The Idealized Conservative on Church & State
After hearing more and more conservatives openly promoting the unity of Church and State (only their Church, or course) I found this quote from one of their favs ironic.
Posts
Incomplete & Circular Apologetic Definitions
Are you healthy? I don�t know much about you, reader, but if you are the average American your answer is probably close to �sure...I guess� or maybe even a straight up �I don�t know.� That�s because the term �healthy� is an imprecise word that means different things to different people. A judgement of health, when poorly defined, is subjective and not very meaningful. If, on the other hand, I asked if you are overweight then provided a scale, tape measure, and the calculation to determine your Body Mass Index, we could objectively see if your BMI is over 25 and therefore overweight. In debates with religious apologists, I�ve noticed their moral arguments rely on the imprecise meaning of right and wrong--of good and evil. Ask them to define them clearly and you will be met with resistance. Define them secularly and those meanings will be dismissed. Push, and you will likely hear one of two meanings. Good or evil are inherent properties of the action in question. That which is right is t...
An Interview with Sabio Lantz
The following is an interview with Sabio Lantz of Triangulations . On your blog, you use the pseudonym Sabio Lantz to, in your words, protect your professional and personal relations. What do you expect would change if you went public with your real name? (I�m obviously not judging, I also use a pseudonym.) What is your advice for other atheists who are unsure if they should conceal this aspect of their identity or embrace it publicly? As you know, Religionists look upon Atheists with great disgust ( see here ). I have significant personal experience with Christian bigotry both as a victimizer and a victim. I�ve written here and here of incidences where I lost (or almost lost) jobs because Christians were disgusted by this atheist. Also, my children have lost many new friends over the years when their parents found that our family were not believers. And as a former Christian, I unfortunately totally understand why believers do this. I work in medicine and most of my patients a...