two or three . net

We're moving to a new domain - WholeReason.com

I'm moving off of typepad onto wordpress, and moving to a new domain.  All of the content and comments here are moved over to Whole Reason (wholereason.com) already, so no more posts here.  This site will go down in a few months.

GUIDE: Books on Christianity and Science

Here's my list of resources for those interested in the history of religion and science, both pro and anti-religious.

THEIST

For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery by Rodney Stark

Stark argues that faith in God encouraged Christians to invent science. Having read other books making the same claim, I think Stark's approach to this question is one of the best. Not only does he go over the development of technology in the so-called "Dark Ages," and show how the "Enlightenment" picture of Copernican era science is a myth, he studies 52 key early scientists, and shows that more than 60 % were "devout," while only 2 were skeptics. The critic below who asks why Christianity did not produce science in Russia did not read attentively: Stark argues that faith in God was a necessary, but not sufficient, cause of the rise of science. Other factors were also involved. ~ From this excellent review

Setting Up A New Windows PC - Updated

I seem to build or rebuild a Windows hard drive regularly (like again today), so here's my updated list of what to install. 

Last Update: 04.17.10

Changes:

• added CleanMem

Guide: Best Android Apps for the Motorola Droid

Here's my list of favorites.  Feel free to comment, and bookmark this page, I will update regularly, I'm always testing.  Thanks!

Last Updated: 02.26.10

Updates:

• I have stopped updating this page, but have created a new public list of my favorite android apps at appbrain.com

Reflections on my 10 Day Silent Vipassana Retreat

I wrote this essay back in 2001 during my period of away from Christianity, while I was exploring Vipassana Buddhist Meditation.

-------------------------------------------------------

Although it has been a few weeks since I did the 10 day course, it is still worthwhile to try and remember. In retrospect, I find Vipassana a premium tool for self-knowledge and control, though not comprehensive as a spiritual/emotional tool for healing and growth. In addition to yoga, devotional study, and prayer, it fills out (almost) a complete set of inner spiritual disciplines (don’t forget the outer ones of service, etc.)

Why the unconverted can't tell a Pharisee from a Christian

The problem with humanists is that they throw out the baby with the bathwater. They call it 'humility' to suspend judgment, yet they judge others in matters that suit them. They want compassion for all, but any hint of truth they dislike coming from the mouths of others equals Phariseeism. The real truth is, they can't tell a true Christian from a Pharisee. To them, Paul was a Pharisee when he condemned sins (of course, he was a Pharisee before conversion).

The essence of Phariseeism is that keeping of the rules makes one righteous. A true Christian knows that this is not so, yet he seeks moral purity because he loves God and hates sin. He hides in mercy and gives it to others, but also seeks to live and declare the truth to save himself and others from sin.

An unconverted 'Christian' flees from the truth and towards truthless mercy because he, remaining uncoverted, still wants his sin more than God. He can not preach against sin, except that of 'judging others' because he himself is still living in it, powerless to transcend or fight it without the indwelling spirit, and must make excuses for himself.

In being 'graceful' (truthless) with others, he may pass this off as generosity, but he is mostly excusing himself from continuing in sin. And until the supernatural power of God does convert him, he can do naught but try to fool himself and others that he is really Christian.

Are you a Christian because of your experiences, or because of logic?

In Why do some Christians become atheists?, I discussed five reasons why some Christians may have abandoned faith to become atheists - some noble reasons, some not.  The ensuing commentary helped me see that these same principles can be applied to any faith or anti-faith decision.  Here are those now six ideas, but I wanted to also ask the question - is Christianity primarily or first a decision of the heart or head?  I argue that, to the chagrin of logicians and empiricists, Christianity is a religion of the heart - that is, conviction of the intuition and conscience, not an intellectual decision of the mind.

You are a Christian because (choose all that apply):

1. You were raised that way, and have never seriously considered any other viewpoint, nor seriously questioned your faith.
2. You made an emotional decision to become Christian during a dark time in your life.
3. You felt a deep conviction and a reality in the presence and peace of God that led you to receive Christ.
4. Your conversion was based on the first good argument you heard, and you came from a position of weak ideological commitment - again, you may have never seriously considered any other viewpoint.
5. You are caught up in the novelty of your new Christian world view mostly because it is different, and will leave it when the novelty wears off.
6. Reason and experience have led you to your conclusion that Christianity is true.

10 Commandments of Ethical Witness are peace-loving but controversial

The Christian Muslim Forum, an interfaith group, has released what it calls Ethical Guidelines for Christian and Muslim Witness in Britain (PDF).   Interestingly, some more conservative Christians don't like a couple of the provisions because they fear that it could be used to stifle criticism or even moral condemnation of spirituality that contradicts what some would call basic human rights.

If you'd like to hear a spirited debate about the guidelines between a moderate Christian, a moderate Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, and a conservative Christian, check out the excellent debate at Muslim, Christian, Hindu debate on evangelism.

What some are calling Ten Commandments of Mission? are after the jump, with my highlights and brief commentary.

Pascal's Wager Part IV - debunking minor objections

In Part I,I discussed Pascal's Wager as a risk calculation, similar to how we estimate risk in project management.  In Part II, I attempted to debunk the anti-intellectual and narrow view that all religions are essentially equally improbable and ridiculous.  In Part III, I used the criteria that I suggested for evaluating faith systems to show that there is a difference between the faith claims of Chrisitainity, Islam, Zeus, and the FSM.

In this last part, I address some remaining objections, and recommend to you Christian Philosopher Peter Kreeft's book Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees.

Examining the historical and logical links between Darwin and eugenics

In the latest podcast over at Reasonable Doubt, the resident atheists discuss my comment on their blog, where I suggested that there is a historical link between Darwinism and Nazism.  Naturally, since I attacked their religion science worldview, they took issue with me.

Unfortunately, their interesting, amusing and often profanity-laden podcast (I say that with some affection but not admiration ;) often misrepresented my points, and created a few straw men to boot.

I ask you fellas (challenge you?) to address your 'mistakes' in a future podcast. Like you, I don't enjoy being ridiculed or misrepresented. Here's my response to your discussion.  I hope these clear things up and lead to reasoned argument!

Europe's Dark Ages and Islam's Golden Age - two historic fictions?

Jihad Watch has a good article entitled Europe’s Dark Age and Islam’s Golden Age: Two Facets of The Same Fiction?, which discusses the content of the book on the same subject, entitled Holy Warriors.

In the twentieth century, a whole new body of evidence became available to historians; evidence unavailable to previous generations of scholars: The evidence of archaeology. And what archaeology tells us has been devastating to the traditional view.....

On the word of the written histories, then, archaeologists expected to find, from Spain to eastern Iran, a flourishing and vibrant culture. An Islamic world of enormous cities endowed with all the wealth of antiquity and the plunder gathered in the Muslim wars of conquest. They hoped to find palaces, public baths, universities and mosques; all richly decorated with marble, ceramic and carved stone.

In fact, they found nothing of the sort.

For a more accurate rendition of history that isn't colored by the anti-Catholic enlightenment historians or the Muslims trying to pretend that their faith has contributed to humanity, see How Christianity changed the world and The biblical origins of science.

G12 Churches: cults or discipleship with a plan? Series Permalink

The articles in this series on the G12 Church model include:

• Part I: What abusive churches are like
• Part II: Our experience at MercyChurch
• Part III: The G12 model - roles
• Part IV: The G12 model - processes
• Part V: The G12 model - my conversation with Pastor Terry Page
• Part VI: Conclusions regarding the G12 model

Pascal's Wager - Part III: Evaluating the gods

In Part I of this series, I examined Pascal's wager as a risk calculation exercise.  In Part II, I proposed some criteria by which one could evaluate various faith claims, even though those criteria were outside of direct empirical observation.  In this part, I perform a heuristic, self-reinforcing example of how said evaluation might look when comparing the claims of Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, Zeus, Superman, and the FSM.

Admittedly, I have not backed up my Yes/No assertions with argumentation and data.  And for the sake of this exercise, I will not.  The point is, when evaluated by important, empirical and non-empirical criteria, faith claims can be differentiated, and some may be eliminated as serious candidates for faith, while others remain under consideration.  And that is the point.

No faith can be 'proven,' that is the point of having faith.  But some may be eliminated as pretenders, as not worthy of faith.  Click on the chart in the image to see a full sized version.

In Part IV, I address the host of minor objections.

The psychology of atheism and unbelief - the defective father

I just finished listening to this excellent lecture by Dr. Paul Vitz, a professor of psychology at NYU, and author of Faith of the Fatherless.  In it, he explores the psychological reasons for unbelief.

What is really interesting, and missed by many listeners (you should hear the Q&A), is his purpose in giving this lecture.  It is not, paradoxically, to attack atheism or atheists, but rather, to show that:

• just as psychology has often trained itself on the psychology of belief, it can also be used to explore the psychology behind unbelief, including showing correlation with formative emotional events
• just as the propensity for belief might be explained by emotional needs and experiences, so can the propensity for unbelief
• just because someone has a psychological need for belief or unbelief does not mean that such beliefs are wrong OR right, so we should stop attacking ideological opponents by accusing them of mental illness - not that such accusations are untrue, but that they can be leveled from both sides, so it's a draw
• there is a very strong correlation between unbelief and the breakdown of the family authority structure, the safety of the family, and esp. the experience of a failed father. He proposes that this is also a causative factor as well.

His lecture contains some other VERY interesting perspectives, including a Freudian analysis of unbelief - that of an unresolved Oedipal complex.  Not that he believes this, but that, if one did, that is how Freudian psychology might explain unbelief.

Summary of his interesting points below.

Pascal's Wager - Part II: debunking the 'all religions are equally improbable' ruse

In Part I, I generalized that, since the impact of being wrong about God is high, it doesn't matter how unlikely it is, it is still a high risk.

But that oversimplification is not entirely true.  If it was, that would mean that all unconfirmable claims about the life to come, by any and all religions, would be equally binding, or just as important or risky.

If the Biblical God makes demands with consequences we can not confirm with empiricism, are they any different from the claims of Buddhism, Islam, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster?  

What we really need is a better measure of how likely such claims are to be true.  Can that be done without direct empirical evidence?  YES.  We must not ignore historical, ethical, and logical support for or against faith claims, and in so doing, discriminate between pretenders and contenders.  

Below, I address this objection, which can be stated The lack of empirical support for faith means ALL FAITHS ARE EQUALLY IMPROBABLE and on par with fairy tales.

Pascal's Wager - Part I: why apatheism and atheism are unreasonable choices

Pascal's famous 'wager' is often misunderstood, and maligned by anti-theists as an argument from lack of evidence, or worse, merely a threat of hellfire. 

But on closer inspection, this theological conundrum elucidated by the great scientist, mathematician, and Christian well known for his intellectual Christian apologetic Pensees, is a masterful logical rebuke of atheism from a probability perspecitve - and Pascal is basically the father of the discipline of probability.

Blaise Pascal provides a serious evaluation of the reasonableness of seeking for God rather than foolishly betting against the odds that God exists.

Why do conservative Christians have so many children?

Born-again Christians, which covers most evangelical, pentecostal, charismatic, baptist, and other more conservative Bible denominations, try to follow biblical principles and outlooks on all of life, including child bearing and parenting. 

With this in mind, they follow the guidelines outlined below, which are often in contradiction to modern, liberal, and secular views:

1. POSITIVE VIEW OF CHILDREN

Children are a blessing, not a burden.  More children = more blessing.  They see the current trends of 'more children cramp my freedom' as selfish reasoning.  However, they do sometimes argue that if you have more children than you can emotionally and fiscally care for, you are not doing the right thing either.

101+ Quotes on Faith, Reason, Unbelief, and Atheism

In response to a very impressive list of 101 Atheist Quotes, I wanted to create some lists of my own, and have culled my favorites from the following sources:

• christianquotes.org
• grace quotes
• the quotable Christian

The failure of the abstinence model - what should be done?

Critics of biblical sexual mores love to mock ("fools mock at sin" Proverbs 14:9) the abstinence movement, and were wildly pointing fingers at the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter as more evidence that the abstinence movement fails in the real world.  Unfortunately, they are correct, and the New Yorker's article Red Sex, Blue Sex spells it out in spades.

Proponents of abstinence-only sex education and stern moralizing about sexual purity are finding that their own children become more unchaste than many of their secular peers.  Why is this happening?  What are we doing wrong?  What *should* be done?  Should we capitulate to the sexualized culture?  Admit that sex before marriage is just part of life, even healthy, if we take the right precautions? 

There ARE BIG problems with our implementation, even if we want to hold to our contention that sex belongs within the bonds of marriage.

A six point approach for GOP Reform - Part II

In Part I, I discussed the first 4 of 6 points on how the GOP should be reformed.  Here's the last two points:

• Reaching beyond white America
• Reuniting around principles instead of special interest groups

A six point approach for GOP Reform - Part I

I saw Laura Ingram hosting Bill O'Reilly's show tonight, and I have to say, I do NOT love her.  She is way more partisan than Bill, and too belligerent.  I heard her talking about what the GOP needs to do, and her answer is basically

• Return to first principles
• Clean house of those who are not fiscally conservative
• Go into battle mode

What I think is lacking here is any admission of imbalance or out of order priorities in the GOP.  It's not about retrenching and kicking out anyone who is not on board (she may not have meant that, but what I hear from many conservatives sounds just like that).  In my mind, it's about

1. Returning to first principles of conservatism
2. Reprioritizing the issues we plan to address
3. Retreating from some of the extreme far-right positions
4. Rejecting anti-intellectual bullying and becoming again the "party of ideas"
5. Reaching beyond white America
6. Re-uniting around principles instead of special interest groups

Essential Products for Babies II - Transportation

In Part I, I covered medicines and ointments.  Now, on to transportation items I think are essential for the new parent.

1. ERGO Baby Carrier - supposedly better than the BabyBjorn, these are pretty handy, but mostly for Dads.

Environmentalism: wilderness, wasteland, or garden?

A recent book by E. Calvin Beisner entitled Where Garden Meets Wilderness: Evangelical Entry into the Environmental Debate gave me the idea for this post (you can hear Beisner talk on the environment here and here).

There are at least three possible views when it comes to how we view environmentalism - the leftist 'Wilderness' view, the rightist 'Wasteland' view, and the more balanced 'Garden' view.  The extremes are lack of concern for the environment, or virtual worship of the environment, while the Garden view is one possibility between the extremes.  Which camp do you lean towards?

Person Calvin Beisner

Right click for SmartMenu shortcuts

Capital punishment and rape - the bible says NO?

Joe over at the Evangelical Outpost has a nice post on the biblical view of capital punishment.  In it are two ideas that I had not previously considered, but I like Joe's take on it.

Intelligent Design group proves that 'God probably created HIV'

In a stunning press release, Intelligent Design group The Group for Order and Design In Science (GODIS) has proposed that the structure of the HIV virus could not have arisen by natural processes, and was therefore engineered.

"Our calculations are quite revealing," stated Rex Numero, chief statistician at GODIS.  "We were inspired by Reverend Jeremiah Wright's accusation that perhaps HIV was created by the US Government, and we immediately set about calculating the likelihood that HIV could have arisen from natural causes.  As it turns out, the HIV virus is irreducibly complex in many areas.  Therefore, it MUST have been engineered."

Causes of same-sex attraction

NARTH has a nice reprint of an original article from The Catholic Standard & Times which discusses the roots of homosexuality.  The author, Dr. Richard Fiztgibbons, contributed to the Catholic booklet on this issue called Homosexuality and Hope.

The main section titles are:

• Weak Masculine/Feminine Identity
• Distrust of Men/Women
• Gender Identity Disorder
• Narcissism and Profound Selfishness
• Dysfunctional Family Life

Firefox 2.0 Extensions - Updated

Latest update: 03.12.2008

• added Tab Scope to ESSENTIAL
• added Ad Block Plus, Bandwidth Meter and Diagnostics, Firefox Preloader, Microsoft Activities for Firefox, Pricepinx to TRYING
• added AutoSaveTextToCookie , DownloadHelper, DownloadThemAll!, Firefox Companion for ebay, Grab and Drag, MyVidoop Plugin, NoScript, Unplug, VideoDownload Helper to RARELY USED
• added (nothing) to DON'T LIKE
• updated CLEO Extensions file (see instructions for uploading all my extensions, below).

Hypocrites, virgins, and sinners: what issues do you oppose?

Recently, I was accused of choosing a stance on an issue because I was favoring my own situation.  Specifically, since I have married a formerly illegal immigrant Mexican, my moderate stance on immigration (which is different from my more conservative positions on most issues) was questioned, and I was accused of making my stance based on convenience, not conservative conviction.

Such an accusation, if taken seriously and without being defensive, forces one to examine the reasons WHY they take stances, and how those stances compare to one's current habits, as well as one's history.  And how our stances, compared to our history and current practices determines whether we are hypocrites, virgins, or sinners.

13 Misconceptions About Evolution

Over at one of my favorite sites, The List Universe, James Frater has posted a pro-evolution article, Top 15 Misconceptions about Evolution, which instigated me to make my own list of misconceptions from the other perspective.  I apologize in advance for the many links, and some statements that I have not backed up with references.  However, just take this as a primer, not the end-all.  Enjoy.

The extreme middle, the healthy right and left

When discussing extremism, we must remember that there is an extreme middle position. Oxymoron?  Not really.  There is a difference between healthy balance and an 'extreme,' compromised middle.  In fact, the erroneous middle is a classic logical fallacy, often called the Middle Ground fallacy:

1. Position A and B are two extreme positions.
2. C is a position that rests in the middle between A and B.
3. Therefore C is the correct position.

But I would like to explore this error in more detail, so that we can also identify a healthy compromise.

Why the term 'Christian soldier' is not an oxymoron

Previously , I have put forth the assertion that pacifism is NOT biblical, but of course, this confuses many.  I think that the root of the confusion comes with confusing two different areas of life:

• The two kingdoms: this world v. God's coming kingdom
• The two levels of personal interaction: individual v. societal rules for interaction
• The two foci for attack: attacking people (and their character) v. attacking ideas

What is an extremist?

Lately around here, we have seen accusations of being part of the "extremist right" or "extremist left."  But what is the difference between an extremist and a person with healthy convictions?

Dog people : golf :: cat people : ???

I was meditating on one of my favorite hobbies and realized that my choice of hobby was related to the fact that I was a cat person.  Then it hit me - dog people have a favorite pastime that is analogous.

Dog people like golf : cat people like ... bird watching. And this is all due to the different nature of dog and cat people. 

Global Warming: threat, deception, or cloak for the antichrist?

Many evangelicals have joined the chorus in support of reducing greenhouse emissions, but I am still on the fence about global warming. Like Bill O'Reilly, think we should get off of fossil fuels for both environmental and economic/political reasons, but I have not bought into the Global Warming Panic (GWP).

As Aaron recently noted, this past year's hurricane season failed to meet the dire predictions of the GWP lobby - and while that may be too small a sample to be conclusive, it does show the speculative nature of the whole apocalyptic approach of the GWPers.

We've argued whether or not GW is a threat, or a hoax perpetrated by misinformed environmentalists.  But there's one more unusual perspective - that global warming, whether man-made or not, will be the worldwide catastrophe that unites the world in one cause, and under one world leader - the antichrist.

Finding God's Call IV - Motivated by desire

Fourth in the series, this sermon was the most positively received in the series, and covers the following points:

• The Power of Desire
• The Priority of Desire
• The Problem of Desire
• The Transformation of Desire
• The Pursuit of Desire

You can download Finding God's Call IV - Motivated by Desire

Or just subscribe to the podcast URL.

10 Biblical Points about Alcohol and Drinking

Many evangelicals and fundamentalists are tea-totalers, and a good number of them also look down upon Christians who do use alcohol.  And while such judgmental Christians are disobeying the command of Romans 14:3 to "not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him," this does not mean that they are wrong to abstain.

But the question arises, is the biblical perspective on alcohol entirely or mostly negative, or the opposite?

Why are the scriptures not written more plainly?

As part of my hermeneutics class, we must read some of the works of John Owen (1616–1683), one of the greatest (and often least known) Protestant theologians of history, and by many accounts, the greatest that England has ever produced.  In this week's reading from Pneumatologia, we read Owen's thoughts on illumination (the role of the Spirit of God in helping us understand scripture) and perspicuity (the understandableness of scripture and it's message).  One of the questions he answers is, if God wanted us to understand Him, why are the scriptures not written in a more didactic fashion? 

What spiriutal harshness says about us

My brother's old church actually preached harshly against gays, and the pastor used some unkind epithets.  He asked me about it, and this is my response. And even though I have never disobeyed any of these principles in the pulpit, I have here on this blog.  Regardless, what can we say about speaking harshly or offensively to others, biblically speaking?

How sure can we be of our spiritual convictions?

In my discussions with fellow classmates on the subject of hermeneutics, I have upset some apple carts by saying that we can't be cock sure of every doctrine, and as I explained in my previous post on hermeneutics, there are good reasons why we should question our convictions.

One classmate wrote that I was promoting a hopeless view, and that I was essentially saying that we can't really know anything for sure.  My response is below.

Thinktank estimates evangelical churches 90% closet homosexuals

While some recent estimates of the gay population in America have come in as high as 1 in 10, a new report from the liberal Christian think tank Gay Statisticians Bringing Accuracy to Gay Statistics (GASBAGS) has come out with a new report claiming that up to 90% of evangelicals may be closet homosexuals.

"It was really quite logical," said spokesperson Dr. Ima "Spin" Master.  "Once we assumed that everyone who spouts regular anti-gay rhetoric, which we call "hate speech," was really just projecting self-loathing at their own same sex attractions, it all added up quite quickly."

The Christian duty to bear children

As Christians, we have an absolute duty, if married, to obey the biblical mandate to procreate, as given to both Adam and Eve and Noah and his family:

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Genesis 1:28)

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (Genesis 9:1-3)

But how many children is too many? And is it immoral to use any kind of birth control? And is it immoral to overpopulate the earth?

How to change the default properties for new MS Excel 2003 workbooks

If you get tired of having to always delete the extra blank worksheets in a new excel workbook, or tire of having to set up the same headers and footers you always do, you can just change your default workbook to match your preferences.  Below, I give you two methods.

Evaluating God's Righteousness

This series was written in response to a comment about the "absurdities" of scripture.

• Evaluating God's Righteousness, Part I - Underestimating Sin
• Evaluating God's Righteousness, Part II - Rules for Evaluating Evil
• Evaluating God's Righteousness, Part III - Dispensing Justice and Mercy

Faith and Politics in a Post-Falwell World

This series was a response to Brian McLaren's Faith & Politics after the Religious Right.

• Faith and Politics in a Post-Falwell World - Part I
• Faith and Politics in a Post-Falwell World - Part II
• Faith and Politics in a Post-Falwell World - Part III

The Ethics of Controversy

This two part series is actually a synopsis of a fantastic article from the Resurgence site entitled  On The Ethics of Controversy.

• The Ethics of Controversy - What TO Do
• The Ethics of Controversy - What NOT To Do

The Wrath of God - Romans 1

This series is a redux of a great exposition of Romans 1 by John MacArthur called A Nation Abandoned by God.

• The Wrath of God - Part I - Five Types of Divine Anger
• The Wrath of God II - How God abandons a nation
• The Wrath of God III - Reversing God's Abandonment

Hate Crimes Laws - needed reform or threat to free speech?

I was watching Truths that Transform this week, and during the social action part of the program, his organization and a spokesperson for Concerned Women for America talked about the threat to free speech that hate crimes and hate speech laws pose, especially to churches that want to preach about the immorality of homosexuality.  Below, I present their argument, which I mostly agree with, with the caveats I mention. 

But here's the executive summary:   Hate crimes laws are redundant with existing laws that cover those same crimes, can demand punishments out of proportion with the crime, and are Trojan horses for ushering in hate speech laws which threaten the free speech of opponents, usually to liberal social policy, by erroneously equating disagreement and moral criticism with hate.

Don't agree with liberal politics? Hateful!

Having grown weary of being called hateful for every conservative stance I take, I suddenly realized that liberals call their opposition on almost every issue "hateful."  It's an epidemic!  And WHY do they do this?  I surmise that two things are going on - one, it is easier to make ad hominem attacks than make logical counter arguments, but secondly, and more importantly, they are victims of The New Tolerance, which mistakes every moral judgment for hate.

One interesting example that author gives of liberal inconsistency in this matter is the infamous Piss Christ painting.  Paint Christ in a jar of piss, and leftists call that free speech.  But paint a homosexual in a jar of piss?  Unthinkable.  Offensive.  And you know what?  It probably is.  But only the OPPONENTS of the left are hateful in almost every stance.

Liberal, MO - A Failed Atheist Social Experiment

While reading a recent critique of the new Atheism in The Noise of Reason, I discovered a hidden gem of history - the story of Liberal, Missouri.

Liberal, MO, named after the Liberal League in Lamar, Missouri (to which the town’s organizer belonged), was started as an atheist, "freethinker" utopia in 1880 by George Walser, an anti-religionist, agnostic lawyer.  He bought 2000 acres of land and advertised across the country for atheists to come and

"found a town without a church, [w]here unbelievers could bring up their children without religious training,” and where Christians were not allowed. “His idea was to build up a town that should exclusively be the home of Infidels...a town that should have neither God, Hell, Church, nor Saloon.” Some of the early inhabitants of Liberal even encouraged other infidels to move to their town by publishing an advertisement which boasted that Liberal “is the only town of its size in the United States without a priest, preacher, church, saloon, God, Jesus, hell or devil.”   (from Atheism and Liberal, MO)

Well, how did that little experiment turn out?  It's more incredible than you could imagine.

The 7 steps to suppressing opponents' ideas

Today on Truths that Transform, Dr. Frank Wright, President and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters, gave a simple and straightforward, if not simplistic speech about how truth is resisted and suppressed, or what he calls "the politics of opposition."  I've summarized below.