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So, this is about what I call 'the coercive bargain' theory of Christianity. Needless to say, it's an idea I thoroughly reject. If you are a parent, you do not demand your children's love because you will only do good to them if they comply, and you will torment them unmercifully if they don't...

So, this is a conspiracy theory. It starts by identifying a real problem, the size of the world population. However, it then continues by maintaining that a 'New World Order' of the wealthy and politically powerful have, since the end of the Second World War, had a deliberate policy to...

On another forum, I lamented that Christianity was being left behind, and as it is currently consituted, stood to collapse into irrelevance and obscurity, with none but a few dinosaur conservatives left muttering to each other in corners about how evil the world is. So, I proclaimed, the 21st...

So the late, great, Billy Graham, took it upon himself to invade the UK with his version of Christianity. I wonder if now is not the time for we Brits to return the compliment. American Christianity is so full of philosphical flaws, leavened here and there with particular hatreds, that I truly...

So, we face climate change. Doubtless the wealthy west will survive. But the poor in Africa, Latin America, and southern Asia face some tough times ahead. Given this situation what is the appropriately ethical response? I have some ideas, but before I launch into them, I want to open up the...

I posted this here because I'm interested in the ethical and philosophical implications of the confessional. So, I get where confession is coming from. The first stage of repentance involves recognising where one's faults lie, and beginning to make amends. But I have my doubts about the...

Wrinkle 1) You are to imagine you are a doctor. You have four patients. Patient 1) needs a heart and lung transplant. 2) needs new kidneys. 3) needs a new liver. 4) needs a pancreas. A perfectly fit individual arrives for his annual flu jab. Tissues all match. According to 'the greatest...

...a cruel and unusual punishment? The late Archbishop Tutu once said 'An eye for an eye? A tooth for a tooth? Pretty soon, the world will be blind and toothless.' Jesus once said 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' So I wonder what you all make of capital punishment? Best...

So, we have deontology, grounded in the idea of a duty to keep rules (often owed to God). We have situation ethics, grounded in the idea of different responses, depending on the situation. We have virtue ethics, grounded in the idea of developing and expressing good character. And we have...

Should the environment, animate and/or inanimate, be assigned rights? Or has God already assigned these, and we just need to work out what they are? Best wishes, 2RM.

Thought I'd share my current favourite piece of music with you. It's by Christopher Tin, and the lyrics are a loose translation of the Lord's Prayer into Swahili, and it is the introductory music to the computer game Civilisation 4. My question is: have you found any such brilliant devotional...

After all, there are plenty of natural evils (Tempests, drought, floods, etc). Those of you who have been unfortunate enough to read my previous threads will know I am keen on philosophy of religion, ethics and political philosophy. If someone is good and omnipotent, I do not think it...

This is the thread where we get to discuss money and wealth. Jesus famously said that 'the poor you shall always have with you, but me, you shall not have always.' I would contend that He was talking to His disciples, in their time, not us in ours. I did some back of an envelope calculations a...

So, I'm always on the lookout for a good home for money. I'd be grateful for your tips. Meanwhile here are my current favourites: Deki (micro finance for the poor) Action Aid (safety and succour for girls and young women) Spana (veterinary services for working animals) Send a cow (vegetable...

I've been looking for a congenial Christian forum for some time. Recently, I've been having tussles with Mormons. That's fine; I like a good tussle, to get those little grey cells working. Unfortunately, they didn't see things quite the same way, and I have been frozen out. So here I am. I...

A theodicy is a line of argument that purports to explain why, If God is wholly good, there is so much evil in His world. My least favorite theodicy is that God is responsible for everything that's good, and Satan for everything that's bad. When God created His angels, being omniscient, He must...

Spare me, please, your pious cant; Your 'thou shalt not!', your moral rant, And let me live as I am made Wild and free and unafraid, Dreading naught of judgement day, Pilgrim on another way. If I'm wrong, I'll rot in Hell, But rotting there remember well The span I spent as but a ploy To spread...

Consenting to the cross I walked And as I went the people talked: ‘There he goes, the king of Jews’ ‘Not much the king, not good the news’ ‘A strong man needed, one who could Sort the Romans out for good.’ I do not know, I cannot tell If this act will weave the spell To reach from here to...