Tag: Religion

It’s Not True that Empiricism and Religion Are Never the Same Thing

Saint Augustine
By Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine Member
I read and talk and write about philosophy for a living. I am also a Southern Baptist. I don't see any conflict between the two.   I like things like my wife, good fiction books, good sci-fi television, the theory of hylomorphism, and a nice cup of tea.   The closest thing I have to a personal website is my Academia.edu profile.   I also run TeacherOfPhilosophy on YouTube, which probably has the best (and perhaps the only) collection of cartoons based on the dial… [more]
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34 COMMENTS
 

I’ve been mostly just lurking around Ricochet lately, a consequence of traveling. Two weeks ago travel and allergens wore me out enough to allow for (probably) a flu, which was followed by the usual sinus infection, which was followed by the usual prednisone and antibiotics. But I felt pretty good about the flu because I felt I had something to show for being completely exhausted: My article “William James and Allama Iqbal on Empirical Faith” was accepted for publication around the time the headache started, with the nicest words I’ve ever received from a blind reviewer. As of this morning, the article is now up at the Heythrop Journal website.

My recommended one-sentence takeaway is: Don’t trust the popular theory that empiricism and religion are never the same thing. And here’s some of the gist of my analysis of two empirical religious philosophers:

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EB
By EB
EB Thatcher
Born and raised in Atlanta, graduated from Auburn, worked in North America and Europe as a financial software consultant, married an Englishman (now American), and now living in Florida.
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16 COMMENTS
 

This is a fascinating article from 5 years ago in Christianity Today. I have copied only a few highlights from the article, but if you have not heard of this research (as I had not) read the entire article. I think you will be fascinated as well. ***** More
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Buddhism, Secularism, and Socialism

Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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72 COMMENTS
 

Two weeks ago, I decided it was time to give away the meditation mats and cushions that I had originally purchased for the meditation group I led. (As many of you know, I practiced Buddhism for over 20 years, and broke with my teacher several years ago. I also re-discovered my love for Judaism, and that is where I find myself now.)

I remembered that there was a Zen center about an hour away from here, and wrote them an email, asking if they would like my cushions and mats. They were delighted. When the representative came to pick them up, he asked if I knew a fellow at their center. As it happens, this fellow, a very nice man, had practiced at the same center in San Diego where I had practiced. We’ve agreed to have a phone conversation.

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Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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50 COMMENTS
 

Until recently, a manageable level of tension has existed between the secularists in Israel, who dominate the population, and the Ultra-Orthodox Jews. Although these tensions may seem completely different from the secular/religious tensions in the United States, I’m suggesting that the Israelis, as they propose a way to bridge the gap between these two groups, […]
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Aaron Miller
By Aaron Miller
Aaron Miller Member
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28 COMMENTS
 

Should we be worried? From ScreenRant: According to data analytics firm Parrot Analytics, Lucifer was the most in-demand digital original in the United States in May – by a substantial margin. In fact, it was also the #2 comic book adaptation, only beaten by The Flash.  More
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Bharatiya Janata Party Alliance Wins Indian Election in Landslide

Zafar
By Zafar
Zafar Member
I was born and grew up in India, went to the US for college and grad school, lived there for 10 happy years, then moved to Australia and have lived here since.
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18 COMMENTS
 

India’s 2019 federal election was called on May 23, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies winning an increased majority of 350 out of 543 seats in Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. The BJP won 300 seats itself, which means that they will not need to govern in coalition, but have enough seats to form Government in their own right.

This is what the results look like on a map (BJP+ is of course saffron):

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Lash LaRoche
By Lash LaRoche
Lash LaRoche Inactive
Lash LaRoche is a member of Ricochet.
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25 COMMENTS
 

In her latest podcast, D.C. McAllister (@dcmcallister) speaks of her recent experiences on Twitter and calls for conservatives to carry on the fight in the culture war. Conservatives must never back down against the left’s relentless assault on marriage, the family, religion, and other traditional institutions that are the bedrock of America’s greatness. More
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How My Political Views Helped Me Grow Spiritually

Allie Hahn
By Allie Hahn
Allie Hahn Coolidge
Allie Hahn is a writer and teacher in the metro Atlanta area, where she is an active member of First Baptist Church Woodstock and her local GOP. In her spare time, she enjoys watching the Tennessee Volunteers break her heart and scrolling on Twitter (too much). She voted for Ted Cruz in 2016. | Music: Billy Joel, Michael W. Smith, Scorpions, Foreigner, Monkees | Twitter: @allie_neri
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14 COMMENTS
 

I think most politically involved Christians would say that their politics are influenced by their faith. This is true for me, as well; however, I’ve realized recently that the opposite is also true: my growing political views have actually helped me to grow as a Christian.

Even from childhood, I’ve often been a judgmental Christian. I have a history of being hard on myself and others. I remember being very upset with my parents one Sunday because we weren’t going to go back to church for the evening service; weren’t we supposed to be there every time the doors were open? I also nearly broke down in tears once because my sister was talking about buying a two-piece bathing suit.

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How Many Polar Bears Can Dance on the Tip of an Iceberg?

Rick Poach
By Rick Poach
Rick Poach Inactive
  Political satirist Poet Author of the Papa Possum satires Twitter: @eudaimoniarick @papapossum Facebook: Rick Poach (Political Prose and Verse)  
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50 COMMENTS
 
Photo Credit: Alan D. Wilson, October 2007, Polar Bears (Cubs), Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is acting as the face for the Justice Democrats’ Green New Deal, Dianne Feinstein is confronted by terror-stricken children and their indoctrination handlers, women in first world countries are declaring that they will forgo child-bearing in the face of impending environmental collapse, Mayor DeBlasio is mandating “Meatless Monday” menus in NYC public schools in order to combat Climate Change… Wherever you turn, the Left have whipped up their Eco-Marxist rhetoric to an absolute froth. And I, for one, have had enough.

Admittedly, the Global Warming / Climate Change sham has been stuck in my craw since 2008 when I read the 2006 Monnet and Gleason paper “Observations of mortality associated with extended open-water swimming by polar bears in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea.” This is the paper that Al Gore was most likely citing in his 2006 traveling eco-apocalypse road show “An Inconvenient Truth” when he claimed that, “a new scientific study shows that, for the first time, they’re finding polar bears that have actually drowned…” On reading the Monnett and Gleason paper, even as a layperson, I found the study’s methodology, and therefore Gore’s conclusions on the study, to be highly suspect:

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Nation’s Music Ministers Yet Again Downcast When Jesus’ Wondrous Love Fails to Lift Dreadful Curse of Daylight Saving Time

Midget Faded Rattlesnake
By Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Midget Faded Rattlesnake Moderator
Bio:  Other rattlesnakes make fun of the Midget Faded Rattlesnake because even though it's a rattlesnake, it's both midget and faded (how embarrassing). Mainly it puts up with this, because it's fairly even-tempered (for a rattlesnake), though it's surprisingly venomous for such an unprepossessing creature. The Midget Faded Rattlesnake hibernates from time to time, but is usually back within a few months.   The M: The M stands for “Moderator”. For more info on what Moderators o… [more]
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42 COMMENTS
 

The classic American hymn “Wondrous Love,” first published in 1811 during the second Great Awakening, proclaims, “What wondrous love is this, / That caused the Lord of bliss / To bear the dreadful curse / For my soul.” The nation’s music ministers awoke this morning once more disappointed to discover that the dreadful curse Jesus bears for us so we don’t have to doesn’t include Daylight Saving Time.

“‘Wondrous Love’ is a great Lenten hymn,” mumbled Elmer Morgan, organist at Parkhurst Methodist, over his fourth cup of coffee, “So it’s always disheartening to realize Lent after Lent that Jesus’ wondrous love doesn’t extend to lifting the curse of Daylight Saving Time from our souls.” Down the street at Spiritstone Reformed, the worship band reportedly slammed multiple energy drinks before the main service, noting forlornly that no outpouring of the Holy Spirit had made up for that one lost hour of sleep. Only bassist Chas Tietze abstained from energy-drink consumption, “But that’s only because,” drummer Mark Lorenzo observed, “He can play these sets in his sleep, and frequently does.”

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Brian Wolf
By Brian Wolf
Brian Wolf Coolidge
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12 COMMENTS
 

This is part of an ongoing series. You can read the first part here. For a long time people have thought the greatest of all rivals to Nationalism is Imperialism. But was it really? Instead of a being a rival Imperialism for most of history was more of a manager and transformer of Nationalism not […]
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The Demise of Moral Relativism – and Its Consequences

Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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30 COMMENTS
 

The claims of moral relativism have been the bane of modern society as it has risen in popularity. Its origins started centuries ago, but as Progressivism has continued to dominate the Democrat party, it has paradoxically forecast its own death — and deadly consequences for American society. How has that happened and where will it lead us?

So that we’re all on the same page, let me provide a definition of moral relativism. Here’s one:

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Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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31 COMMENTS
 

[This quotation speaks to the differences between the British (1640) and American Revolutions, compared to the French (1789) and Russian (1917) Revolutions] The difference was that the British and American revolutions, led by the Puritans, were inspired by the Hebrew Bible. The French and Russian revolutions were inspired by philosophy. Rousseau’s in the first, Karl […]
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Unwoke Caveman Lawyer
By Unwoke Caveman Lawyer
Unwoke Caveman Lawyer Coolidge
Once I was out hunting on the frozen wastes when I slipped and fell into a crevasse. Later I was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. I then went to law school and became . . .
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33 COMMENTS
 

We’ve all heard people criticize the church or Christians or evangelicals (from within or without) for choosing Trump—but whatever his merits or demerits, Trump was not the choice of Christians. Peter Beinart in the Atlantic: More
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MWilcox
By MWilcox
MWilcox Inactive
Mackenzie grew up in the Philippines and then attended Biola University where she received her B.S. in Kinesiology and met her husband, Daniel. They live with their son in Las Vegas.
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5 COMMENTS
 

I recently read the book “Decision Making and the Will of God (25th Anniversary Edition)” by Garry Friesen. I enjoyed this book very much and I think that it is an important book that all Christians should read. Here is a summary of a few of the major points made in the book, and my thoughts […]
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Racism Is Alive and Well

Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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22 COMMENTS
 

Saying that black Americans can’t be racist because they are an oppressed group has never been acceptable to me. You only need to look at the history of the Black Hebrew Israelites to realize that racism against white people not only exists, but it is overt, ugly and frightening. This is the group that harassed the teenagers at the March for Life.

Glenn Beck did some research on the Black Hebrew Israelites group:

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Ave Maria: Venerating the Brave Virgin, and her Consent

Midget Faded Rattlesnake
By Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Midget Faded Rattlesnake Moderator
Bio:  Other rattlesnakes make fun of the Midget Faded Rattlesnake because even though it's a rattlesnake, it's both midget and faded (how embarrassing). Mainly it puts up with this, because it's fairly even-tempered (for a rattlesnake), though it's surprisingly venomous for such an unprepossessing creature. The Midget Faded Rattlesnake hibernates from time to time, but is usually back within a few months.   The M: The M stands for “Moderator”. For more info on what Moderators o… [more]
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29 COMMENTS
 

Warning: Including some crass humor in the description of a Great Christian Mystery is intended to drive home just how extraordinary a woman Mary must have been, as well as the extraordinary — indeed quite odd — nature of the mystery involved.

Ave Maria, gratia plena… Hail Mary, full of grace… These words, whether set to the sumptuous music of Biebl’s much-beloved one-hit wonder, sung to another tune, or simply spoken, will ring out through many a church today, the last Sunday of Advent, the last caravanserai parishioners pause at before reaching Bethlehem itself, and the Word Made Flesh.

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Susan Quinn
By Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn Contributor
Retired consultant, avid biography reader and meditator
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8 COMMENTS
 

For some Jews, the Passover or Pesach holiday in the Spring is one of the most treasured of all the Jewish holidays. The celebration of G-d’s freeing the Jews from the Egyptians is called “seder,” which means “order.” In part, the name suggests that a particular order is followed for this meal at this auspicious […]
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Benjamin Glaser
By Benjamin Glaser
Benjamin Glaser Member
Reformed Presbyterian Minister, husband, and father of four that lives in the beautiful State of Mississippi.  Russell Kirk/Localist Conservative.
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89 COMMENTS
 

I am currently reading Jonah Goldberg’s “Suicide of the West” and Patrick Deneen’s “Why Liberalism Failed” for a doctoral class. Finding myself about halfway through the former I had the following review retweeted into my timeline this morning and it held exactly the critique of Goldberg’s thesis that was digging at me. I want to […]
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Stad
By Stad
Stad Thatcher
Stad is a member of Ricochet.
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15 COMMENTS
 

Once again, a lot of time, effort, and money has been spent trying to resolve an issue which shouldn’t be an issue in the first place: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/08/31/todd-starnes-texas-cheerleaders-win-victory-for-freedom-religious-expression-praise-lord.html More
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