By separating facts from reason and facts from theology, and making both valid, he helped make the philosophical basis of modern science. In other words, the "war of science against religion" is not true, but invented for political reasons. I refer you to Professor Raia's course at UCLA if you want to know the details.
He also pushed two items that were rejected by Evangelicals: That Mary, who held God in her womb for nine months, was born pure so that she would be worthy of the deed, and the idea that all men who seek God (or the truth) could go to heaven, even if they weren't baptized (the idea of "baptism of desire").
So yes, Christopher Hitchens could get into heaven according to Catholic theology...
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The Left wing rag the UK Guardian: asking the questions no body else is asking:
Does the internet let us be evil anonymously?
Nothing new in any of this: Christ said if we think angry thoughts about our brother, we are the same as murderers, and Buddha insisted The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character.
Does contemporary society give rise to conditions more conducive to evil than in the past? Do science and technology, in particular, dehumanise us? ... Take the internet, for example; it's right here. In recent years the malevolent online behaviour of internet trolls and vitriolic commentators, hiding behind their pseudonyms, has become a much-discussed cultural phenomenon. ...
As usual, Plato has something to contribute to this debate...
The story of Gyges's ring seems to suggest that evil is a simply a fact of human nature. When anonymity releases us from responsibility for our actions, we will gladly abandon morality and harm anyone who obstructs our pursuit of what we think will make us happy. ... Plato had to resort to a myth, and a magic ring, to illustrate the conditions under which our tendency to evil manifests itself. In our own time, technology has worked its magic, and the fantasy of invisibility has become an everyday reality.
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For all the talk of election year violence in the US, the election was wonderfully non violent.
In contrast, check this local headline:
Cabanatuan radio anchor shot dead
Police have no motive...presumably he was investigating local corruption so they wanted to shut him up.
Here in the Philippines, we have lots of election year violence, and the last local election the bishop made everyone in the area sit down and pledge non violence.
It's about who gets to control the local money....
and although we have free voting, votes are usually bought for 500 pesos (about ten dollars) a piece. But the locals only sell their vote to their own candidate, so I guess it pans out as free.
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Psst: While the US was busy shouting at each other, China had a more "civilized" election.
It's also about who controls (and is able to divert) the money.
And if you read to the end, you will find China's grab of the "East Philippine Sea" is more than about stealing the petroleum from there: They are now threatening the sea lanes.
President Obama promised to stay neutral in the dispute.
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Hurricane Sandy and the internet.
The eleven fiber optic cables from Europe to the United States all pass through two facilities in the blackout area. One facility is at 16th Street and 8th Avenue and the other is three kilometers (two miles) to the south on Hudson Street. These places also contain servers for many major Internet sites.Luckily they stayed working...this time....
However, I remember the earthquake a few years ago: it broke the major cables south of Taiwan and knocked us off the internet for two months.
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Making friends by dumping toxic waste? and then claiming that the visiting forces agreement means dumping toxic waste in Subic is allowed? Excuse me?
Greens are powerful here, so this won't be the last we hear about this...the bad news is that PNoy is attacking corruption but giving a small gift to slow down investigations is still the norm.
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Sauron, the Dinosaur.
it has a huge eye and a bump on it's head....
not to be confused with Smilodon the Vampire cat.
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Factoid of the day:
(An under-reported fact: Darwin proved that seeds did move across continents before transatlantic voyages, via the guano of migrating birds.)---------------------------------
the new "archbishop of Canterbury": another Etonian.
who thinks reading the newspaper is as important as reading the bible, and is famous for giggling...
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Big Earthquake in Guatamala,
ho hum...like the dead and homeless in Haiti and Cuba and Staten Island from Sandy, a non story in the US press.
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