Fred's Blog

Category: Religion

  • Confessions of Faith

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    Fred Rothganger
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    The biggest lesson my parents taught me was the love of truth. They were Christian missionaries, in the business of convincing other people to change their most fundamental beliefs about the world. They offered the one true Truth that stood above all others. There is such a thing as absolute reality. It’s worth knowing, even…

  • Information Death

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    Fred Rothganger
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    My mother died this morning. She was on life-support for hours as we agonized about when to let her go. Was her brain already dead, or was there a chance she could wake? We decided that if her heart stopped again, they should not do another CPR. Then her EKG line gradually faded away. Did…

  • Theology of the Quran

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I recently read a translation of the Quran (reviewed on Amazon). The main motivation was to better understand how Muslims think. Partly this is background for a character I’m writing. Partly I just want to know whether Islam really teaches the kind of violence we westerners have come to associate with it. Based only on…

  • Good Death

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Without being specific, there have been occasions when someone died and I felt like things were better because of their passing. For a few, I’d like to dance on their grave like that scene in the Scrouge musical (“Thank you very much, that’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me.”) For others, it’s…

  • Belief in Democracy

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    Fred Rothganger
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    A few months ago I considered making a post that asked the following question: “If Trump announced that he is suspending the constitution, dissolving congress, and that he is the only authority, would you still follow him?” My guess was that about 5-10 of my more extreme social-media friends would have actually said yes. Then…

  • The relationship between Humans and Nature

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Some of my favorite quotes regarding natural consequences: “In the law of God, there is no statute of limitations.” — Robert Lewis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde “Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and…

  • You are precious

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I believe that individual human beings are the most valuable thing in the universe. Your mind, with the unique experiences that have formed your view of the world, and the well-being of the body that carries that mind, are very important to me. I won’t pretend to always live up to this principle. I’m a…

  • Torture

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    Fred Rothganger
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    One meaning of “litmus test” is a single issue on which you judge a candidate. Someone who says the right thing on, for example abortion, gets your vote regardless of any other moral failings they have. A candidate’s position on torture should be a litmus test. Of course, this would never be adopted by the…

  • Science Fiction and Fantasy

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    Fred Rothganger
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    The literary world wants to combine the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy under a larger umbrella called Speculative Fiction. Seems reasonable, but there is a real difference between the two. One way to explain this is to show you the Scale of Science Fiction Hardness on TV Tropes. You could view this as a…

  • Is the Universe personal?

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    Fred Rothganger
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    This summer I battled the elements to finish the exterior of my “doomstead”, an underground house that Crystal and I are building. We needed to wrap the thing in several layers of plastic and Styrofoam. Unfortunately, both of those can blow away in the wind rather easily, and you can’t tape them together when they…