The website of John C. Snider
Bishop John Shelby Spong’s controversial demolition and (hopeful) rehabilitation of Jesus of Nazareth. [Originally posted February 10, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Jesus was born in a perfectly natural way in Nazareth. His mother was not the icon of virgin purity. His earthly father, Joseph, was a literary creation. His family thought he [Jesus] was out of his …
[Originally posted January 23, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Concluding my interview with singer/songwriter Susan Werner, whose latest album The Gospel Truth is an unusual collection of songs that combine “the music of faith and the lyrics of doubt.” In Part One (The Genesis of The Gospel Truth) she discusses what motivated her to launch this project. In Part Two …
[Originally posted January 22, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Continuing my interview with singer/songwriter Susan Werner, whose latest album The Gospel Truth is an unusual collection of songs that combine “the music of faith and the lyrics of doubt.” In this second installment, she talks about the response of fans to this (as far as we can tell) unique artistic …
[Originally posted January 21, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Singer/songwriter Susan Werner has been on the music scene for over fifteen years. She has toured nearly constantly and released seven successful albums (including I Can’t Be New, her delightful homage to Tin Pan Alley), and despite consistent critical acclaim and positive audience response, she flies just under the …
[Originally posted on January 14, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] One of the most talked-about movies of 2007 is writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. Anderson has a reputation as a bold filmmaker unafraid to tackle strange and disturbing subjects: Boogie Nights, with its 70s porno backdrop; Magnolia, a mesmerizing three-hour-long epic in which half a dozen ill-fated characters …
[Originally posted on January 3, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com. A slightly different version appeared in 2006 in Volume 12, No. 3 of the magazine Skeptic.] It has been nearly four centuries since Galileo Galilei lost his legendary showdown with the Catholic Church’s Court of the Inquisition. Threatened with imprisonment, torture and certain death, Galileo backed down—officially, at …
[Originally posted January 1, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Christopher Hitchens seems to revel in his role as the Bad Boy of Unbelievers. With books like The Missionary Position (a scathing criticism of the late and soon-to-be-canonized Mother Teresa) and his recent bestseller God Is Not Great, Hitchens tweaks the conservative establishment, and he’s not afraid to engage in public debate …
[Originally posted on November 15, 2007 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is one of the most talked-about books in recent years. Not only is it a heartbreaking story of childhood tragedy, this 2003 novel provides an invaluable insight into the culture of late 20th century Afghanistan—the culture that would trigger 9/11 and plunge the globe into a bitter, and …
[Originally posted on October 26, 2007 at AmericanFreethought.com.] The Bible is pretty straightforward in its message when it comes to homosexuality: it’s a sin, and those who insist on practicing it are going to Hell. It’s simple. Or is it? The growing movement to reconcile gay rights with Christianity is the subject of a fascinating …
One of the highlights of last weekend’s “Crystal Clear Atheism” conference was a presentation by Sam Harris entitled “The Problem with Atheism” (reprinted here at the Washington Post). Here is, I think, the crux of his argument: Another problem is that in accepting a label, particularly the label of “atheist,” it seems to me that we are …