The results from the third Vox Apologia have been posted. This time around the topic was “Euthenasia”. You can find links to the entries over at Revenge of Mr Dumpling.

Welcome to the new website design for The Greatest Pursuits. I hope you find it easier on the eyes than the old design.

Please let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment or sending me an email. (My name at the top of the sidebar is now an active link which can take you to your email application and open a new, preaddressed message.)

If you’re having problems with this design, you’re probably using Internet Explorer.    Just (mostly) kidding. If you are having problems, please let me know what the problem is and what browser you’re using; including the version number. I’ll do my best to fix it.

If you are using Internet Explorer I highly recommend that you try something else. Even the current version of IE contains significant security holes, doesn’t support current web standards worth a darn, and is buggy in what it does support. This site — and many others like it — was designed using current web standards which IE doesn’t support. Those using web browsers which do support current standards will see some small improvements which are not visible in IE.

If you are using an older web browser other than IE, you may find it worth your while to upgrade to the latest version. Newer versions tend to be faster, more stable and support more features than older versions.

Once again, welcome to my new weblog design. I hope you like it!

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for the last two days. The reason is quite simple. I’ve been almost done with a new site design and I’ve been putting (more than) my available time into fixing that “one last thing” for the last two days. What is it that they say about development projects? The first 80% of the project takes 80% of the estimated time, and the last 20% takes the another 80% of the estimated time. Well I’ve been in that last 20% for a while now.

There is one thing I’ve learned from all this. Internet Explorer is complete garbage. Even the latest versions don’t fully support web standards such as CSS and they’re buggy about what they do support.

If you‘re using Internet Explorer, do everyone a favor and get a different web browser. Anything other than IE is an improvement. Not only will web designers everywhere thank you, you will also substantially improve the security of your machine. Firefox is currently a favorite on most platforms. Mac users also have even more choices than Windows users, with Safari and OmniWeb (my personal choice) in addition to Firefox.

Posting will resume Real Soon Now.

Vox Apologia II: Digital Salt

RazorsKiss has posted the results of the second Vox Apologia on the subject of “Digital Salt”. I was going to post a list of personal favorites, but they’re all so good that I couldn’t decide on just a few. Just go read them all.

Top Ten Reasons to Read Christian History

The archives of Christianity Today contain this excellent article on why it is critical for everyone to understand not just history, but also the Christian aspects of history.

Senator Rick Santorum on Evolution

Pennsylvania’s junior Senator, Rick Santorum, has written a very interesting article on the teaching of evolution in schools.

Charles Darwin wrote about his theory of evolution at a time when evidence was weak. In recent years, evidence of the complex circuits, miniature machines, sophisticated feedback loops, and digital information inside the cell has enabled scientists to poke holes in the principle evidence used to support evolution and therefore, more and more respected biologists are entering the debate as to the plausibility of evolution.

For these reasons, Darwin’s theory of evolution should not be taught as absolute fact in the science classroom. Instead, it should be taught as the leading and dominant scientific theory explaining the origin of species, but also as a theory subject to significant limitations, failed predictions and important criticisms.

(HT to The Black Kettle for the reference.)

More on Specter’s Schenanigans

According to this article, Senator Rick Santorum is now facing some fallout due to his support of Senator Spector instead of Representative Toomey in the Pennsylvania primaries. Now that Specter is once again showing his true (liberal) colors, conservatives are dissatisfied with Santorum’s support for a man who already had history of undermining conservative agendas and pushing liberal and statist agendas.

Personally, I’m not ready to throw Santorum out on his ear just over one mistake, even a whopper as big as this one. As long as he toes the line, he will still be better than any other candidates we are likely to see.

(HT to Hard Starbord for the link.)

It has been truly fascinating to watch the recent controversy over James Dobson’s complaints about the video being put out by the We Are Family Foundation. What makes it even more fascinating is that I’m currently working through a book with my kids on identifying logical fallacies called “The Fallacy Detective”. The counterattack against Dr. Dobson’s concerns has been impressively effective even though it’s based on two simple fallacies.

First, a straw man fallacy is set up to change Dr. Dobson’s concerns from “I’m concerned that they are pushing a pro-homosexual agenda” to “Dobson hates SpongeBob.” (Notice that they are not the same statement.) Then that straw man is being used as a red herring to drag the discussion away from the core issue, which is, “Is it really appropriate to be teaching six year olds that all kinds of behavior is acceptable?”

Serge at Imago Dei has an excellent take on why the video is so dangerous. He also has an excellent followup here where he posts an alternate “Tolerance Pledge” which is biblical:

Tolerance is a personal decision to value every individual based on the fact that every human being is made in the image of God (Imago Dei). I believe that our value does not come from our abilities, beliefs, cultures, race, or behaviors. Although some human beings may choose to behave in ways that are against their moral nature and divine design, I believe we should show them love and sensitively share with them the truth while respecting their value as human beings. 

Since marriage between a man and a woman fulfills God’s design and provides the best environment for human flourishing, I pledge for myself and to encourage others to restrict sexual activity to within the bounds of a covenant marriage. Not only will I tolerate others with a different point of view, I pledge to engage them in dialogue in order to respectfully speak the truth to them in love.

Go, Serge, Go!

Alan Levering added a comment pointing to this web page which discusses the pro-homosexual agenda of the We Are Family Foundation and their removal of content from their website in an attempt to cover up that agenda.

I will definitely have more to say on this subject in the future. Stay tuned…