The case we have all watched in horror playing out in the news is over. Clayton Weatherston has been found guilty of murdering Sophie Elliot and his attempt at the partial defence of provocation was rightly shown the contempt it deserved by the court. At MandM we maintained our standard policy of refusing to comment [...]
Entries from July 23rd, 2009
In Defence of the Partial Defence of Provocation
July 23rd, 2009 16 Comments
Tags: Clayton Weatherston · Defences · Due Process · Provocation
Religion and Science: A Response to Ken Perrott’s “Other Ways of Knowing”
July 23rd, 2009 129 Comments
Ken Perrott, at Open Parachute, took issue with some comments I made in my recent defence of Plantinga’s stance on Evolution being taught in state schools. To gain focus let’s look at one thing I said to Ken in the comments section on that post, If the relevant evidence points towards a theory it does [...]
Tags: William Alston
Taking a Break
July 20th, 2009 6 Comments
My grandfather died last night from complications following the flu. We are not in the headspace to post just now, our focus is on family but don’t feel like you have to stop commenting or anything. Back soon
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Sunday Study: Christ on The Prohibition on Homicide Part II
July 19th, 2009 10 Comments
This post is the second in my series on Christ’s exposition of the 6th Commandment, the prohibition on homicide, contained in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5: 21-26. In Sunday Study: Christ on The Prohibition on Homicide Part I, I looked at what The Torah taught about homicide, in this post I will [...]
Tags: Homicide · Sermon on the Mount · Sunday Study
MandM featured on Vote No UPDATE 2
July 18th, 2009 2 Comments
The Vote No blog will be linking to some of our posts as the referendum on the illegality of smacking draws nearer. The first one, published today, was my piece attacking the argument that those accused of child abuse should not be permitted to attempt raising a defence. It is already drawing comments – feel [...]
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Senator Jim Demint on the Proposed Hate Crimes Amendment
July 18th, 2009 16 Comments
Wintery Knight has posted the video below from a debate of Senator Jim Demint speaking on the proposed hate crimes amendment currently before the US Senate. I do not agree with all of the Senator’s arguments; the Senator seems to oppose the idea that some crimes or assaults are worse than others; however, having distinctions [...]
Tags: Hate Crimes
Top 10 NZ Christian Blogs – May 09
July 18th, 2009 7 Comments
The Top 10 New Zealand Christian Blogs for May 09 are as follows: [1.] NZ Conservative 14.5 (7 – 22 ) [3.] MacDoctor Moments 19.5 (22 – 17) [2.] MandM 20 (5 – 35) [4.] Something Should Go Here, Maybe Later (HalfDone) 25.5 (20 – 31) [5.] Keeping Stock 32.5 (29 – 36) [6.] Say [...]
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong on God, Morality and Arbitrariness
July 17th, 2009 21 Comments
Is morality independent of religion? One common argument for this position is that denying it makes God’s commands arbitrary. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues, Let’s assume that God commanded us not to rape. Did God have any reason to command this? If not, his command was arbitrary, and then it can’t make anything morally wrong. On the [...]
Tags: Atheist · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Philosophy of Religion · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong · William Wainwright
Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part II
July 16th, 2009 No Comments
In Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part I, I noted that a defender of the permissibility of feticide, who does not also want to endorse infanticide and who defends the sentience criterion, must “identify a reason for holding that the potential of a human brain is morally relevant after” the fetus acquires [...]
Tags: Abortion · David Boonin · Don Marquis · Ethics and Medicine · Feticide · Sentience
Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part I
July 15th, 2009 No Comments
This two-part series was originally published as: Matthew Flannagan “Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique” Ethics and Medicine – An International Journal of Bioethics Vol 25:2 (Summer 2009) 95-106. It is reproduced on this blog with permission. Abstract Defenders of the permissibility of feticide commonly argue that killing an organism is not homicide [...]
Tags: Abortion · David Boonin · Don Marquis · Ethics and Medicine · Feticide · Sentience
