Category Archives: Culture commentary

“And What If I’m Wrong”

Posted on April 11, 2012 by PaulVK

Got this video from a friend. I thought it would be a nice piece to bounce off of on the points he makes. First an outline of the points. I’ll put my initial comments and place holders in brackets. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, philosophical reflection, Quotations, theological | Tagged , | 5 Comments

How Should Science and Religion Converse?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by PaulVK

A friend of mine put a picture on his Facebook page with a quote attributed to the Dalai Lama that says “If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, the Buddhism will have to change.” I thought this was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, philosophical reflection | 1 Comment

Conservative and Liberal Migrations

Posted on March 10, 2012 by PaulVK

A part of a Calvin-in-common conversation I want to keep: The NY Times piece on Rick Santorum’s faith I thought was an excellent piece. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/us/politics/from-nominal-catholic-to-clarion-of-faith.html I find many people I know assume that secularism and the draw to the left … Continue reading →

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Believing in Climate Change, Believing in Jesus

Posted on December 1, 2011 by PaulVK

I’ve been pondering the correlations between the climate change discussions and religious discussions. 1. Most people arrive at their position depending upon relationships with people they trust. Climate change, as well as many religious issues, is so large and esoteric … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary | 3 Comments

Pragmatic skepticism leading to ignorance of any and all religion

Posted on October 24, 2011 by PaulVK

Part of the difficulty of evaluating other religious traditions is that we can’t help but evaluate them through the lens of our own religious tradition. We have no “objective” platform outside of ourselves, our histories and our perspectives from which … Continue reading →

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How we become more Spiritual and Religious because we are becoming more Secular

Posted on October 17, 2011 by PaulVK

One of the things I ponder regularly is the relationship between what seems to be contradictory movements between secularism and rampant spiritual experimentation. On one hand I hear groups regularly pushing the idea that the advance of scientific learning pushes … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary | Tagged | 5 Comments

Moralists can’t see their own religion

Posted on October 14, 2011 by PaulVK

Because the dominant, implicit assumption about religion in America is moralism, and because people seeing two things that look the same (similar codes of moral conduct and post-death reward/punishment assertions) many people move on to view evaluative discussions about comparative … Continue reading →

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Why many Americans believe all religions are the same

Posted on October 14, 2011 by PaulVK

The discussion on Yoga reminded me about why Christians have difficulty talking or thinking clearly about other religions. Here are a few observations on my part. 1. The dominant status of Christianity in American culture has created a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary | 4 Comments

Is Yoga Helpful?

Posted on September 29, 2011 by PaulVK

A Methodist minister responded to the ThinkChristian piece talking about how helpful Yoga has been to her. Here was my answer to her. 1. Has Christianity borrowed from other religions? Let’s rephrase the question: How has Christianity borrowed from other … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, theological | 5 Comments

Is Yoga a Religion?

Posted on September 29, 2011 by PaulVK

In discussions on whether a Christian should practice Yoga this claim comes up regularly. Is Yoga a religion? Here is how I responded to it in the TC thread. It’s pretty tough to argue that Yoga isn’t a religion. Again, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, theological | 5 Comments