evil :: The Tentative Apologist

Post tagged with evil

Pedophiles and rock stars: A reflection on “The Woodsman”

April 16th, 201111:08 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

"The Woodsman" opens with convicted pedophile Walter (Kevin Bacon) returning home after a twelve year stint in prison. Not surprisingly, he finds that his entire support network has evaporated. After all, who wants to be associated with a pedophile?But how blurred the criteria of social condemnation can be. In the late eighties the glam metal band ...
How Haiti's earthquake has shaken us all

January 26th, 201001:49 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

The horror of major disasters like the recent Haiti earthquake are best viewed from the air, or through the safe distance of an endless catalogue of mind-numbing statistics. As of today, Tuesday January 26, estimates are perhaps 200,000 dead, 250,000 injured, and 1.5 million homeless. The numbers simply transcend our ability to calculate the m...
"The Lovely Bones," and why Roger Ebert will not like a film version of "The Shack"

January 22nd, 201011:27 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Film critic Roger Ebert clearly did not like the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. While I haven't read the book or seen the movie, I certainly found Ebert's review revealing. Ebert is one of the most interesting film critics to read, especially in reviews like this where he dons his moralistic hat. (As you read the excerpts of th...
How dare religious zealots blame Haiti for its misery

January 18th, 201011:58 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

I took upon myself a most modest task. Critique the monstrous claim of Pat Robertson that the terrible earthquake that has decimated Haiti was a result of God's providential judgment on the nation. Apparently Robertson has more support among conservative Christians than I had wanted to believe. Four of the respondents in the thread came out actuall...
A Tale of Two Murderers, one Christian and one Atheist

November 01st, 200909:51 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Scenario A: Alex the Christian Murderer Alex is a Christian active in his church, a deacon and Sunday school teacher. One day Alex comes to hold the belief that God wants him to kill his wife, and so he strangles her and then flees the city. Alex is picked up a few days later in a neighboring state and the media is saturated with images and storie...
The day my friend was healed of cancer

June 27th, 200910:10 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

"Paula" had been struggling with cancer for several years. Numerous experimental drugs and risky surgeries had all failed to stop the spread of the disease; it seemed like every new week would bring a new email in the inbox with yet another sober announcement from her husband "Aaron": "the cancer has spread." "The tests were disappointing." "Tumor ...