Posted by Anthony on November 3, 2009
I am hoping that ABC’s “V” takes the place that Heroes formerly occupied before it jumped dozens of sharks. It is too soon to be sure, but there is certainly promise.
The idea of space aliens coming to earth is something that this blog has explored previously. For example, in this entry I argue that intelligent agents from outer space provide an interesting opportunity to test various world view hypotheses. For example, years of movies and stories lead us to assume that an alien encounter would belong in just two possible classes: 1., the nasty creatures out to conquer us (Ie, “Independence Day” and of course “V.”) 2. the creatures are super intelligent and benevolent to such an extent that they are, for all practical purposes, Divine (ie, “Contact.”) In both scenarios, the atheistic evolutionary framework is presumed. But what if alien contact yields a different result? What if the aliens are mere creatures- but unfallen? Or, what if they hold to a belief system identical to Christian theism? That’d be interesting, eh?
While “V” does not appear to break this kind of innovative ground, it was a breath of fresh air to have one of the main characters be a Christian priest who is… wait for it… skeptical. Christians are often portrayed as gullible or extremist whackos (see again, “Contact”) and your hard core evolutionary atheistic types are veritable bastions of cool headed logic and reason (see the TV show, “Bones.”) (Yes, it’s true that one Christian in “Contact” was more reasonable, but he wasn’t exactly definitive about his beliefs, either).
The Christian priest in “V” issues forth a sermon that makes quite a bit of sense: “Before you jump on the bandwagon, make sure it is sturdy enough to hold you.” There is no atheistic foil in “V.” Nonetheless, I am pretty sure that your hard core secular humanist would accept without question a message presented to them by aliens like those we see in “V.” I know this because they already have. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on August 20, 2009
There are plenty of folks about insisting that there is a universal right to health care. Obviously, health care is a hot topic right now, but the question of ‘rights’ permeates many other areas of our existence, so I thought I would address it. I doubt I break any new ground, but it’s on my chest and I want it off.
We have no rights. At least, not strictly speaking. If there is a God, he has as much ‘right’ to destroy us as to sustain us. If there isn’t a God, we have no more rights than an antelope being chased by a lion. Whether there is a God, or isn’t, we have no rights.
However, if there is a God, we can have rights relative to each other, if also God has bestowed them. In this case, for all practical purposes, we do have rights, and no one of us can change that, though we can refuse to acknowledge it. The rights are not intrinsic to ourselves but are imparted from a higher authority and no lower authority can abolish them. If there is a God, we might plausibly talk about something like health care being a ‘universal right.’
Many of the people insisting that health care is a universal right don’t believe in God. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on April 15, 2009
I once got into a disagreement with someone about the nature of communism. My sin apparently had been that I had issued a series like this… “Freedom and Democracy, Tyranny and Communism…” The objection was that the three preceding terms have to do with polity and governance while communism was merely an economic system. As such, it was said it did not belong in the series.
Frankly, given the course of history and its clear testimony linking communism with tyranny and piles of dead, I find the notion that communism is ‘only’ an economic system to be absurd. Similarly, with the close connection between capitalism, freedom, and democracy, I would resist the assertion that capitalism is merely an economic system, too. It is not my purpose to expound on the above. It is my purpose here to make the point that economics cannot be separated from ideology. If one wishes to insist that pure economics certainly can, I won’t belabor it. But can you have ‘pure economics’?
I think it is clear that you cannot. I don’t for a minute believe that capitalism is without its problems but the last century provides a testing ground that generates iron clad results. Capitalism tends to produce or facilitate free societies. Communism runs pell mell into tyranny, death, slavery, famine, purges, and oppression. These are simply historical facts. Evidently, there is a link between economic systems and morality, ideology, politics, values, and beliefs. Deny it if you like: to your own peril. Read the rest of the entry… »
