hell’s handmaiden

Strange that living with a child would shed light on a bit of anthropology; that of the origin of religion. Of course, the idea is nothing new. Intellectually, I had this worked out more than a decade ago. I can’t even take credit. My humble insight has been oft repeated. But the emotion…. the emotion behind it. That is new, and that is fuel for this fire.

But let me back up a bit.

For most of my life I have been childless– childlike, but childless. This was acceptable to me. Never thought much about it really. That changed awhile back and now, I am living with me a ten year old.

“To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible — and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a pope from Germany,” he said.CNN.com - Auschwitz visit ‘difficult and troubling’ for pope - May 28, 2006

I imagine it ought to have also been “particularly difficult and troubling” for a man who had worn a Hitler Youth uniform and fought for Germany during the WWII.

So those of you who like to poke fun at people for being different, look-ie here. I’m not different than you. I’m just the same as you, no matter who you are– just, you know, tweak the numbers a bit.

This little quiz is particularly interesting in that it describes me very much like I describe me– fiscally conservative but socially liberal. I know that the “Social Issues” line is balanced but look at that “Ethics” score!

Same rules as before and before before.

Hi Mike,

I think you misunderstood my point about other religions also having texts, traditions and anecdote dating back thousands of years. You presented these things as evidence for the Christian faith. I pointed out that they also serve as evidence for all of your major faiths, at least. Evidence that points to multiple conclusions equally isn’t really evidence for any one of those conclusions. At best you’ve got “Christianity, of Hinduism, of Buddhism, or …” It is a point of elementary logic. Even if you are right that “several arguments … point towards a high probability of Gods existence” you’ve got to sort among the options. You’ve got to ask, “Which God?”, in other words.

I just saw a Vietnam Veteran, on the TV news, arguing that whether or not we should be in Iraq is irrelevant. What is relevant, he claims, is that our Commander in Chief sent us to Iraq and that Congress and the American people backed him on it.