Since hearing of the murder of abortionist George Tiller I have been wanting to find some way to express my thoughts on the matter as while I am not sad that Tiller is dead, I do support the prosecution of his killer. Philosopher Ed Feser’s post, “Two monsters,” where he contrasts the murder of Tiller […]
Entries Tagged as 'Social Commentary'
Is Abortion Liberal?
May 16th, 2009 22 Comments
A submission to The Christian Libertarian Blog Carnival. Laws permitting abortion on demand are often deemed to be liberal. Political liberals are frequently ardent defenders of such laws. My contention is that support for abortion on the grounds of liberality is mistaken. I argue for this position in a two part series: Is Abortion Liberal? […]
Tags: Abortion · Christian Libertarian Blog Carnival · Classical Liberalism · Ethics · Feticide · Liberalism · Libertarianism
ANZAC Day: Lest we Forget or Have we Already?
April 25th, 2009 8 Comments
In ‘MCMXIV’ Philip Larkin describes the queues to enlist at the start of the first World War: The crowns of hats, the sun On moustached archaic faces Grinning as if it were all An August Bank Holiday lark His late-century comment was “Never such innocence again.” When I read these words in Jonathan Glover’s Humanity […]
Tags: ANZAC Day · World War I
Baby Abandoned in Airport Rubbish Bin, Sexist Responses Already Underway
March 20th, 2009 8 Comments
Imagine if someone uttered the following statement “Women are irrational creatures. Due to their propensity to be emotional, they are not responsible for their actions.” I suspect people would think I was quoting from a popular elizabethan or medieval discussion of women and most would write this statement off as sexist, misogynist and old fashioned. […]
Tags: Feminism · Infanticide
A Bill to Amend the Anti-Smacking Law
March 19th, 2009 5 Comments
Family First have just released that a private members bill is set to go into the ballot to amend the anti-smacking law. Assuming it is well drafted, ACT’s John Boscawen is the MP parents across the country can thank. While we do not buy into the notion that this law should be changed because the […]
Studying at Otago University no Riot
February 25th, 2009 20 Comments
From 2002-06 I had the pleasure of studying at Otago University. I also taught there in various roles as a researcher, tutor and fill-in lecturer for the Theology, Philosophy and Law schools. Otago was an intellectually rigorous and stimulating place; it’s reputation for being the one of the best Universities in New Zealand and the […]
Tags: Student Associations · Student Riots · University of Otago · Voluntary Student Membership
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.
No Defences Permitted for the Accused
June 19th, 2009 36 Comments
In, The referendum campaign is underway, No Right Turn’s Idiot/Savant gives an excellent example of an argument we see coming up a lot in the debate around the upcoming referendum on smacking. In addition to trotting out the standard ad hominem, that everyone who supports the reinstatement of the old section 59 of the Crimes […]
Tags: Bad Reasoning · Crimes Act · Defences · Idiot/Savant · Referendum · s59 · Smacking · Sue Bradford · William Blackstone