Interesting thoughts

Evan has some interesting thoughts about van Inwagen’s modal ontological argument. I plan to comment as soon as I get a second to breathe. Check it out for yourself here and here.

Neurosis of the Holy Spirit

It’s becoming a belief of mine that acceptance of the idea of a Holy Spirit is actually a dangerous notion. I used to just think it was indeterminate, somewhat meaningless, and silly in some of its expressions. However, more and more I think it’s not just silly, but detrimental.

What is (the) Good? – pt 1

This weekend has brought up some interesting discussions about the problem of evil. One of my dearest friends validly, I think, questioned the assumed connection in perfect being philosophy between the all powerful/all good god and its consequent “necessity” to act in all situations so as to avoid impunity. Of course this is where the criticism comes in and the existence of the christian god is denied due to the existence of senseless evil in the world. If the connection is invalid, the “problem” falls flat on its face.

Paul Draper on Divine Hiddenness

On the recommendation of Exapologist I checked out Paul Draper’s essay in “Divine Hiddenness: New Essays.” It wasa very good read in a very promising book. I look forward to reading the other essays and writing a brief review. I chose to read Draper’s essay first and found his agnostic stance to be intriguing.

Remnant Ideology and Majority Constituency

It seems common to many groups of religious and institutionalized theoretical or ideological belief to eventually have a Purist strain. As with most of life accretions, developments and adaptations occur, wanted or unwanted. A similar counterbalance, or antithesis, occurs which attempts to “correct” the developments through either reform or revolution. As an outcome a new state is attained with resemblances to the former state corresponding to the degree of reform or revolt. I believe this Hegelian dialectic of history is representative of much of religious history.

Absent from the body, present with the… Dirt?

Traditionally, Christians believe that once a person dies they are immediately in the presence of Jesus. I have heard some apply the same conclusion to a person in a coma. To a large extent, I think it’s tied to an association between mind and soul. Therefore, if a person is not functional mentally speaking then they must be with Jesus. I mean, “where” else would they be?

Question for God

If you’re really out there and you surf the internet, I have a question. You don’t seem to hear my prayers, so maybe you could comment on a post. Does the fickle and inconsistent love of the majority of your people outweigh the rejection and anger of all those who don’t believe in you, especially the ones who have turned away from you?

Toward an Existential Epistemology

Though William James isn’t regarded as an existentialist, he made an interesting point that can facilitate developing an existential epistemology. He said in “The Will to Believe”

“As a matter of fact we find ourselves believing, we hardly know how or why…Our faith is faith in some one else’s faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.”

When it comes to epistemology, I think James is right. Most of the information we obtain is through secondary sources. There’s a limited amount of first hand analysis that we as humans engage in, and I think necessarily so. One reason is that we are historical beings.

Metaphysical Equivocation

Religious language as found in systematic theologies tends to be full metaphysical equivocation. Certain mystical statements are defined by other mystical statements. Even if we leave alone the critiques of positivism cocnerning linguistic meaningfulness, trying to come up with a meaningful explication of some biblical concepts can be very frustrating. One such phrase is “to be in Christ.” I can’t begin to relate the multitude of different interpretations I heard as well as the blank stares I got when I asked, “Yeah, ok, but what does that (original statement or given interpretation) mean?” One way I sought to get out of this trap was to see such metaphysical phrases and statements as linguistic expressions of social or ethical realities that could ultimately be stated and explained without such language. The difference is similar to that between poetry and prose. At the time I began using this method, I was just beginning to doubt the validity of religious metaphysical propositions. I’m not sure that this approach could be used in any traditional hermeneutic, but I’m going to continue and see what happens as my thoughts develop. To illustrate this methodology I want to look at a couple of texts in St Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches and analyze his statements.

Modern Day Slavery

There is a form of slavery that is still in full swing. It is a form which has been spoken out against quite publicly, written about about quite forcefully, and acted upon quite politically. Yet, it still exists due to partial ignorance of the full force and variety of its practice and due to the willingness of its slaves. What is is this wretched slavery that still exists worldwide? The slavemaster is the male hormone, and the slaves are women. It is a sad shame that so many females are brought up to willingly live in subconcious slavery. Many young girls in Asian cultures do not have a choice, they’re sold into sex rings as little children. Sub-cultures are built up around the male hormone’s enslavement of woman. You should check out Memoirs of a Geisha for an amazing glimpse into the way subcultures try to dignify such horrid realities.