Monthly Archives: January 2010
Metaphorical vs. Literal Truth
Jesse Galef did an excellent article showing the problem with “Metaphorical Truth“. He analyzes the issue beautifully. Below is my take on it. But be sure to read his short article. _________________ Did George Washington cut down a cherry tree … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Christianity, Religion
Jesus’ Friends and Foes
Did you ever wonder who you should consider your friends? Well, so did the gospel writers and they may have disagreed with each other. It seems that Matthew was a bit more inclusive than Mark. And, well, Luke appears quite conflicted. … Continue reading
Filed under Christianity
Your god is weird !
Ganesh and the Repairman A while back, when living in Washington D.C., a telephone repairman came to my house to install some new phone outlets. I heard the doorbell ring, went to the door and saw the repairman standing with … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Christianity, Events, Hindu, Religion
Ganesh
Lots of folks visit this post: Consider visiting my series on the Ramayana! The Mahabharata Series (cont.) The Text Listen– I was born full-grown from the dew of my mother’s body. We were alone, and Devi told me, “Guard the … Continue reading
Comparative Studies Insights
The Mahābhārata is written in Sanskrit. For millennium, Hindus have claimed that Sanskrit is a unique, sacred, and magically powerful language. I heard this claim over and over again in India and in Ashrams in this country. But is Sanskrit … Continue reading
Filed under Critical Thinking, Hindu, Linquistics, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Religion, Religious Dialogue
Hindu Gods Iconography
The Mahabharata Series (cont.) For some of my post a little background on the Hindu pantheon would be helpful. The descriptions below are oversimplified, butI hope folks would enjoy the iconography ! Hinduism came to India with the Aryan invaders … Continue reading
Filed under Christianity, Hindu, Philosophy, Religion
Mahabharata: Introduction
The Mahabharata Series (cont.) Authorship The Mahābhārata is an amalgam of many authors but traditionally attributed to Vyasa (an immortal, pictured here) Date Composed over centuries (like the Hebrew Bible). Some think it was begun in the 700s BCE and … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Philosopher: share thyself !
See the section in my Religious Dialogue Tools for an explanation for how to use this table as a means of sharing your positions on Philosophical Issues. Note, no one is expected to know all these various categories or positions. … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy, Religion
Christian: share thyself !
There are many different kind of Christians (as there are Atheists). So as to make dialogue easier, please consider sharing your present beliefs. See the section in my Religious Dialogue Tools for an explanation for how to use this table … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Christianity, Philosophy, Religion, Religious Dialogue, Theology
Shakespeare’s Philosophy of Self
This morning, while doing my atheist education homework, I read Luke’s “CommonSense Atheism” post on the infinite regress argument. On that post, I read an excellent comment by a proud Irish fellow named “John D”, so I went to his … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy
Visualizin’ Philosophizin’
Philosophical Blogging Many of us bloggers philosophize. Some of us are outright professional philosophers, some of us sloppily slip out philosophical claims in the midst of our dairy-like posts, and then there is everything in between. Recently I envisioned a … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy
Taxonomy
I love taxonomies ! Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. It is an important tool to expand knowledge. Strengths of Taxonomies Help wrestle with data, with the world Help to see patterns that before escaped your eye Is … Continue reading
Filed under Linquistics, Philosophy, Science
Sanitizing Unbelievers
Images are important. We often use images to think about others, to understand them and to interact with them. But images can be wrong. Some Christians, when generous, have an image of Atheists as “searchers”. They envision us as … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Buddhism, Philosophy, Religion, Religious Dialogue
An Older Bible !
Fascinating new discovery of ancient Hebrew text – 10th century BCE. This post contains some supplements to aid your understanding of this story. English translation of the deciphered text: you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord]. Judge the … Continue reading
Friends’ Blog Stats 2010
In the Bible scholar blog world, there has been much chatter about rankings. Biblioblog use to compare all the Biblioblogs to each other using Alexa rankings (the lower the number, the more visited the site is). Recently, John Loftus, at … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Christianity, Religion
Tomas Rees
Tom Rees, on his site “Epiphenom“, does superb dissections of recent scientific research on religion. I highly recommend his site for anyone (Atheist, Christian, Buddhist or otherwise) who is trying to understand the human phenomena of religion from a scientific perspective. … Continue reading
Filed under Philosophy, Religion
Traffic Light Epistemology
I want to use this post to playfully illustrate one way I think about beliefs. At times, I like to think of each our beliefs as having four different levels of commitment. I visualize each belief as having 4-colored traffic … Continue reading
Filed under Critical Thinking, Philosophy, Religion
Mahabharata
Index: Mahabharata (Buck) Mahabharata Background Introduction Hindu Gods Chapter 1 Ganesh Related Posts: Comparative Studies Insights I am slowly blogging through William Buck’s version of the Mahabharata — one of the major texts of popular Hinduism. Below in the Outline, … Continue reading
Woo Woo in your fingers
At the bottom of this post are pictures of 11 commenters hands. A recent study claims that people with relatively small ring fingers are more susceptible to superstitious thinking. My blog illustrates my own personal susceptibility too superstitious perceptions which … Continue reading
Filed under Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Cognitive Science, Mysticism, Philosophy, Religion, Religious Dialogue, Science
Bible & Theology Posts
This is an annotated list of posts dealing specifically with Bible passages or Biblical theology. I will try to choose posts in which both believers and non-believers alike may find something of value. This index is update to and including … Continue reading
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Filed under Christianity, Theology
Religious Dialogue Tools
Below is an annotated list of posts which can aid religious dialogue: Please Share Thyself : Christians : Share your beliefs Philosophers: Share positions you tend towards Atheists: Share your type of Atheism Without knowing each others positions, a dialogue … Continue reading
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Filed under Religion, Religious Dialogue
A Child’s Toilet Epiphany
My first memorable “mystical experience” was on the toilet. I was very young and it was an ordinary day. I don’t remember being in anything but a normal mood. I was in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet doing the … Continue reading
Happy 2010 !
Yesterday a friend (and commenter) snapped an I-phone shot of me while we were sledding with our fantastic kids. What amazing fun sledding is ! And ahhhhh, the privilege of regaining raw, fresh experiential joy with children. I thought putting … Continue reading
