Most people have no idea that almost everything in the Old Testament (the stories of Abraham, the captivity in Egypt, Moses, the exodus, David, Solomon, etc.) have almost no evidence to back them up and are best regarded as myths. [Read more…]
The ongoing debate as to whether Jesus was a historical figure or a unified character created later by cobbling together various legends circulating at that time is pretty interesting. But suppose that we grant that such a figure actually lived, and that his life corresponded broadly to the narratives found in the Bible, but do not accept his divinity and the resurrection. It is fairly easy to discount the miraculous elements of his life but the difficult remaining question is what happened to him in the end? [Read more…]
The Boy Scouts of America, long considered a wholesome activity for young boys that taught them useful skills and bred good citizenship, is now under siege. I was never a boy scout myself but if I recall correctly, it had a policy of requiring them do at least one good deed every day and the William stories by Richmal Crompton would have as a recurring comic plot line the mayhem that would ensure when her title character would fall behind in his good deeds and try to get back of schedule by cramming many good deeds into one day. [Read more…]
There has been some excitement because Pat Robertson, of all people, recently told a viewer of his TV show that the Earth is much older than 6,000 years, and that Christians should stop trying to pretend that it is and that everything happened within that time. He says that if parents try to fight ‘revealed’ science (whatever that is) they will lose their children. He even talks about radiocarbon dating and fossils in support of his position! (Via Pharyngula.) [Read more…]
Well, ok, not god exactly but actor Morgan Freeman. If his voice is not the voice of god, then I don’t know what is.
(Via Myles Tanzer.)
Every New Year’s day, god speaks to Pat Robertson and gives him a list of predictions for the coming year. Famously, in 2007 he said that a terrorist attack would cause a mass killing in the US. For some inexplicable reason, god did not give any details that would enable people to foil the attack but no matter since it did not happen. [Read more…]
I wrote recently about Republican Florida senator Marco Rubio hedging an answer to the question on the age of the Earth. [Read more…]
The Church of England has voted at its General Synod to deny women the opportunity to serve as bishops. This was despite a compromise that allowed congregations to request a male bishop if they opposed a woman. This has plunged the church into crisis. There are dire warnings that the Anglican church has seriously harmed itself with this decision by seeming to be outdated and out of touch. [Read more…]