Gay Marriage & Free Speech ::: An Atheist’s Perspective
I’ve begun to stop by Atheist Revolution every now and then to get an Atheist’s perspective on current events. The Atheist community has a vital blog presence. I took this excerpt from Proposition 8: Religion and Homophobia on Atheist Revolution. [i’ve edited certain words]
Anyone wanting to deny the role of religion in passing Proposition 8 only needs to look at the affiliations of those who funded the measure. The religious influence is undeniable here. As for the homophobia, well what else do we call someone wanting to deny the same rights the rest of us have to a group of people solely on the basis of their sexual orientation? Religious delusion plus fear equals…well…it means that some really nasty s#%! is about to happen.
I have one question for the fearful Christian extremists and their supporters – who’s next? I can only assume that ending atheists’ right to marry is on your list somewhere.
Gay marriage is a civil rights issue, and it is not going to go away. I was skeptical that I’d see an African American president in my lifetime, but I’m fairly confident that I will see gay marriage.
In another post entitled, Free Speech Under Assault at Texas Community College he reports that an atheist at Temple College in Texas was asked to take down a sign on his door that had the quote, “Gott ist tott” [God is dead] from Nietzsche. Here is an excerpt.
Was it appropriate for Laird to place a cartoon containing the word “f*#!” on his office door? Probably not. I wouldn’t have done it. It is harder to make an argument that a word commonly considered profane falls under academic freedom, although I suspect such an argument could be made. After all, Laird’s students and colleagues are adults.
But the Nietzsche quote, in German or English, strikes me as very different. It has literary value and overwhelming cultural familiarity in that nearly everyone will have heard it. To say that a college professor may not use a quote that can be found in any book of great quotations is absurd. … I think there just might be a new addition to my office door tomorrow.
—————————–HT: Atheist Revolution—————————–
Audio from The God Debates now Available :::: Wilson & Hitchens
Ok … so I realized I’ve already posted on the Doug Wilson vs. Hitchens debates, but I found a video that’s you-tubable, and a link to the audio.
For the audio, go here and scroll down the media list.
————————————-HT: In The News———————————–
———————————–HT: BLOG and MABLOG————————————
More Anti-Calvinism Rhetoric: iMonk Responds
Ok … so I stumbled upon this quotation in a roundabout way while I was on the Thinklings blog. It’s the iMonk’s response to the John 3:16 conference. It’s important because I don’t think the iMonk is a Calvinist, so to hear him address the issues this way was enlightening and encouraging. Here’s the excerpt.
Really, this is silly. Just silly. Calvinists in the SBC are doing far more good than harm, and the truth is that the fundamentalists need someone to blame for the fact that Jerry Falwell-style Evangelicalism is falling apart. One live-blogger said that 90% of the audience was middle-aged and over. That’s your problem old white guys: younger SBCers aren’t even listening to you anymore. You are talking to yourselves.
—————————–HT: The Thinklings—————————-
James White’s Comical Response to Dr. David Allen
James White fired back from London after snipes from Georgia initiated hostilities. Here is an excerpt from his response:
Isn’t it ironic? I am in London, England, preparing to do public debates with Islamic apologists, seeking to present and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Lordship, and the Arminians are all gathered at Johnny Hunt’s church to try to convince folks not to listen to the Calvinists. Don’t you find something just a bit ironic in that? I’m out on the front lines pressing the claims of Christ and calling Muslims to bow to His lordship while those who will falsely accuse me of being a “hyper-Calvinist” are safely ensconced in the friendly environs of Georgia, sniping at Reformed folks—who, of course, were not invited to participate, debate, or discuss. … If you can evangelize, call men to Christ, believe in common grace, etc., and still end up smeared by the “hyper” name, then clearly the debate has devolved down to a level beneath what is proper for believers. … I did notice with some sadness that, as usual, the main thrust of the presentation was not biblical at all. And this will always remain the difference between the Reformed and those who cling to man’s sovereignty.
——————-HT: Alpha and Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog———————
David Platt the Next John Piper?
Whenever people talk about David Platt’s messages, their eyes light up, their head shakes, and they speak using extremities of language. As they recommend for other people to listen to him, they make no suggestions. They make only imperatives. “You have to listen to him. … I’m not kidding. You have to.”
If you don’t listen to David Platt, your skin will rot and your eyeballs will fall out of their sockets. You will be cursed forever. That’s what they say.
Could David Platt be the next John Piper?
———————————HT: Brook Hills———————————
Your Church is Too Small: Missional Ecumenism in the New Millennium
John H. Armstrong just released news that Zondervan has agreed to publish his book Your Church is Too Small, a book he wrote before ever seeking publication. He said he wrote the book before making a deal for publication so that he would not have any pressure to conform its content to the pressure of a publisher. He is writing on a controversial topic among evangelicals. Here is an excerpt from his post on the book.
The thesis of the book is that we need a new reformation rooted in what I call missional-ecumenism. This “new” ecumenism would unite us spiritually and relationally in fresh and personal ways that could well become an instrument of God to spread the message of Christ’s kingdom far and wide. All of this is developed in a narrative that tells my own story and interacts warmly with a number of people and events over the last twenty years or so. (The next to last chapter is filled with stories of people and churches that have followed the thesis I present in the book.) The reading level ofYour Church Is Too Small is not academic and what academic arguments are made in the book are simply defined and clearly written. My target audience is not professors and scholars butministers and church leaders of all backgrounds. The book targets evangelical Protestants directly but it will be read with much joy by many Roman Catholics who share the same vision. There is not a shred of anti-Catholicism in the book. I also interact with the Orthodox very respectfully and with profound appreciation, even using doctrinal ideas from the East to make several important points about the Trinity and the divine energies.
——————————-HT: John H Armstrong———————————
More Anti-Calvinism Rhetoric: John 3:16 Conference
Timmy Brister has blogged about the John 3:16 conference. He’s got all the highlights of the anti-Calvinism rhetoric listed on his blog.
Here is an excerpt from one of his lists:
4. The purpose of this conference was intended to be a “majoritarian response to the ‘Building Bridges’ and ‘Together for the Gospel’ conferences” (according to Lemke).
5. If there ever was a place and time that Southern Baptists would have discovered a counter-resurgence of non-Calvinists among younger Southern Baptists, this conference would have been it. However, live-blogging revealed that it was more comparable to the SBC Annual Meeting than Together for the Gospel. In other words, Vines and Co. are without generational succession.
—————————-HT: Provocations and Paintings———————————-
UPDATE: Timmy did not attend the conference as I had posted earlier. Rather, some friends of his did, and they sent him info via internet as they were there (see John Mark correct me in the comments thread).
T h e o • p h i l o g u e 