Archive for the ‘The Soulbusters’ Category
The conversion experience
Christian evangelists universally believe and proclaim that the convert becomes a better person. Some say immediately; the wiser talk about a process called ‘sanctification’, and admit that this can take a long time. The claim has not, of course, ever been subjected to any objective verification, assuming that such a thing is methodologically possible. One [...]
Bad wine in new bottles
Converts continue to exhibit changed behaviour even after the honeymoon period; for they will probably have discarded their old friends and hobbies and acquired new, adopted the idiolect of the group and so forth. None of this, however, necessarily adds up to becoming better people. Observation suggests that what is far more likely is that [...]
The wrong Way
In his apologetic writings, C. S. Lewis argued that Christianity was by no means the bringing of a new moral law. We all, he said, knew the Way – which he called, in a creditable but infelicitous attempt to escape Eurocentricity – the Tao; all human societies knew the Way; the problem is that we [...]
Getting Unsaved again
Catholicism is analog and a sliding scale, whereas Protestantism is digital — and binary. That is, in Protestantism you are either saved or not-saved; whereas in Catholicism you can be a saint, a good Catholic, a mediocre Catholic, a bad Catholic, a lapsed Catholic or right outside the Church. If you believe the doctrines of [...]
Smile for the cameras
One reviewer captured the essence of Imelda Staunton’s character in the fifth Harry Potter film: she ‘goes through the movie in a flutter of self-satisfaction and succeeds in being simultaneously hilarious, utterly recognizable as a type and thoroughly hateful’. The key to Dolores’ psychology is that ‘She is someone who is convinced of her own [...]
The great forgiveness con
The Lord’s Prayer suggests that God will forgive us our sins, as we forgive those that have sinned against us. One of the parables amplifies this by warning that if we do not forgive, neither shall we be forgiven. This is a reasonable use of the Categorical Imperative; either we assent to the general principle [...]
Depriving the smiter of the other cheek
One of the major similarities between Islam and Christianity is that both religions tell us not to oppress others; one of the major differences is that, whereas some strains of Christianity welcome suffering, Islam also tells us not to allow others to oppress us. (In his memoirs, King ‘Abd Allah ibn Buluggin of Granada quotes [...]
