a VIP, but on a fraudulent basis! I agree wholeheartedly that no one can write without bias, and in scholarly literature this is often pointed out. But when it is pointed out, frequently that seems to be the end of it, and there�s no attempt to examine, reduce or counteract one�s bias. It�s as if we now have a mantra, �bias is unavoidable� which then justifies a �so anything goes� approach. In the field that I�ve taken up, biblical criticism, most authors and scholars come from a Christian or...

I�ve been getting more involved in Google+ Communities lately. I�m a moderator for the big Atheism Community (the one with 17931 members); I take part in lively debates in the Religious Discussion Community; and I�ve been involved in a new Anti-Apologetic League, which is a private group of atheists who call upon each other when debates with apologists call for it. For example, I was having an argument with a Catholic defending his opposition to gay marriage when a few of his friends jumped in with gay agenda conspiracy theories--at that point I posted the link to the debate to the League and suddenly five other atheists overpowered the conversation. While I feel quality over quantity is preferred, the AAL argued well. It isn�t something I�d use often, but it�s a resource that works both on Google+ and externally to other blogs and social networks. It�s also worth noting that I was kicked out of the community for the Christian Apologetics Alliance after a month of low-key membership. I...

Yeah, so remember my Easter post ? You should, it was yesterday. I�ll come right out and say it, I had a revelation. My Easter post was meant as a snarky set-up for a post about the impotency of prayer. Looking back at where I was when I wrote it, I feel like a fool...and yet, I�m very grateful that it was written. It lead me to my revelation. I don�t know where to begin writing. My hands are just on auto-pilot, so bear with me. (I wonder if this is how the authors of the Bible felt.) The atheist perspective is that prayer can�t be meaningful because people can and do pray against each other. For example, I pray for Team A to win while someone else prays for Team B to win. Since we can't know what the Lord has planned, it's even possible for us to pray against God�s will. I still think this is a valid point, to a degree, but I can�t ignore the coincidence of it. My reader's prayers were answered , they just can't be quantified. God always knew this would be when I was s...