Relativism or Realism? Morality (and God) is the Question.

And according to this witty essay by Paul Manata, most atheists agree. However, there is a minority, who's books pretend to 'destroy religion' who dissent. Let us see how Manata fares with them:

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/hector-avaloss-non-expertise-exposed.html

RP on TIME and Afghanistan

A little perspective is always nice:

COKE goes Organic. Shocker.

Incentives Harry, I tell ya, its incentives:

http://www.nextnature.net/2008/12/i-want-my-organic-coke/

Study like a scholar & UK Decentralizes health Care. What?

 Funny:



This may be old news by now, but I'm on vaca:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/world/europe/25britain.html?_r=3&hp 

HT: Paul Manata

What is Science? That's easy...or not. (Stephen Meyer is helpful)

If you're not sure who Stephen Meyer is, google him. No slouch. That doesn't mean he's right, but at least worth a listen. Truly, for those who adhere to the religion of 'scientism,' aka metaphysical naturalism, there is more than meets the eye. Philosophy of science is a great field, humbling all of those (myself included) who have taken the preconditions of scientific possibility lightly. Good food for thought here:

Moral Relativism on Methodological Naturlaism? (T-blog responds to TID)

As mentioned, the Triablogue boys have recently written an ebook in response to Loftus' newest installment: "The Christian Delusion." I just finished their book, and I commend it to all my readers. You may not want to enter into the atheism vs. theism debate to this extent. Fine, but if the time comes, "The Infidel Delusion" is a pretty hard hitting response to much of the militant new atheism out there. Per philosophical interests, Paul Manata's chapter are a great into to how a theist might respond to a naturalist. You may not agree with everything, but its certainly worth checking out:

Here: http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/infidel-delusion.html

On a related note, Here is Steven Hays responding to the issue of moral relativism:

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/amoral-imperative.html 

I'm interested to hear what you think. If you comment, please keep it civil. 

Ron Paul does Drugs (they came from the atmosphere, then they gave us crack and beer-Killah Priest)

Not really, but he does have some thoughts to share.

The Twitterfied lives of Amer-I-can-s. (cool time lapse vid)

This is how we tweet. NM needs to step up, andale mijos.

Better than UFC: Showdown between Bennie B and Ronnie P (fed-head)

Hashin out the issues on the house floor...blue corner ready, red corner ready...touch gloves...fight!

Healthy B-fast Food (and my buddy Jared's awesome-smart lady on live TV)

NM's own Willow Jarosh goes live in the NYC with nutrition advice:

http://www.wpix.com/videobeta/c05bf97b-d625-4480-92c5-64ebfedf43b8/Entertainment/Healthy-Food-Award

Beautiful People...like me (actually, like my wife)

Interesting thoughts from Mohler:


http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/07/22/the-snare-of-beauty-flashpoints-of-our-obsession-with-attractivenessr/

Apple is Evil? Nah. Facebook for your mom? Huh? (Interesting thoughts from some guy who owns birds)

Read away:


 http://gigaom.com/2010/07/21/fred-wilson-apple-is-evil-and-facebook-is-a-photo-sharing-site/

The Race card as place card (or, why political pragmatism is the end of reason)

The Mav strikes again. Agree or disagree?

http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2010/07/will-liberals-ever-retire-the-race-card.html 

States Rights (how about some nullification?)

Interesting thoughts here from Tom Woods:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/62082.html

Neat pic...naturally Texas is out in front...with NM nowhere to be found. ;)

Analogical Thoughts on the Infidel Delusion (+ Indiana Jones)

Dr. J weighs in on the latest ebook from the Triablogue folks. Like James, I've skimmed through a good bit of it so far. Its good, polemical, quick to wit, and deep by way of argument.

http://proginosko.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/the-infidel-delusion/

It's a hell-a lot of fun to shoot em' (No manhood left)

Wow. That's how we roll mon amieeps. God bless AmerIca, and NO ONE else.

Delusions and Ilusions of Grandure (Theism v. Atheism)

Recently, a book pro-atheism was released called The Christian Delusion. Several friends of mine over at Triablogue have written an e-book in response. Its free and deals with all the best arguments from the atheist perspective. If you're in on this debate, you'll want a copy of the Infidel Delusion to be sure.

Here is the link: http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/infidel-delusion.html

Mars Hill in ABQ (stolen from Z)

This was already posted by a few friends, but no to worry, no one reads this blog. ;) Watch and get stoked. Better yet, get involved.

I'm Back (and Camp was really good)

Last week we took our High School students to Noahsark.com for a week of adventure, great food, and chill. We're back now. Time for some bloggage.

Cleese on Scientism (its good to poke a little fun at both sides)

Thanks, I needed that.

RollingStone overthrows Generals, Twitter dethrones journalists

Pretty amazing story on the power of 'digital opinion-expression in the global market' to make or break a 20 year career. Gotta give her some props for honesty at least.

http://gigaom.com/2010/07/08/twitter-forces-media-to-confront-the-myth-of-objectivity/

Sort of reminds me of this:

I believe everything Glenn Beck has ever said. (bien colgado, tio)

Yea right! But he had RP on his show, they talked some big stuff, about big money (a conglomerate of all our little money), global markets, and G7-IMF-WorldBank sized 'what-ifs.' So I'm posting it. As usual, don't be led astray. Do some research, but at least think about it. In many senses, the we have a high degree of plausibility and a pretty intuitive argument.

Bombs of Benevolence (has Congress declared war?)

Rp is on point, as usual. 5 minutes of you're life you'll never want back: love his age, his glasses, his twang, his OB skillz, and his boldness. ;)

Stetzer on MIssion (He's at our church on the 18th)

This guy brings some bold and loving words to the viewers of TBN. Nice work. Come over and check him out at DSC on Sunday the 18th if you'd like to.


Ed Stetzer on TBN from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

New Hymns (thanks to Z & JT)

Here we have a great mix of orthodoxy and creativity. This is the sort of non-copy-cat work the church should be doing. I bet this would make John Frame proud: various aesthetic perspectives in tension giving glory to God.


Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

PS, you need this book:

UFC 117 (Sonnen sounds pretty confident)

We'll see...sad that I have to wait a month, but it should take me about that long to get over the heartbreak of 116. Don't cry for me Carwin-tina.

Obama's War? It depends on which sense to the referent. (Rp = clarity)

B.O. did not start this war, but he has supported it, is supporting it, and looks to support it in the future. Its his war now.

UFC 116: my heart still hurts

Man, Carwin, whew...There are a ton of opinions flying around the net today, but IMO it was a great fight. I DO think that in any other circumstance the ref would have called in round 1. Alas, they let it ride, Carwin gassed, and well, watch and find out.

Government intervention is 'awesome' says Cornell Law Proff (not)

I love Jacobson. He's witty AND educated. A rare breed, indeed.

Enjoy the link, you will ;).

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/07/cash-for-clunkers-rear-ends-rhode.html

Here's the Phone

I decided on this bad boy. Yes, I did wait in line with other nerds at radio shack for the pre-order. No shame.

http://www.samsungmobileusa.com/GalaxyS/Default.aspx?cid=ppc_gxy_goo_Galaxy+S_General_galaxy+s

Burpin' up the Bills (daddy like humor)

Worth a good laugh, and some SERIOUS introspection.

Types of Libertarian? (in light of a recent comment)

This pic does NOT say it all, but it says much. One's overall worldview (metaphysic, epistemological stance, and ethical assumptions) will decide what is meant by freedom and its political outworking. Certain principals are shared, like consequence, and a limited state, and the private sector, but on nuanced issues there is much divergence.

Cost of a cause (Feminism vs. life)

This is chilling, but I appreciate the honesty.

http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/07/01/when-feminism-kills-abortion-as-the-lesser-evil/

This paragraph (and analysis) is telling.

“As ever, when an issue we thought was black and white becomes more nuanced, the answer lies in choosing the lesser evil,” she assures. “The nearly 200,000 aborted babies in the UK each year are the lesser evil, no matter how you define life, or death, for that matter. If you are willing to die for a cause, you must be prepared to kill for it, too.”

You must be prepared to kill for the sake of defending abortion rights? That is exactly what abortion entails — the killing of an unborn child for the sake of asserting a woman’s so-called “right to choose.”

Mustache Fiesta and Forgotten (cool shirts too)

Just an FYI that the forgotten foundation is helping to sponsor the 6th annual mustache party, honoring Toddy T-Bones, at the Atomic Cantina on July 17th. Put this in the book and plan to stop by for some fun, good music, and information on how to make an impact in lives of the Karen people in Thailand.

Link here: http://www.forgottenfoundation.com/events/