Reading Time: 3 minutes I was in the middle of my daily Bible reading late one afternoon, deep into Deuteronomy 14 where it says, “And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead.” I was thinking about how those […]
Bert Bigelow
Posted inUncategorized
Surprising Things About Two 19th Century Presidents
Reading Time: 2 minutes I am reading Susan Jacoby’s recent book, “The Great Agnostic,” subtitled “Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought.” Ingersoll was a very popular orator and lecturer in the second half of the 19th Century, despite the fact that he was an outspoken critic of organized religion, particularly Christianity. “Freethought” was a euphemism for atheism and agnosticism, advocating […]
Posted inSex & Gender
A Conversation With Al on Gay Marriage
Reading Time: 9 minutes This is the fourth in a series of conversations on religious and moral topics with my fictitious friend Al who is a devout Christian. If you haven’t read the others, I recommend that you do so before reading this one. The first three are: A Question of Faith Religion and Morality Conversations with Al: Diane […]
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Conversations with Al: Diane
Reading Time: 8 minutes This is the third in a series of conversations on religious and moral topics with my fictitious friend Al. The first two are: A Question of Faith Religion and Morality The second round of beers had been opened and poured. It was time for our discussion to turn from family, weather and the fortunes of […]
Posted inEvolution, Fiction
A Question of Faith
Reading Time: 3 minutes This is the first of a series of fictional articles. The second, titled “Religion and Morality” and be found here. Here at ATP, the articles have been pushed out in a different order, but it shouldn’t matter much. We were sitting in the back yard, my friend Al and I, drinking a beer. It was a warm […]
Posted inEthics and Morality
Religion and Morality
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is the second of a series of fictional dialogues between my friend Al, who is a devout Christian, and me. The first one is called “A Question of Faith.” We were starting our second beer, which is usually when the serious discussions begin. The first beer covers family news, how the Dodgers, Lakers, UCLA, USC […]
Posted inComedy, The Secular
If I were God
Reading Time: 2 minutes If I were God, what would I do about the current mess here on Earth? What would I do about the great danger posed by the confrontation between Islam and Christianity? First, I would create a large new island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I would stock it with plenty of food and […]
Posted inComedy, Fiction
Religious Belief is a Virus
Reading Time: 16 minutes We were starting our second beer, and I had been waiting for this moment. Al is a very smart guy, a trained scientist with advanced degrees in engineering. He is a kind and thoughtful person. He is also a devout Christian. I am a nonbeliever. We have had many spirited discussions about religion, but they […]
Posted inClimate Crisis, Environment, Science
Revolutionary Ideas
Reading Time: 7 minutes Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, Carson and Hansen. Most readers will recognize the first three names. A little head scratching might drag up Rachel Carson. But not many people will know that last name. Read on to find out the identity of the last individual, and what these five people have in common. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) When […]
Posted inUncategorized
Book Review: Blaming Jesus for Jehovah
Reading Time: 4 minutes Book Review Blaming Jesus for Jehovah By Robert M. Price In Chapter I, the author says, “I love the Bible.” But at the end of Chapter VI, after compiling a long litany of atrocities, inconsistencies and contradictions, he says that the Bible is so inconsistent that it cannot even be judged false. It is “just […]