All posts tagged: Spirituality

The fathers of atheism?

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In 1999, Catholic psychologist Paul Vitz caused a stir when he published his book — Faith of the Fathers: The Psychology of Atheism. In it, Vitz attributed a person’s atheistic views to poor and/or absent fathers.  Vitz — a professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences based in Arlington, Virginia, a Catholic graduate school — recently released an updated edition of his book In an interview with Religion News, Vitz said, “We need to understand atheism has a lot to do with our emotional attitudes towards life, other people and a lot of other things. I think that is an important thing for atheists and believers alike to take into consideration.” Vitz studied the childhood of a number of radical atheists such as Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Voltaire and Nietzsche and noticed each came from homes with abusive fathers. Vitz says this affected their ability to develop a relationship with God, their Heavenly Father. When his book was first published there was a swift reaction from the atheistic community. Many were incensed their beliefs had …

Great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin returns to church

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Charles Darwin would be turning over in his grave. (If that is where he still is.) The National Catholic Register reports Laura Keynes —  great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin — is now attending the Catholic church. She has even gone a step further and joined Catholic Voices which defends the Catholic church in the media. Laura is not only a direct descendant of Darwin, but also has John Maynard Keynes (a famous economist) as a great-great uncle. Keeping with the family education tradition, Laura has a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford. However, Laura’s return to church clearly breaks with another long-established family tradition rooted 

Forgiving the Nazi SS

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Corrie Ten Boom died April 15, 1983 on the same day she was born 91 years earlier. According to Jewish tradition, a person is considered especially blessed by God when this event occurs. Certainly the nation of Israel considered Corrie blessed when in 1967, it named her “Righteous among the nations” — a special award handed out to individuals who helped Jews escape the holocaust in World War II. Corrie was a Christian and during the war she and her family — who lived in Holland — were involved with the Dutch Resistance fighting the Nazis on their soil. The Ten Boom’s primary activity during those dark years was providing a “hiding place” for Jews trying to escape

Confessions of a Bible thief

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It took 42 years, but a stolen Bible was finally returned to Holy Trinity Church in Hastings, England. The Bible’s arrival — from Germany — was expected. A couple weeks earlier, Simon Scott, the church’s treasurer had received an anonymous letter explaining how and why a 200 year-old Bible had been stolen from the church in 1971. In a letter reported in the Hastings Observer, the person writes: “It may be astonishing to you to receive a letter from one whom you do not know. More than ever to receive a parcel which contains an old Bible. In 1971 I was just married and went with my wife to Hastings to upgrade our English knowledge for a better start in our occupations. The English lesson we had were in some rather

Duck Dynasty star kicked out of Trump hotel for vagrancy

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New York: The Robertson family of the popular Duck Dynasty reality show were in New York recently to promote the show’s upcoming fourth season.  A&E had put the family up in the luxurious Trump International Hotel. While at the hotel, Jase Robertson asked a staff member for directions to a washroom. Told to follow, Jase was led outside the hotel. The staffer pointed down the street and wished him good luck. I loved the attitude of Jase, who — along with most of the male members of the family — sports a full blown beard. In an interview with Live, Jase laughed off the incident saying he was a victim of “facial profiling” as the staffer undoubtedly thought he was a homeless man. The fact Jase was also wearing camouflage pants probably didn’t help. This isn’t the first time this has happened. On a previous visit to New York, someone put money in Willie’s coffee cup. Read the full story here: Duck Dynasty star kicked out of Trump Hotel   Related: Duck Dynasty on faith, family …

Crosses overlooking Matera, Italy. Credit: Hugh Bell/Flickr/Creative Commons

Is mocking Christians ultimately an act of cowardice?

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On August 9, 2013, Greg Gutfiled of the O’Reily Factor interviewed Washington Post contributing editor Cathy Areu on the establishment’s double standard on how it treats Christians and Muslims. Earlier that week, Atheist Richard Dawkins tweeted: “All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though. “ There was an immediate backlash from people offended by the tweet. Celebrities, fellow atheists, liberals and Muslims alike condemned Dawkins’ tweet accusing him of racism for