If you have to ban somebody over religious differences, it is probably a good idea to wait until the debate about what constitutes a bad religion is over. When you argue that religion provides a special path to the truth, you are not helping yourself by prohibiting your rhetorical opponent’s speech. You see, people who ...
I play soccer on occasion during the lunch hour at my university. One of the other players (probably the best player) is an Iranian-American, “H”, who is also Muslim (he’s in IT). He asked me what I teach and when I told him Sociology of Religion, he became very interested. He said his favorite topic ...
What is the probability of any one exclusive religion being the correct one (“exclusive” means: claims to be the only true one)? This question popped into my head the other day and made me think that you could theoretically calculate that probability using the following formula: n-(n-1)/(n+1) or 1/(n+1) Where “n” is the total number ...
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The popularity of the Sarah Palins among the Republican base explains a lot about America. I have never been to Alaska but Palin reminds me of my friends and neighbors in rural Nevada. Her attitudes about sex education, evolution, and library books are fairly typical in broad swaths of the American population. Palin conducts politics ...
I’ve been debating my brother about some issues surrounding same-sex marriage on my blog (no link; still trying to remain anonymous). In the course of that debate, a few ideas popped up that I think people here might enjoy. This is a good one having to do with religions changing. My brother insists that religions ...
I caught this post on the eSkeptic newsletter by a logician arguing that you can prove a negative based on induction (great reading for anyone interested). As that is the case, here are a few negatives I’m ready to prove: Modern Horses in America: 1. If horses had existed in the Americas prior to the ...
In case you missed it, the BYU newspaper came out with an editorial on the word change in the BofM. The logic employed in this editorial is a brilliant representation of the flawed logic that I usually see in apologetics (though there are a few regular commenters on here who seem to do better than ...
A recent discussion on a post mormon discussion board touched on the question of the possibility, or likely impossibly of steel swords in the new world in Book of Mormon times. The question was brought up “Is this a ‘gotcha’ in the mormon debate?” I responded that is was not, because mormon apologists, or mopologists, ...
Mark Brown would probably like George Orwell’s aphorism: “To see what is in front of our nose requires a constant struggle.” In the wake of Harry Reid’s speech at BYU, ‘naclers have been struggling with the role of politics in our religion. Views: 760 ...
I caught this Daily Herald summary of General Conference and one point stood out to me: Apparently Richard G. Scott is of the opinion that the “spirit” can reveal “absolute truths.” Here’s the quote from the news report: Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed methods for discovering truth, including ...
Robert Kirby, everyone’s favorite Jack-Mormon writer for the SLTrib, wrote an intriguing column this morning. This got me to thinking about the claims of obedience to the prophet and I had to respond (I post under the name SofP). Here’s my response: Views: 814 ...
A friend mentioned to me recently that he is no longer cruising since he can admit to himself that he is gay. I am sharing that because my friend’s case illustrates the benefits of a rational and open approach to sexuality. Views: 777 ...