Authors note: This is probably not the kind of post your used to reading.  This is not the kind of post I ever envisioned writing.  But the muse struck.  Please excuse me, while I honor the muses.  Think of this as a one act, one scene play.  Please don’t take the characters seriously.  I used them to present a problem, not be an answer.  I consider none superior to the other two.

Fundie, Libby, and Abbie are resting on a park bench, musing about the nature of Truth and God.  The conversation is hours old and the three are at that philosophical place where all are making their final claims.  Fundie starts…

Truth must be absolute.  Why do you think they call it the Truth?  God gave me the ability to conceptualize absolute truth and it is absurd to suggest that God’s gift be for nothing.  Plato was right, if absolute truth…

Thunder Rd. street sign

I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, so it’s no surprise that I’m anxiously counting down the days until this Sunday when I’ll get to see him and the E-Street Band in concert at the Scottrade Center.

In addition to writing some of the best lines ever in rock and roll music, in the song Thunder Road Springsteen is  responsible for what I think may be the most honest - albeit horribly conceived - pick-up line ever:

“You ain’t a beauty, but hey you’re alright.”

Of course, he follows it up with the reassuring, “And that’s all right with me,” which brings some level of humility to the whole thing and somehow makes the statement actually seem kind of sweet, in a naïve way (since I don’t think that the narrator is speaking grudgingly but rather that he genuinely means that her appearance is okay with him).

Still, I can’t imagine…

Believe the earth is flat, or I'll kill you. Are you able to ignore the evidence that says otherwise?

Eternal bliss or eternal suffering, each at a level so profound that we cannot begin to imagine the plenary ecstasy of heaven or the relentless horror of hell. This,  Christians contend, is what is at stake as we try to decide whether or not to believe in Jesus as God.

But even this “choice” misunderstands the concept of belief. Belief is not a decision, but rather an intellectual position to which we are taken by evidence (evidence which can include, I am told, personal revelations from God, a courtesy not yet extended to me). We can’t believe the earth is flat, even if threatened with death for that disbelief, because the evidence tells us it’s spherical.

Yet according to the Christian proposition, we must believe certain things to avoid damnation. What are they? Besides the…

Update: Upon further investigation, it turns out that the story purported in this video most likely never happened. According to a Snopes.com article, there is no evidence that Albert Einstein ever made this statement, or that this confrontation between an atheist teacher and a Christian student ever even took place.

With that being the case - does it matter to you? Do you think the theory is any less true because it was maybe put forth by someone less of an authority on physics than Einstein?

I can’t help but think of the parables of Jesus - are the truths they contain any less valid because they were illustrative stories as opposed to literal accountings?

Perhaps you’ve seen this video, by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia, making its way around the Internet:

Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

…

Anselm of Canterbury, under glass

Feed your inner philosopher by checking out this column by Nathan Schneider on the “Happy Days” blog at the NY Times. If you want to go further outside the box, check out the provocative religion blog that Schneider edits: Killing the Buddha.

Anselm of Canterbury was the eleventh century philosopher and theologian who famously articulated what we now know as his “ontological” proof for God. Schneider explains. I remember first learning Anselm’s ontological proof as an undergrad philosophy student. Suffice it to say, I hadn’t thought about it for loooong time until reading this.

Schneider saves the kicker for the end, for how Anselm’s thinking about God influenced how he treated other human beings. A very good read.

As an aside, I find it curious how—and I see it regularly in the “Happy Days” blog—self-professed atheists among the New York Times readership are often first in line to jump all over anything…

A picture of the soul exiting

I can’t quite remember when or who, but in the recent months, I was told that the body I’m currently occupying is being borrowed from GOD almighty, and it’s really important that I take care of it.

This statement has honestly been in my head for a long time! I can’t help it, this statement basically tells me and everyone that a human is nothing more than a soul. Our body is nothing but a disguise that distinguises us from any other beings.

This has affected the way I view myself.  It helps, this really isn’t me, and what I see in others, it really isn’t them! Thats scary! But there is a lesson to learn from all this, this is why we shouldn’t do drugs, smoke, or abuse our selves with anything that is harmful to us! This is the whole reason behind taking everything in moderation.

We all should…

Okay.  So, mixing the faith and politics, I was a BIG TIME Obama supporter!  Bumper sticker, buttons, voter registration drives and even an Obama action figure for my son (yes, I said action figure).  But, something continues to dog me about the movement for change that elected him to serve as our 44th P.O.T.U.S.  It seems that many were in search of a messiah, not a president. 

Clearly, folks don’t think he’s Jesus or any second coming.  But, consistent with the more traditional Judeo-Christian (Hebrew Scriptures/Old testament) concept of a promised, prophet-king as son of God who would care for the widow and the orphan, instituting God’s reform agenda, many believe the President-Elect fits the bill.  My caution for this (small ‘m’) messiah is that this role is never completely filled in this realm.

The good King Hezekiah comes closest in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament tradition.  This youngster on the throne gathers a team…

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Richard Drew/Associated Press

It has been almost ten years since Harvey Cox wrote his prescient analysis of “The Market as God” (1999). It appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, and immediately made waves. Current events have made his insights even more prophetic now than when they first appeared. To summarize:

Since the earliest stages of human history, of course, there have been bazaars, rialtos, and trading posts—all markets. But The Market was never God, because there were other centers of value and meaning, other “gods.” The Market operated within a plethora of other institutions that restrained it. As Karl Polanyi has demonstrated in his classic work The Great Transformation, only in the past two centuries has The Market risen above these demigods and chthonic spirits to become today’s First Cause.

I remember being struck by the article then. But I was reminded of it again by…

I really liked Pamela’s last post. Not only do I love to hear a story like that about tolerance and commitment, but what great parenting! At 33, with 2 young children, a lot of my thoughts about religion, or life in general, have to do with being a good mother.

And I have an opinion on how to breed tolerance or better yet, acceptance.

When my nephew was 3, my niece was born. My sister-in-law had our Rabbi come out to their house for a baby naming. While he was there, he also hung a mezuzah for them. Later that night, while my sister-in-law was putting my nephew to bed he says, “Mommy, God was here today.” Well then. So of course she asks him what he is referring to and he replies, “You know, God? The guy who put the mezuzah up”.

Cute story, right? That’s been told a few dozen times – always…