“Why didn’t the Christian God ever explicitly and clearly condemn slavery?” This was John Loftus’ question in his book, Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity. He posed it after sharing the following chilling account of slavery as practiced in the antebellum American south, He took her into the kitchen, and stripped […]
Entries Tagged as 'Social Commentary'
Contra Mundum: Slavery and the Old Testament
April 3rd, 2010 33 Comments
Tags: Contra Mundum · Investigate Magazine · John Loftus · Old Testament Ethics · Slavery · Theology
The New Zealand Herald prints “The F Word”
March 30th, 2010 Comments Off on The New Zealand Herald prints “The F Word”
The New Zealand Herald published “The F Word” in their online lifestyle section today. No need to head over to Cactus Kate’s now to read the whole thing online… [“The F Word” was an article on the shifting perceptions of contemporary feminism published in Saturday’s Canvas (NZ Herald magazine insert). At least six women were […]
Tags: Cactus Kate · Feminism · MandM in Print · New Zealand Herald
The F Word UPDATED Cactus Comments
March 27th, 2010 5 Comments
In today’s edition of Canvas, the free magazine that one finds inside each Saturday’s edition of The New Zealand Herald, one can find, on page 12, an article entitled “The F Word.” This article features interviews with five prominent New Zealand women on the issue of shifting perceptions of contemporary feminism. Madeleine was one of […]
Tags: Cactus Kate · Canvas · Caroline Fergusson · Emma Joyce · Feminism · Julie Fairey · New Zealand Herald · Sandra Coney
Can State Expropriation of Minerals be Justified? Part II
March 9th, 2010 6 Comments
In Can State Expropriation of Minerals be Justified? Part I, I set out a common law property rights argument drawing from the writings of jurists Blackstone and Locke as well as contemporary philosopher Ed Feser. I looked at what circumstances, if any, might justify the state taking of real property, looking specifically at minerals from […]
Tags: Case of Mines · Crown Minerals Act 1991 · Edward Feser · James Parcell · John Locke · Kevin Counsell · Lewis Evans · Neil Quigley · Property Rights · Rights and Freedoms · Sub-Soil Land Rights · Takings · William Blackstone
Can State Expropriation of Minerals be Justified? Part I
March 5th, 2010 22 Comments
New Zealand, like many nations, has a long history of the state taking real property, often without compensation. In this two part series I examine one sub-set of takings, minerals from the sub-soil of privately held property (although the argument herein could apply with equal force to any state taking). Drawing from common law, the […]
Tags: Crown Minerals Act 1991 · Edward Feser · John Locke · Property Rights · Rights and Freedoms · Sub-Soil Land Rights · Takings · William Blackstone
Contra Mundum: Secular Smoke Screens and Plato’s Euthyphro
March 2nd, 2010 35 Comments
In “Religion: A Barrier to Clear Thinking,” the final article in the award winning series of lay philosophy articles published in the Christchurch Press, Canterbury based Philosopher Simon Clarke addressed the question, “what is the biggest obstacle to thinking clearly about social and political issues?” Predictably he answered “Several answers suggested themselves but time and […]
Tags: Contra Mundum · Euthyphro Dilemma · God and Morality · Investigate Magazine · Peter Geach · Plato · Simon Clarke · William Lane Craig
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
Guest Post: No Official Religion in God’s Own?
April 6th, 2010 124 Comments
David Simpkin is a Hamilton based lawyer with an interest in church-state issues. He studied law at the University of Auckland and holds a BA majoring in history and political studies. David is married to Susan and has a infant son, Caleb. He attends Whitiora Bible Church in Hamilton. David writes: As a holiday weekend that coincides with […]
Tags: David Simpkin · Freedom of Religion · Guest Post · Human Rights Commission · Religion in Public Life · Religious History · Rights and Freedoms · State Religion