Punishing Mothers for Abortion?

In this year, 2016, the Republican nomination process has been the most entertaining reality show on television, but the other night the show took a strange turn. Donald Trump said something that has angered both the right and the left of the political spectrum, which is not surprising or unusual. But what is surprising is that what he said should have been supported by the right. In fact, his position is the only logical one given the rhetoric of the Pro-life movement.

Let’s wade into this controversy and see where the logic takes us.

On HHS vs Hobby Lobby

After reading through the opinions from this recent (and controversial) Supreme Court decision, I want to write down some of my thoughts about the reasoning used to ultimately find for Hobby Lobby. From what I can tell, the decision hinges on just two crucial steps. First – are corporations persons such that they can have their free exercise of religion protected, and second – did the contraception mandate violate the corporation’s right to free exercise.

Read on for my analysis…

Noah – a Christian Philosopher Review

I just watched Aronofsky’s Noah. It was a powerful, disturbing film. I don’t know if it was calculated to please a religious audience, but I think that Christians ought to be pleased by it. What follows is my take on the film, and there are a few spoilers – so be warned.

Rollin’ and Tumblin’

Inclement weather has forced a rare snow day for Houston Baptist University. As I sit, drinking some hot chocolate and reading, I can listen to music at reference volume instead of the quiet “background music” that office etiquette requires. Suddenly this morning, I recognized that the opening track of Captain Beefheart album “Safe as Milk” is actually an instantiation of “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” but with different words. Here was a song I had heard in many forms, now refreshed and remade. But it was still the blues classic I loved. It occurred to me that Rollin’ and Tumblin’ was a universal.

The Strangeness of Philosophy

One of the best parts of my job is having the time to sit down with students, sometimes ones that are not in any of my classes, and philosophize together. A few days ago, one of the graduate students here at HBU lamented that he no longer was sure that the positions that seemed intuitive and reasonable to him were at all intuitive and reasonable to a non-philosopher. He worried that the “that’s nonsense!” trigger in his mind had been ruined by philosophy.

Gravity – Empty Space Filled

I took the opportunity to see Gravity tonight. Houston has a theater with a very large IMAX screen and well-calibrated projection and audio reproduction. Seeing this movie in 3D was a wonderful cinematic experience, one I recommend to you. Here are a few reasons why:

Apologetics and The Notebook?

The Apologetics department invited me to teach a course on Film this semester and I had fun picking out movies for us to watch and review – movies that you might not consider as very relevant to apologetics or faith. The students have to write reviews of the films, so I thought I might try my hand at one as well.

Click past the break to read a short excerpt from my review of The Notebook.

Muse and the End of the World

Spending so much time with students keeps me young, and one of the evidences for this is my love of new music. If my students listen to something I want to give it a spin on the turntable and experience it for myself. Much of it engages the part of youth culture that I no longer find compelling – the endless search for the “song of the summer” or the pop music with so many contributing artists that one wonders if the broth isn’t ruined by so many ingredients. Occasionally I find a record that strikes my imagination.

Enter The 2nd Law by Muse.

The Hobbit: A One-Man Debate

I couldn’t resist sharing this playful pre-review of the first installment of the Hobbit trilogy. It was written by Jonny Walls. If the last name sounds familiar, it should!

The Hobbit Trilogy