Faith – Half A League Onward

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Dave Dentel · 1 Comment

Scholar: History Tolerated Slavery for Millenia. What Happened?

By Dave Dentel

In the past three hundred years, the kind of slavery that permits one human being to own another has gone from near universal acceptance to being all but eradicated.

Scholar David Brion Davis attempts to explain why this momentous transformation occurred in his dense and highly academic tome, Slavery and Human Progress.

Davis’s work is not so much a history of slavery and how it came to be (mostly) abolished as it is a recounting of what people have thought and said about the institution.

Posted on March 22, 2020March 22, 2020 by Dave Dentel

Scholar: American Founders’ Faith as Complex as It was Genuine

By Dave Dentel

Of all the things one could claim about America’s Founding Fathers, among the least controversial is to assert that their bold experiment in democracy also brought about expanded civil liberties—most notably for religious freedom.

But what inspired this achievement? More to the point, just what sort of personal faith did these men adhere to, and how did it affect them?

Posted on June 25, 2018March 5, 2020 by Dave Dentel

Apologetics Survey Weaves a Story You Can Believe

Man has been rebelling against God since well before the law was given on Mount Sinai, depicted here by Dore.

Godless despotism reached its apotheosis in the 20^th century, killing millions and wreaking destruction on a scale unequaled in human history.

These crimes no doubt did much to taint the flavor of atheism associated with this murderous movement and the particular political forms in which it was manifested: fascism and communism.

Posted on June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 by Dave Dentel

Amazing Maybe, But Grace Not So Much

Jesus music without Jesus—the acclaimed 1975 album from a notorious cult.

Posted on September 7, 2016September 8, 2016 by Dave Dentel

Saving the Planet from People: Book Chronicles “Fatal Cult of Anti-humanism”

Starving Irish beg for aid during the 19th century potato famine.

Posted on June 24, 2016October 31, 2019 by Dave Dentel

Same Old Story: Blame the Carnage on Christians



 Civil strife has been blamed on Christians since the days of Rome.

Christians with mouths agape at being made to share the guilt for the recent massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida would do well to consult history.

Posted on March 23, 2016August 22, 2016 by Dave Dentel

Standing (in a Long Line) for Religious Freedom

Some of my co-workers stand (or is it sit) vigil outside the Supreme Court building.

Some of my co-workers abandon office comforts
in order to wait for a spot to a Supreme Court case.

Even now, several of my officemates are camped outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in hopes of getting seats to tomorrow’s arguments in the latest Obamacare religious liberty appeal.

Posted on April 5, 2015August 20, 2016 by Dave Dentel

Religious Freedom and the Right to Discriminate

In their haste to denounce Indiana’s religious freedom law (before it was revised) as a license to discriminate, critics not only threatened a treasured American principle, they lost sight of a fundamental truth about human nature.

To paraphrase the insurance commercial: People discriminate. It’s what they do.

Posted on January 15, 2015August 20, 2016 by Dave Dentel

Charlie Hebdo Massacre no Redemption Story

Nothing about this is funny.

Not counting the perpetrators, some 16 French citizens lie dead, including several singled out and executed presumably in revenge for offending Islam.

Posted on December 24, 2014August 20, 2016 by Dave Dentel

Ignore the Godless Grinches. Jesus is for Real.

Slapping down heretics: St. Nicholas, the prototype of Santa Claus, got away with it at the Council of Nicea. But I wouldn’t recommend it nowadays—no matter how provoked you feel.

Time: Atheist Organization Decks Billboards with Christmas Jeer

Orlando Sentinel: Ban Displays at Capitol, Close Door to Absurdities

Washington Post: Did historical Jesus Really Exist? The Evidence Just doesn’t Add up.

Washington Post: Forget Santa Claus, Virginia. Was there a Jesus Christ?

Caesar’s Gallic Wars: How Old are the Manuscripts

Golden-throated crooners may tell us it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but informed Christians know better: The approach of Christmas also means the emergence of anti-yuletide cranks.

Half A League Onward

Tag: Faith