thoughts out !oud

Biblically minded and ever-so-slightly irreverent

Abstinence at the movies

The recent media attention on the issue of sexual abstinence of the past two to three weeks – which I wrote a commentary piece on over at The Aristophrenium – led me to watch a movie that I would not have ordinarily have watched. Not 15 minutes into the film I was beginning to regret watching it – I wasn’t expecting it to be as crude and as base at it actually was. In hindsight, knowing our culture and the way in which it views sexual topics and issues, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. In any case, I got the kids off to bed and settled down with my wife to watch The 40 Year Old Virgin

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One for your calendar: International Blasphemy Day, 30 Sept 2009

phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpgWednesday, 30 September 2009 will mark the inaugural International Blasphemy Day, a day on which the people are called to, well, blaspheme anything religious through whatever show of irreverence they can conjure. Organised by the Center for Inquiry International, an organisation dedicated to fostering “a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values”, claims that the day has been set aside “to encourage free expression” the world over and are even running a contest to mark the date.

Says the Center for Inquiry: “How can we come to our own conclusions about religion if we can’t freely examine and discuss it?” Apparently, in order to do so, you need to have a t-shirt, which 5 lucky… Continue reading ...

The Kiwis publish their 21 reasons why (hetero) marriage matters

While it seems Europe has fallen (for the most part), and the US is in the midst of duking it out, those of us floating around in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are perhaps only beginning – somewhat lethargically – to take up arms. The issue of same-sex marriage (or “marriage neutering”, as The Opine Editorials fondly terms it) in Australia and New Zealand is gearing up for full-swing.

Last month, in Australia, the Senate ceased taking submissions on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, a Bill which seeks to redefine marriage as a union between “two persons” (but what if I had two boyfriends? Can’t I marry them both? That’s unfair!). The Senate inquiry is due to have a report by 26 November 2009. I would… Continue reading ...

Dinesh D’Souza and evolutionary theory – a short take on his evolutionary defence

What’s So Great About Christianity, by Dinesh D’Souza, has so far been a great read. He provides a detailed account of historical Christianity and proceeds to demonstrate the positives that Christianity has since brought into the world – and which, he argues, would not have come if Christianity did not exist. He claims that Western society today has benefited greatly from a Christian heritage – and that it is this same heritage that society has slowly – and voraciously – been turning against.

Our Western cultures today now bite the hands that fed them – the irony is that the tools in which anti-theists in general, and anti-Christians in particular, now wield have been afforded to them by… Continue reading ...

(Kicking) The Bucket List

Now, in order not to disappoint some, I must state up front that this is not a movie-review. But in our mainstream media today we can find ample opportunities of stories and tales and illustrations that help us to understand deeper truths – and I love media that does this (unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the majority of Hollywood’s offerings). If you were after a movie-review of The Bucket List, I would recommend the reviewer site, Rotten Tomatoes.

Sometimes I think the best way to see a movie is when you have no idea what the movie is going to be about. This, of course, could be dangerous – if you hate blood and gore, a horror flick is the last thing you’d like to pay… Continue reading ...