Outshine The Sun: Robert Barron

As usual, though, Barron's argument is an almost complete non-sequitur: yes, people set a high value on individual life (often inappropriately), but no, this isn't anything to do with our ability to handle abstractions; quite the reverse in fact.

Monday, 12 October 2015

Estranged Notions: The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion

Today's post:

The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion

Barron has literally nothing to say about the supposed topic of this article; all he can manage is to repeat the vacuous talking points (“look at all these (historical) scientists who were religious!”, “it's no accident that science appeared in Christian Europe!”, etc.) that we've seen before.

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Estranged Notions: Why Your Life Does Not Belong to You

Yesterday's post:

Why Your Life Does Not Belong to You

The most obvious issue with this post is that it makes no attempt whatsoever to actually answer the question implied by the title.

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Estranged Notions: The Mystery of God (Sample + DVD Giveaway!)

Nothing here today except a plug for Barron's theological lesson stuff (with bonus nonsense from Horn). Link omitted because who cares?

Friday, 11 September 2015

Estranged Notions: Mother Nature is One Unreliable Lady

Today's post:

Mother Nature is One Unreliable Lady

Now newly endowed with a fancier hat, Barron takes a dim view of nature-worship, rightly agreeing with the statement that nature really doesn't care about humans. But inevitably he takes this in the wrong direction, revealing the deep root of Christian anti-environmentalism: the belief that one can worship a powerful creator-god that does care about humans, that created nature for humans.

Of course not all Christian denominations develop this explicitly into an anti-environmental position; but even those that emphasize ‘stewardship’ theology still, at bottom, retain the dangerous belief that nature is for us, rather than that it simply is the environment that we happen to have evolved in. If we modify the environment beyond our own ability to survive, there will be nobody to blame but ourselves, and more importantly, there will be nobody else to appeal to to fix it.

Saturday, 1 August 2015

Estranged Notions: The Death of God and the Loss of Human Dignity

I will not even dignify this post with a link; it is just another turd in the ongoing baseless smear campaign against Planned Parenthood.

Friday, 10 July 2015

Estranged Notions: Love, Tolerance, and the Making of Distinctions

Today's post:

Love, Tolerance, and the Making of Distinctions

Monday, 11 May 2015

Estranged Notions: “The Avengers” and Friedrich Nietzsche

Today's post:

“The Avengers” and Friedrich Nietzsche

Blah blah Nietzsche blah blah Ubermenschen blah blah Nazis blah blah.

Monday, 9 February 2015

Estranged Notions: Stephen Fry, Job, and the Cross of Jesus

Today's post, in which Barron provides a lame non-response to Stephen Fry's recent popular video clip on the subject of God:

Stephen Fry, Job, and the Cross of Jesus

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Estranged Notions: Why Having a Heart of Gold is Not What Christianity is About

Today's post:

Why Having a Heart of Gold is Not What Christianity is About

So apparently Christianity isn't about ethics but rather “the explosive emergence of a new world”. 2000 years on, and the same old world is turning just as it always did. Isn't this argument starting to wear a bit thin?