I love reading books written by Richard Dawkins. Quite ironically, he provides some of the very best material I could ever hope to find for use in discussions with my atheist friends about God and His creation, as well as existential science and evolution theory. It turns out that virtually everything I might ever need for my argument in favor of a supernatural God can be found in his book The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution, simply by following the advice of Dawkins and accepting many of his claims about the theory of evolution on face value. For example, in his book Richard Dawkins claimed that humans share a now-extinct ancestor with the budgerigar (another name for the common parakeet) that lived approximately 310 million years ago, writing that "Every species is a cousin of every other. Any two species are descended from an ancestral species, which split in two." (pg. 254) That would mean every modern living organism must be directly related to every other living organism on earth by descent -- with modifications, of course. Not only is your cousin a chimpanzee, but your slightly more distant cousin is allegedly the cucumber. The most obvious question coming to mind about this idea would seem to be "how?" Now my atheist friends have frequently suggested that I publish the evidence that disproves my cousinship to fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers and turnips so that I might earn fame, fortune, and even to win a Nobel Prize. However, the Nobel Prize does not honor a category for evolutionary biology, making the goal itself … [Read more...]
How did I get here?
The title poses what is known as an existential question -- questions that are much easier asked than answered. Who am I? What happens when we die? Is there a purpose for my life? Existential questions are the sort that you're never completely sure that you've really solved them, until you die. The answers that you decide are most correct will often determine whether or not you believe in God, which may impact many of the life decisions you make. So these are not trivial questions...in fact, they are the most important and difficult questions that we may ever contemplate. How in the hell did I get started writing books that talk about things related to religion and science, when I only received a business degree in college? That's also an excellent question, and an easier riddle to solve because the question itself isn't existential in nature. And this is my answer... I've always loved writing, whether it was source code for computer programs, a short story, or an effort to communicate important thoughts and ideas in concise language through documents I've written. I've always enjoyed tackling difficult problems and then working diligently to solve them. One of my earliest dreams was to become a professional writer one day. However, for the longest time, I was too busy working a full-time job and raising my family to write prose on the side, or to worry much about seeking answers to my existential questions. I had things to do, and people to see. I stayed busy. Then a fateful television interview that was mostly background noise while I worked … [Read more...]
The death of D. M. Murdock, also known as Acharya S
Sooner or later, Death will come for us all. With sadness and considerable regret, I noticed that notorious Christian mythicist D. M. Murdock (also known by the pseudonym Acharya S.) recently passed away after a battle with cancer. Now to be completely honest, I've never been a big fan of her books or videos, given her very open hostility toward Christianity and Christians. Earlier this year, I wrote a rather scathing article about her book The Christ/Horus Connection and challenged the veracity of her work. Quite frankly, she and Richard Carrier formed a small minority of "experts" who question the existence of a historical Jesus. Carrier does hold a PhD, but he doesn't teach at a university. He offers online courses on his work that panders to the conspiracy theorist crowd and basically does "anything for a buck." The credentials of Ms. Murdock may be found here. My words practically dripped with sarcasm as I aggressively questioned her claim that she learned Egyptian hieroglyphics on the fly. Let's just say that I remain skeptical, but now regret my harsh words, considering they were delivered while she literally fought for her life. Now it is my custom, when I "attack" someone like Ms. Murdock for me to attempt communication with that person in order to call their attention to my criticisms. I'd rather be up front and give him or her the opportunity to respond to my criticism as a common courtesy. I can't say for sure that I emailed her a link to that article, and sincerely hope that I forgot. and that I did not cause her any distress during her … [Read more...]
Empowered idiots
I have a confession to make: I've enjoyed watching the movies of Harrison Ford as he pretended to be tough-as-nails archeologist Indiana Jones and rogue space smuggler Han Solo. He's a pretty good actor. Unfortunately, Mr. Ford has also been known to make headlines by saying words that were not scripted for him by a very talented writer. For example, he was recently quoted as saying the human race would soon become extinct unless some form of collective action wasn't immediately taken to "combat climate change." Please stick to your script in the future, Harrison. Now I am not the first writer that noticed a man who owns multiple airplanes -- a man who is completely unqualified to offer an informed opinion about the potential impact of "climate change" still felt free to lecture those of us who can't even afford to fly coach. This man is the same actor bragged to a magazine in 2010 that he would "often fly up the coast for a cheeseburger." Because he could. Apparently we should all pay higher taxes for energy and drive hybrid vehicles so Mr. Ford won't feel guilty about flying to Europe on his own private jet. But if we seriously believed his Chicken Little mentality, why shouldn't we force people like Mr. Ford to immediately give up their private jets in favor of (gasp) commercial air travel? This prima donna burns more gas on one flight to get a cheeseburger than I burn in my much more modest form of transportation over an entire year. Please get over yourself, Captain Solo. Sadly, Mr. Ford is hardly alone with his holier-than-thou attitude. The … [Read more...]
Georgia’s next defensive coordinator
First of all, let's get something straight up front. I have no special access to insider knowledge. I don't have a mole inside the UGA athletic department. No little bird has been whispering in my ear. Nobody who knows anything has told me anything that no one is supposed to know. In other words, take my analysis with a grain of salt, if not the whole shaker. I've been blessed with the God-given ability to use my brain to think like a private detective, which coincidentally comes in quite handy because my day "job" is to write detective novels. I use the pseudonym Rocky Leonard to differentiate the novels from my nonfiction writing. Kirby Smart does not have my number on speed dial. Nobody has divulged any Georgia Bulldog secrets to me. I'm a writer, not a sports journalist. Like Sergeant Schultz from the old television show Hogan's Heroes, I hear nothing. I know NOTHING! But I think I know who Kirby Smart might be planning to hire as his defensive coordinator, given only the fact that he didn't retain former UGA defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Coach Smart's hires for the offensive side of the ball seem to be excellent choices, especially considering the overwhelmingly positive reaction that came from the experts in sports journalism and the fact the new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach have experience working together. Nothing has been said about the defense, though. If we have confidence that the (soon-to-be) former defensive coordinator at Alabama has a clear plan in mind for the Georgia defense, we should assume that Coach … [Read more...]
