English posts

My take on the map metaphor

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I just came across a note I made in one of my Moleskines, probably from around 2007, in which I wrote the following: Map Metaphor Suppose I walk through a big city, using a map of that city. I arrive at a big square where there is a church. However, when I look at my … Lees verder

A musical link between Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson, and Sigmund Freud

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I’m a huge fan of The Alan Parsons Project. I love all of the Alan Parsons Project albums. But in my opinion the best album that the Alan Parsons Project produced, strictly speaking wasn’t an “Alan Parsons Project” (and isn’t listed as such), but for some weird reason, has remained relatively unknown…

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Preaching from a selfish vantage point…

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I also see Richard Dawkins differently. I see him as a grown up version of that 16-year-old kid, proud of being smart, unable to understand why anyone would believe or think differently from himself. I see a person so removed from humanity and so removed from the ambiguity of life that he finds himself judging … Lees verder

Was Mandela an atheist? How atheists are defiling Mandela’s legacy

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Not only has the late Nelson Mandela become a source of commerce (t-shirts, books, etc.) but now his name is also defiled by atheistic apologetics. Just read this article: http://freethinker.co.uk/2013/12/06/widely-understood-to-be-an-atheist-nelson-mandela-dies-at-the-age-of-95-hamba-kakuhle-comrade/. This article, that was retweeted (without comment, but probably with appreciation) by Richard Dawkins, claims that it is “widely understood” that Mandela was an atheist.

Another atheist, one Damian Mogale, states on his Facebook page that Mandela, because of his political role, could not afford to say out loud that he was an atheist. Like Obama, Mandela’s utterances about his personal faith were “for the show”. Again, others say that Mandela was an atheist because he is on the honorary membership list of the Bertrand Russell Society…

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Is Christianity Natural?

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In 2011 and 2012, I attended two seminars at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Michigan) on the cognitive science of religion and Christianity. The seminars were led by Justin Barrett (then at Oxford, now at Fuller).

The goal I had in mind was to develop a top-notch project proposal that would bridge the gap between the cognitive science of religion on the one hand and the philosophy of religion and systematic theology on the other.

The two seminars were excellent. They were very stimulating and we were forced to work extremely hard (we had to read a pile of about 10 books on the subject and a reader of about 600 pages of densely written research articles). I am extremely grateful that I was allowed this opportunity.

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