cogito

As usual, I’ve gone and made a big announcement that I’m “coming back to blogging” and then followed it up with … nothing.

For those of you that are interested, here is a quick update on my various goings-on:

• I’m back in school finishing up my philosophy degree and enjoying it immensely. I’m currently in Metaphysics and Judaic Religion (both with the venerable Martin Yaffe). I’m tucking away a lot of fodder for Cogito (see below).
• I finally got Perk-O-Late (the coffee blog) off the ground, and it is growing splendidly. I recommend checking it out at Perk-O-Late.com.
• For those of you that read this blog for my commentary on religion and philosophy, as always, thank you so much for your interest. I enjoy writing, even if just for myself, but knowing that there are people reading makes it all the more enjoyable. I have a lot of ideas (as I recently described), and I actually plan to address them soon.

I am currently (re-)reading Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics. I look forward to writing about his true, philosophical notion of intelligent design (not the modern, oft-confused, politicized version). Contrary to the claims of dogmatic atheists, the concept of an intelligent Designer, separate and apart from specific religious faith can and does exist and has since the beginning of time of Greek philosophy.

Aristotle, who is in many ways the father of our scientific vernacular (and a role model for jargon-less philosophical exploration) came to the conclusion that there was an intelligent designer responsible for nature. That’s as far as he went. He stopped short of naming Him or claiming particular providence, which would require faith. Modern “science” has a lot to learn from Aristotle with regard to philosophical honesty. I’ll be saying more on this topic in the near future.

Peace!

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It wasn’t an intentional hiatus, but I just realized it has been seven months since I wrote my last post. Statistically speaking, a break that long should have cost me all of my subscribers, but a surprising number of loyal (or lazy?) readers have stuck with me through the downtime.

But I’m back and I’m looking forward to writing regularly as well as trying to more precisely define the content of Cogito. I encourage everyone to subscribe to the RSS feed, and I will be enabling subscription by e-mail for those that prefer that medium. If all goes as planned posts will generally fall under the following topics:

• Science & Faith - Historically I have written on the topic of “apologetics”, or what has become widely (and politically) known as “Intelligent Design.” While I think this topic is very important in certain contexts, my views concerning the purpose of so-called “apologetics” has changed quite a bit. I will expound on this more in a future post, but it essentially comes down to Romans 1:20:
  

  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

  That is, the evidence is there and - like the parables Christ used as teaching tools - the information itself naturally provokes polar reactions (faith vs. skepticism). Those that want to disbelieve will always find ways to do so; therefore, I don’t know that an evangelistic focus should be given to disproving theories that exist solely as reasons to disbelieve. On the other hand, we should consider the evidence in light of our belief in God and let it further kindle the faith of those who have seeking hearts. I plan to write more about this soon. I don’t believe the creation vs. evolution debate is directly constructive to the salvation of souls; Overall, it is nothing more than an ingenious distraction.

• Religion & Current Events - Religion is in the news on a daily basis. Sadly, the great majority of this news is negative. Wrong-headed and false religion is responsible for more turmoil in this world than skepticism and unbelief. What has gone wrong? What are the sources of all the violence, misunderstanding and vastly different “interpretations” of a single book? These are all things I’d like to analyze as they arise in mainstream news.
• Getting at the heart of what it means to be a Christian - I’ve witnessed a lot of politics, scriptural dishonesty and downright hatred of brethren in my young life and it has disquieted me to a point of questioning everything and re-examining/re-tooling my beliefs in light of scripture. It is so easy to become comfortable in what you are taught, regardless of it’s validity. So, I count desire to question and prove as a great blessing. As a young, newly-married, American male I face mountains of spiritual struggles. I don’t intend to hide those as I explore what it means to be a Christian in this modern age. We are all human and fallible at best. Until we recognize that as a fundamental fact, we will always proceed with unrealistic expectations met by inevitable disappointment. I want this blog to be a place of honesty as well as encouragement. Being a Christian in a corrupt and materialistic world isn’t easy and none of us should pretend it is.

I will also be posting the occasional links to things I find of general interest, but for the most part this is my roadmap for the future of Cogito. As far as the reasons for my extended silence, I have been extraordinarily busy with a variety of exciting ventures. Among them are two soon-to-launch websites that I encourage you to check out (and share with your friends)

• For iPhone owners there is iPhonicka.com, which is a resource for all things iPhone (software and accessorie reviews, guides, news, contests and more).
• For coffee lovers (like myself) we will soon be launching Perk-O-Late, a collection of news, reviews, brewing techniques and more.

Both sites should be fun and informative.

As always, thanks for reading Cogito and your comments are always welcome!

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Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, will use a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson during his ceremonial swearing-in today.

According to CNN.com, Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert said the new congressman “wants this to be a special day, and using Thomas Jefferson’s Quran makes it even more special.”

“Jefferson’s Quran dates religious tolerance to the founders of our country,” he added.

The fact that Jefferson owned a Quran doesn’t necessarily speak to his tolerance at all. Jefferson also owned several Bibles (and even created his own), but had very little tolerance for “clergy” of any stripe. He didn’t believe Jesus to be the son of God or believe in miracles. Jefferson is best known for his desire to isolate religion, and an honest look at this nation’s history reveals a lot about his relationship to Islam. It isn’t what I would call tolerance.
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