From an article on the Politico website that was published on 26 November 2012: The Associated Press has nixed “homophobia,” “ethnic cleansing,” and a number of other terms from its Style Book in recent months. The online Style Book now says that “-phobia,” “an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness” should not […]
Archives for November 2012
Does good need evil to exist?
“Nothing can exist without its opposite,” goes a popular refrain. The characters above are posing the problem of the definition of evil. What is evil? Is evil something or is it the lack of something? All too many people hold a dualist view of the universe, what would have been considered a Manichean view centuries […]
Thanksgiving – 2012
He who made us and fashioned us, having prepared His bountiful gifts for us before we were born, introduced us into His world. Since, therefore, we receive all these things from Him, we ought for everything to give Him thanks; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. — 1 Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians […]
A tongue-in-cheek proof of the existence of God
The post above struck my funny bone. Yes, I know that it is a bit of an exaggeration of quantum theory (okay maybe more than a bit of an exaggeration). It is somewhat of a variation on the teleological argument for God, which has a long long history. In Judeo-Christian thought, one can find verses […]
Occam’s Razor and opposing anti-razors
I have been talking about Occam’s Razor, the philosophical principle that helps people choose what is the right explanation for a series of events or a series of experiments. Yesterday I commented that the basic principle is that, “simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones.” Many conspiracy theories can generally […]
Occam’s Razor and dispensationalism
The day before yesterday I commented on Occam’s razor. The basic principle is that, “simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones.” I also commented that many conspiracy theories fail that test. I should comment that there is usually no easy way to disprove a conspiracy theory, most of the […]
Occam’s razor and conspiracy theories
What is Occam’s Razor? It is probably the single most accepted piece of guidance on how to decide what is the best explanation for something, which proof is the most accurate. There are various ways to explain the principle. Perhaps one of the most common non-philosopher ways to say it is that, “other things being […]
So, the Nativity Fast begins today. Uhm, what does that mean for me?
Today is the beginning of the Nativity Fast. Whenever any fasting period begins I get the inevitable question. What are the fasting rules? So, rather than giving you my opinion, let me cut and paste directly from the website of the Antiochian jurisdiction. I trust this will help you during this coming fasting season. The […]
OCA elects new Metropolitan 2012
PARMA, OH [OCA] His Eminence, Archbishop Tikhon, Archbishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, was elected Primate of the Orthodox Church in America during the 17th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America at Holy Trinity Church here Tuesday, November 13, 2012. To all the Orthodox who are members of the OCA, let me express […]
Metropolitan Hilarion of Russia visits Nashotah House (Episcopal seminary)
Recently Metropolitan Hilarion of Russia visited Nashotah House, the Anglo-Catholic seminary of The Episcopal Church. Below is the news report from the Patriarchate of Moscow. The photograph above is of Metropolitan Hilarion receiving a cope as a gift from Nashotah House. ============= On October 25-26, 2012, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s […]
