Yesterday marked the conclusion of my debate with Steven Dillion on objective morality and the existence of God. Here’s everything, in case you missed any of it: Monday (11/4) – Joe’s opening statement (affirmative)Tuesday (11/5) – Steven’s opening statement (negative)Wednesday (11/6) – Joe’s rebuttal (affirmative)Thursday (11/7) – Steven’s rebuttal (negative)Friday (11/8) – Questions exchanged (three questions each)Saturday (11/9) – Answers (Joe and Steven answer each other’s questions)Sunday… Continue reading Can Objective Morality Exist Without God? (Round 3)
Tag: morality
Of Thick Trees and Morality: An Analogy.
Envision in your mind an enormous tree containing many limbs, which branch off into smaller branches, which branch off into twigs, which sprout leaves. The branches and foliage are so thick that you can’t see the trunk of the tree at all. Alexandre Calame, Landscape with Oak (1859) Although you can’t see the trunk, you… Continue reading Of Thick Trees and Morality: An Analogy.
Can Objective Morality Exist Without God? (Round 2)
My debate with Steven Dillon on whether objective morality can exist without God continues on Strange Notions. On Wednesday, they posted my rebuttal to Steven’s opening statement, and today, they posted Steven’s rebuttal to my opening statement. From my rebuttal: Is Agony Intrinsically Evil? In my opening statement, I suggested that non-theistic moral systems cannot… Continue reading Can Objective Morality Exist Without God? (Round 2)
Speaking Out Against the Slave Labor of the Sweatshop System
The Rana Plaza building near Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed recently, killing (at latest count) 657 sweatshop workers, and seriously injuring thousands. Pope Francis responded in a homily, condemning the horrible wages and conditions: Not paying a just [wage], not providing work, focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at making personal profit.… Continue reading Speaking Out Against the Slave Labor of the Sweatshop System
Your Heart and Soul are Made for God: Why Settle for Less?
St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, which I have been reading lately, arose out of correspondence he had with a woman who was looking for help in living out the life of a Christian amidst the secular world. If anything, the book has become only more valuable since then, as secular culture… Continue reading Your Heart and Soul are Made for God: Why Settle for Less?
Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, and the Religion in the Public Square
Carl A. Anderson gave the Address at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast last month, and spoke eloquently on the place of religion in the public square. He cited to President Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address, in which the president spoke of the rights for which “our forebears fought,” namely “the belief that the rights of man… Continue reading Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, and the Religion in the Public Square
Remembering You Are Dust, in the Hope of the Resurrection
Yesterday, as we went up for ashes, there’s a good chance that as he applied them to our foreheads, the priest said, “Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” a reference to Genesis 3:19. A friend of mine asked how we, as Catholics, should understand this, in light of our belief… Continue reading Remembering You Are Dust, in the Hope of the Resurrection
Sobering Words
Russell D. Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a a Baptist pastor, writes a worthy account in Touchstone Magazine of what it was like for him to grow up as a Baptist in a mixed Baptist / Catholic home, in the largely Catholic Biloxi [Mississippi, near New Orleans], itself… Continue reading Sobering Words
Preparing Ourselves as Tabernacles for the Lord
Imagine being in Church for Eucharistic Adoration, and seeing the priest put the Host, the Body and Blood of Christ, in a filthy monstrance. Seeing the Eucharist desecrated in such a way, covered in muck, would be enough to provoke a Catholic with even an ounce of piety. We’d rightly be hurt and even outraged… Continue reading Preparing Ourselves as Tabernacles for the Lord
What About Those Who’ve Never Heard the Gospel?
An old friend of mine asked me to address the status of all of those who have never heard the Gospel. Scripture suggests that, at least in a certain sense, there’s no such person. Prior to anyone presenting a Bible, two “missionaries” proceed us everywhere: Creation and Conscience. Our job is to build upon what they’ve… Continue reading What About Those Who’ve Never Heard the Gospel?