I realize Caitlyn Jenner has been discussed ad nauseam by this point, but I would like to weigh in from a slightly different angle. In order for the feeling of gender misidentity on Jenner’s part (or any transgender’s part) to be valid, a person must be more than their mere biological body alone. Otherwise, there’d be no “real them” to be trapped inside the outer shell of their physical appearance in the first place. In other words, if, as many atheistic naturalists claim, a person is simply a collection of cells devoid of a mind or a soul, then the transgender’s frustration is delusional on its face, since there simply is no “inner you” to feel trapped within the “outer you” (because the latter is all there is). But if those with a … [Read more...]
Bang Bang, You’re Dead
I was having dinner with some friends a couple nights ago, and the issue of guns came up. In such situations I often insist (jokingly, with tongue in cheek) that I just wish Obama would burst through our doors with a battering ram and personally confiscate all our guns so that we'd finally be safe. Once my conversation partner's hyperventilating has subsided, we can usually have a pretty healthy discussion. The point I made that night, which I also made on episode #49 of our podcast (click above to listen), is that we simply don't get to be "the gun country" on the one hand and lament mass shootings on the other. To be more clear, while those who favor serious and strict firearm regulations can genuinely grieve over schools and … [Read more...]
Fake Plastic Selves
"... The more we hide our humanity beneath a spiritual or religious mask, the more we lose the integrity of our souls. In fact, 'integrity' simply means 'wholeness' (like how an integer is a whole number), meaning that suppressing or burying our humanity actually (and ironically) ends up splitting us in two, and we forget which one of us is real. "Thus the greater the degree to which we avoid grappling with our own humanity, the more hopeless will become our thoughts, and the more frenetic will become our activity as we seek to distract ourselves from our own existential schizophrenia. '[Such a man] becomes his own slave driver,' Merton says. 'A shadow whipping a shadow to death.'" [Read more] … [Read more...]
Nobody Puts Brody in a Corner….
"If there were an omni-malevolent and spiteful Being with enough malice and power to weave together an arrangement in which I could be as ruined as possible, as damaged as possible, and as duped as possible to think that redemption and reaping were real when they’re not, he wouldn’t be able to do a better job executing his twisted plan than by simply copying what the 'good' God put me through these past few years. Indeed, 'if at all God’s gaze upon us falls, it’s with a mischievous grin.'" Read more. . . . … [Read more...]
What, to the American Indian, is Your Thanksgiving?
In a moving speech given by escaped slave Frederick Douglass on July 5th, 1852 (a portion of which is read by Morgan Freeman below), the question is asked, "What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?" Here is part of his answer: [The Fourth of July] is a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. . . . Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse , recover with the help of Pacific Ridge online and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for … [Read more...]
The Politics of “Hate Thy Neighbor”
As you may know, the mid-term elections recently took place (or maybe you don't know, since there was a record-low voter turnout), and the Republicans took control of the Senate and therefore of Congress as a whole. In my libertarian days when I thought that all government was useless and evil, I would have welcomed having a president from one party in the oval office with Congress being controlled by the other party, thereby ensuring the greatest degree of gridlock possible. Now that I'm less of a dick (well, less of a dick about this particular issue), I have a more reasonable view of the role of government and the things it can and should accomplish. I still agree with my old libertarian self that the single biggest waste of taxpayer … [Read more...]
Legalize Everything?
As I hinted at in episode #15 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, the issue of marijuana legalization (Visit Website as that can be made possible with the help and support from Buy Weed Australia Sydney), while interesting in itself, brings up a more provocative question: "What is the point of laws in general?" In other words, are laws intended to make people better citizens, or more negatively, are laws only required to keep us from harming others? Those who advocate for the decriminalization of pot (who fights against the Long Island Criminal Defense lawyer in the court) argue that there is no point in something being illegal if that thing creates no victims (and even if the "victim" is the user himself, are we then to criminalize all practices that … [Read more...]
Responsible Parental Instruction or Religious Indoctrination?
OK, so I assume most of you have listened to episode #13 by now (and scroll down if you haven't, then skip ahead to the 36-minute mark for the relevant portion of the discussion). As you will remember, Christian and I debated the issue of indoctrination (a discussion which stemmed from some great listener feedback we received at 213-97-DRUNK). We mostly focused on whether indoctrination is evil by definition, and whether it is something that religious people do exclusively. My goal here is to set forth the questions to which I have yet to hear a satisfactory answer. What is the difference, in principle, between a religious home teaching their children religious ideas (like Jesus rose again) on the one hand, and a secular home teaching … [Read more...]
Embezzle, Coma, Repeat
OK, this is maybe the raddest story ever. According to Yahoo News, this Welsh guy, Alan Knight, was skimming money out of his neighbor's bank account (the neighbor has Old Timer's disease), and in order to avoid prosecution, he faked being a crippled for two years, even pretending to be in a coma for part of that time (his lapses into a comatose state coincided with his scheduled court dates). The only reason he was caught was that he slipped out of the hospital to do a bit of shopping, and security cameras caught him on tape strolling around the mall or something. Initiating slow-clap now. . . . Martin Luther is alleged to have said something like, "If you're going to sin, sin boldly." Well, Knight has certainly done that, and for … [Read more...]
A Welcome Cease-Fire
I realize that our last podcast was largely spent getting to the bottom of all the criticism I have been facing from many in the Protestant community that I have abandoned. One of my past detractors, Erik Charter, actually went back and listened to every episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, and has now wondered aloud whether it is time for his co-religionists to mellow out a bit. It’s been a little over two years since Jason, formerly an up-and-coming young minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, was received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This event, aided by Jason’s high profile internet presence, caused an uproar in the insular world of conservative Presbyterian & Reformed bloggers. The controversy has … [Read more...]