Where are the Conservatives Nowadays?

I want to enlarge upon what I’ve said in a prior posting, What is a Conservative?: Most modern politicians or thinkers who call themselves ‘conservative’ are better described as ‘right-wing liberals’. By definition, conservatives conserve, but those — Rush Limbaugh is a good example — who call themselves conservatives are mostly concerned with the marketplaces. … [Read more…]

The Christian in the Universe of Einstein: 5. The Einsteinian Universe

Einstein gave a great gift to rational thinkers, Christian and non-Christian. He gave us a universe, that is, a coherent definition of a universe. And the definition is proving to be quite a bit different from the traditional metaphysical definitions. In fact, the simplest way to think of Einsteinian Universes as a class is to … [Read more…]

Speaking Stutteringly About Moral Freedom: Part 3

So, what is man? He’s intentional in his moral nature. He’s born to acquire certain moral behaviors towards mother and father and brethren but mostly towards his mother because of the special bond. He’ll recognize her very smell and her body is changing in certain ways to adapt itself to the care of a baby … [Read more…]

A Warning to Readers

There may be some glitches in links after an update of WordPress. The PHP variable used to id posts has changed and I have a bad feeling about the stability of some other parts of this software. I think I patched up the latest entries but I don’t know if there will be a ‘fix’ … [Read more…]

Is the Concept of “Original Sin” Itself a Matter of Sinful Pride?

So far as I can tell, the concept of “original sin” arose because St. Augustine of Hippo and some other important Fathers of the early Church were trained as lawyers. Moreover, the Hebrew Bible was the sacred works of a people who organized their lives by strict legal codes. Consequently, God was depicted as a … [Read more…]

Staking Your Faith on Gaps in Empirical Knowledge

“BrainWork”is a free newsletter distributed by The Dana Foundation run by some of the most prominent neuroscientists, geneticists, and other biologists in the United States and — I believe — Canada. In the July-August, 2006 issue, there’s an interesting article, Out-of-body but in the Brain”. The article tells us: At every moment, the brain effortlessly … [Read more…]

Speaking Stutteringly About Moral Freedom: Part 2

What is a man? Not “What is man?” but rather “What is a man?”. That’s a big topic and one not to be addressed in a consistent and coherent manner at this time just because we have no good words and concepts to allow a rational anthropology. Our first task is the more humble one … [Read more…]