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The best way to write a bestseller is to have a compelling, action-packed narrative. In the Christian market it seems the best route to take is to buck accepted wisdom, to tell everyone that what they thought was a good idea really isn’t and that what we should do is overhaul our lives. This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, nor is it particularly wrong in itself to call to attention traditional practices of Christians that legitimately do need to be changed. Martin Luther was arguable one of the first christian bestsellers, and for a good reason. His books were lengthy and detailed. Luther wanted to convince his readers of the truthfulness of his position. ...

Most testimonies I’ve heard or read (including mine to a large degree) are rather dry and uninviting. They contain little more than a historical account of someone’s life. Rarely do we come across a testimony whose author manages to invite us into their journey and share with us the experience of their internal turmoil which ultimately led to their conversion. Holly Ordway manages to do just that. Throughout her book, Not God’s Type, A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith, Holly provides us with a clear and well reasoned account of the events and relevant facts which led to her conversion. Holly also manages to give us a glimpse into her personal spiritual development by interludes which function as sort of a flash-forward from the main storyline. ...

Everyone wants to live in a perfect world. That’s not a really surprising statement. What separates us, however, is whether we think a perfect world is attainable given the current state of affairs and whether we think it is possible to bring about a perfect world. How we answer these crucial questions is what defines our political outlook. Big government advocates, for instance, think a perfect world is obtainable through the right policies. In the past these policies were based purely on theory (a la Karl Marx) but in more recent times these policies are being based on statistical averages. Modern proponents of big government are fond of making the case based on scientific research and strong appeals to game theory as a solution to the tragedy of the commons. In short, a perfect world is possible if we limit the non-optimal decisions of others. ...

Last week my daughter graduated kindergarten. My wife and I decided to send her to public school figuring “what’s the worst she could pick up at such a young age?”. Apparently we were a tad naive. Here are some of the things my daughter learned this year in her kindergarten class: Green ideology My daughter learned that it’s wrong for us to cut down trees for any reason. While talking with my wife about whether we should obey God or man my daughter made the observation “If a polieceman tells us to cut down a tree, we will have to disobey him?” To which my wife responded by reminding our daughter that God had given us dominion over nature and that cutting down a tree is not morally wrong if we own the tree and have a use for it. ...

My daughter came home from school the other week and while talking with my wife about her day she mentioned that one of the boys in her class told them that God doesn’t exist. As much as I wanted to lay out for her the intricacies of the cosmological argument, the moral argument, the teleological argument, the historical argument, and a whole range of other evidence that points to the existence of God, I knew that my 5 year old, brilliant as she is, would not be able to comprehend them. ...

Easter Sunday I participated in a lively discussion with a group of atheists on the topic of the resurrection. It was all kicked off by a friend who posted “Happy Zombie Jesus Day!” And while the exchange with the non-Christians on the thread went pretty well, I was dumbfounded when the following was posted: Dan can not prove the absence of God any more than believers can absolutely prove the existence of God. This is why it is called Faith (or lack of). So at the end of the day we should either celebrate either the second coming or the Easter Bunny bringing candy, whichever works for us individually, and move on. My position on the subject is my position, it neither grows stronger or weaker if I get someone else’s input. Actually, someone passionately challenging my position may only serve to strengthen my resolve. So for many Dan may actually be working to further solidify their faith. For others his comments may strike a chord of familiarity. At the end of the day those that believed in the second coming still will and those that think a pink bunny actually brings candy… well, they still will too. So, whatever you celebrate today, enjoy the fact that Winter is over and Summer is around the corner! ...

Here is a snippet from a comment series on a previous post that I thought was worth highlighting: Incest was necessary given the nature of God’s creation of human lineage. And polygamy and concubines run rampant in the Old Testament among those deemed righteous. Incest is not unnatural in the biological sense. One could, and rightly so, argue that it is a very bad idea today given the degree of genetic mutations. However such genetic factors are not a guarantee nor is our present revulsion at the notion a negation of the biological reality of procreation. ...

I received a review copy of The Fight of Our Lives from booksneeze.com and I must say, I was not very impressed. The book’s full title, The Fight of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth & Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam by William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn, provides an ambitious outline for a 149 page book. William and Seth begin with Dr. Nidal Hasan and the Fort Hood massacre on November 5th, 2009 where 13 Americans “plus an unborn child” were slain in a readiness center awaiting deployment. This event is used strategically throughout the book as the authors provide a sort of crime scene investigation of how such a tragedy was made possible. The authors do a superb job of documenting Hasan’s attack and what lead up to it. And their analysis, which provides the foundation for the book, is that the United States has lost focus on the fight against radical Islam brought to our shores most vividly on September 11, 2001. ...

A friend on Facebook pointed out the following in a disussion on a recent post of mine: You point out that there is nothing to stop homosexuals from “drawing up contracts” and calling that a marriage; but their legal position on many issues would be quite different from actually legally married couples - eg inheritance rights, being forced to testify against eachother, tax issues etc. Here’s my response: I would be all for discussing legislation that discusses specific changes like those. In fact, I think a big help in regards to taxes would be the adoption of a flat tax system ( paper here). ...

A friend of a friend posted the following picture on Facebook recently and it elicited a rather rich and lively discussion. The graphic and related articles attempt to convey the absurdity and hypocrisy of states which allow marriage between close cousins (like gypsies) which poses a host of health risks, but disallow same sex marriage which they assume is sterile and safe. ...