Rational Faith

This question needs both to be put in context and to be clarified. We are answering the questions and challenges collected by the late Tom Gilson on TheStream. As originally posted the question is:

“Hypocrite! If you love like you say God tells you to love, why don’t you immigrants coming in?“

So first off, we need to decide what the actual question is. The phrase “why don’t you [ ] immigrants coming in?” is missing a verb. Why don’t we what?  Want? Allow? Assist? Since the United States allows immigrants to come in once approved, and there are a number of Christian charities that assist immigrants who come, I will answer the question “Why don’t you want immigrants coming in the United States?” And I will also address the charge of hypocrisy. Continue Reading

With last week’s assassination of Charlie Kirk (X tribute | Archives: post video) still fresh on everyone’s mind, this seemed like a good time to address this question: “Why do Christians believe guns are good? Guns kill!” As usual, there is a fallacious assumption here, so let’s start with that. The assumption is of course that it is guns that kill, without recognizing that the gun is just the instrument of the person who is controlling it.

Saying that guns kill is like a student coming home from school and telling his parents, “My pencil failed my tests today.” Would any parent accept that? Would you accept that? Of course not. Pencils do not take tests by themselves. An agent is in control of the pencil, and the pencil is merely a tool by which the intention of the agent is manifested.  Continue Reading