The Pokey Finger of God

At first, I could never understand the True Believers.
My first encounters with them was in Christian churches. My own, initially pedantic, attempts at Bible study repeatedly failed to illuminate the motivations or goals of True Believers. I could never understand just what was so exciting in the faith as I had ever seen it practiced.
Atheists [...]

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Two famous biographies are here summarized to make a point about a significant problem in the art of archaeology. The question is whether one can even determine if the character of some ancient story actually lived when all you have are the written records that tell the story.
My first subject has defined an entire school [...]

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Have you lost your capacity for linear thinking or analytical reasoning?
As part of a bit of pleasant wiki-surfing this morning, I paused to consider the idea of ‘post-Christian‘. I’ve heard a couple of people use this term recently and it’s made me curious about what other people think it means.This lead me, through a related [...]

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One of the greatest revelations I had during my intense periods of religious study centered on the use of a single word: Christian.
Much of my early exploration was propelled by my insistence that I was not, and would not be, a Christian. Now that I’ve come around to the far side of that journey, I [...]

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Vatican’s 10 Commandments for Drivers
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican on Tuesday issued a set of “Ten Commandments” for drivers, telling motorists not to kill, not to drink and drive, and to help fellow travelers in case of accidents.
An unusual document from the Vatican’s office for migrants and itinerant people also warned that cars can [...]

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As part of my travel kit, I loaded a number of free text documents to my PDA. I’ve learned to really enjoy reading in this format.
One of the books I’m reading now is “A Short History of the Baptists”, by Henry Vedder, which turns out to be a remarkable overview of Christian history - from [...]

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Supreme Court Preserves ‘God’ in Pledge
The Supremes weaseled out of making an official declaration on the Newdow pledge case, however, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist agreed with the outcome of the case, but still wrote separately to say that the Pledge as recited by schoolchildren does not violate the Constitution. Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and [...]

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Claiming to be “the Christian Voice in the Nation’s Capital,” the [Apostolic Congress] members vociferously oppose the idea of a Palestinian state. They fear an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just that, and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and Solomon’s [...]

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Recently, the San Marcos school district announced their intention to begin drug testing for all students participating in extracurricular activities. The stated purpose was to force kids to choose between drugs and sports (or chess club, choir, or whatever). The coach of the football team, who was the one who initiated the new plan, said [...]

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I’ve been having an interesting exchange of letters with a cousin I lost touch with twenty years ago. She was Catholic last time I saw her, seems she’s discovered paganism over the last five years. I ended up writing a summary history of Christianity, and realized when I was done that it was the most [...]

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