The Hypocritical Question: “Why does God allow evil?”

Many have ventured to ask why God allows evil and suffering.  I’m sure the discussion of this question could range through several chapters in a book on the topic, but my concern at the moment is simply the hypocrisy that it represents for most who ask it.  Here’s what I mean:

When bad things happen, many people’s default expectations are revealed: they tend to expect that God should prevent evil from harming anyone.  So when bad things happen, it naturally raises the question of why God is not performing as expected.  While some may dare to shake a fist at God, others hesitate to charge him openly with wrongdoing, yet their question remains unanswered and they can find no reason that God does not meet their expectations in protecting the world from evil.  Thus does this persistent question amount to a soft challenge to his sovereignty.  He could do it, they reason, therefore he should do it.  So why doesn‘t he do it? Continue reading

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If Self Correction Were Ubiquitous

One of my fundamental paradigms is the idea that we all ought to correct ourselves when we see that we are in the wrong.  I believe that we have a rightful duty for such, and that our fundamental downfall as a species is that we generally fail to do so in some areas.

Interestingly, though, we all find that some self correction is quite worth the effort.  To give a humorous example, imagine Billy frantically in search of a bathroom.  “Ah, there it is!” he thinks to himself, as he spots a closed door down the hallway.  But he is mistaken; it is a linen closet.  Even though Billy is disappointed and aggravated to discover that he has been wrong, we see him continue to search for which room really is the bathroom.  And for this, we can all thank Billy later. Continue reading

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Dysrationalia: God is leading the United States

Many claim that the United States is a “Christian nation”, that God is somehow “leading” us, that when we get bad presidents, that is God “giving us what we deserve”, and so forth.

Here’s an example of a similar notion, posted this week on Facebook.

Original Poster (OP):  Do not let the affairs of men and their corrupt and wicked practices cause you to lose faith in the God of our nation or Old Glory. Stay true to the noble principles of Holy Scripture and the ideals of the American way. May God Save America! Continue reading
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The Gold Bar Metaphor

See this gold bar?

Chances are, you’ve never seen one laying on a neighbor’s lawn.  Likewise, I’d say that chances are pretty good that if you had one, you wouldn’t keep it out our your lawn, either.

And why not? Continue reading

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Am I Too Focused on the “Mind”?

In a recent conversation on a religious forum, a participant expressed his opinion that I’m too focused on the mind and on facts, and not enough on other factors.  Here’s my reply.

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In your summation, you wrote (emphasis added):

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength. Your writings suggest that you have the mind part down. Your passion suggests that you do understand the heart, soul and strength part at some level. Your words, however, indicate that your experiences with the irrationality of this world have you focused on facts. Continue reading

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Understanding the Current Secession Mania

I must admit that I find this entire topic to be insufferably tiring from the very beginning.  Not tiring in the sense that it is boring, but in the sense that most people involved in the discussion are so ill-informed that it becomes exhausting even thinking about how to straighten them out.  As with so many other topics, this one probably deserves a book of its own.  Having no time for such, however, it seems at least worthwhile to me to write a very brief post about what’s going on.  If for no other reason, I can send my Facebook friends a link to this article when they post stories about secession. Continue reading

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Deep Thoughts About Bathroom Hygiene

As I aspire to be a deep and rational tinker, willing to call into question even the most deeply entrenched tenets of common human wisdom, I find that my thoughts are not always limited to the more traditional topics of public discussion.  No, this post is not about politics nor religion nor even the psychology of rational thinking (OK, maybe it’s going to turn out to have something to do with that, after all, as most of my posts do–but let’s pretend I hadn’t brought that up so as not to derail my introduction.) Continue reading

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Dysrationalia: “I don’t know any moochers”

In response to a recent article of mine entitled Entitlement Is Unnatural, a friend of a friend on Facebook decided to take exception there.  Not knowing much about this person’s take on the world, I attempted to patiently walk her through the issues.  At length, this conversation would reveal quite a dysrationalic streak in her thinking.

The conversation follows below with her name changed so as not to be patently embarrassing. Continue reading

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Unworthy of Upworthy?

It appears that I might just be unworthy of the website, Upworthy.com.  Having never heard of it before, my interest was piqued when I read this description on a friend’s Facebook post:

Continue reading

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“Not Yours to Give” by David Crocket

NOTE:  The following piece is in the public domain, so I host it here without hesitation as one of the most poignant and powerful witnesses against the injustice of providing charity (whether personal or corporate) from the public treasury.  WARNING: This piece might not be historically accurate, so I make no claims as to its historicity.  The reason I post it here is because of the validity and efficiency with which it makes the argument against lawless charity.  Please do not assume the purported facts of the piece to be true, but focus on the principles it extols.  Further, I hope my readers will resist the temptation to think that I believe that charity is bad.  My objection is to charity given from the public treasury when the charter and/or constitution of the government making such disbursements does not empower it to do so. 

Not Yours to Give

By David Crocket.  Compiled by Edward S. Ellis.

One day in the House of Representatives, a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose: Continue reading

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