Benoy's Blog

I hear so much about the apparent inconsistency of the Pro-lifers supporting capital punishment, yet also supporting the right to life for unborn children. Could this be a misunderstanding by the Pro-Choice group? Here is my humble attempt to clear up this confusion. First of all, I would like to define some of the common terms we all use. Murder – Killing an innocent human being for your own convenience Capital punishment – One of the methods of punishment a state chooses for criminals who have committed heinous crimes. Killing - Taking the life of a human being Here is the most often used argument by the Pro-Choice group: It is inconsistent to be a pro-lifer and also support capital punishment because by supporting capital punishment, you are NOT supporting life. On the surface level, this appears to be inconsistent. Let us look at it closely. What is the Pro-Life position? It is that human beings have intrinsic value and should be considered valuable, and...

The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone for Christianity. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, Christianity, just like many other religions is a set of belief systems which cannot be validated in any objective ways. So, for any skeptics, it’s a very simple task to show that Christianity is false – all they have to do is to show that Jesus never rose from the dead. After all, resurrection of Jesus is a historical claim, not a scientific claim. Just like any other historical claim, all of us can verify this historical claim and come to a probable conclusion. Many folks reject the resurrection of Jesus on the basis of philosophical reasons, not historical reasons. Their argument goes like this: Every event should have a natural explanation (miracle\supernatural cannot happen) There is no natural explanation for the resurrection of Jesus Therefore, the resurrection of Jesus is not true This is a valid logical argument and in a valid logical argument, the conclusi...

God, Religion, & Government     From recent discussions with many of my friends, it seems to me that there is quite a bit of confusion between the meanings of the words ‘God’, ‘religion’, and ‘government'. Many people think that by referring to 'God', one is automatically bringing religion into the discussion. Is this really true, though? This article is my humble attempt to clear up this confusion. Belief in God Vs. Existence of God     First, let us look at the word “God” and see what it means. When referring to 'God', I am referring to a Supreme Being who is the Creator of all that exists. The word ‘God’ doesn’t automatically translate to Krishna, Allah, Jesus, or any other such deities. 'God' is the most plausible conclusion to the following logical arguments: The Cosmological Argument shows the necessity of a timeless, spaceless, and immaterial Being who caused this universe to exist. The Teleological Argument ...

Many people mistakenly claim that the Bible supports slavery. The intention of this article is to show that the claim is not true. (I will be using several passages from a very enlightening book by Paul Copan titled “Is God a Moral Monster.” I would encourage you to get that book for an in-depth study on this subject) First of all, we normally think of the word slavery as we have seen in the antebellum South (prewar). We hear horrible stories of this wretched practice and we know deep in our hearts that “slavery” is evil. But the big question is this – when the Bible uses the word “slavery,” what is its meaning? Does it equate with the meaning of slavery that we know today? As we all agree, it’s very important to interpret any ancient writings in their proper context. Having said that, let us analyze slavery in the Bible. What we find in the Bible is not slavery like we had in the antebellum South; rather, it is indentured service. Hebrew servanthood could be compared to...

I was prompted to write this after observing my atheist friends call anyone who disagreed with them idiots. An atheist is one who knows for sure that God doesn’t exist and thus there are no “absolutes.” In their world view, everything is relative. (I want to clarify something here – most of my atheist friends live very peaceful lives, they are kind, and they are faithful in their marriages. I am not saying that these atheists are immoral people.) Let us consider a scenario: Jack is an atheist and Andrew is a theist. Jack believes in a set of ideas, which we will call Idea Set A (ISA). Andrew believes in another set of ideas, which we will call Idea Set B (ISB). Jack calls Andrew an idiot because ISB (Andrew’s set of ideas) is different from ISA (Jack’s set of ideas). Jack knows for sure that ISA is BETTER than ISB, which is why he calls Andrew an idiot. So now, let us analyze the situation: If I say that my idea is objectively better than yours, what does that mean...

Dear friends, I have been meaning to share something in my heart with you for some time.  I hope you will not be uncomfortable with me for expressing my heart.  I also hope you will read this letter in its entirety before passing any judgment. When we buy something fantastic, whether it’s a washing machine, car or house, don’t we get excited about it? And let us say if you have used that washing machine or that car for some time and you are really satisfied with what you have purchased, don’t you want to tell your friends about it? Is there anything wrong with that? After all, don’t you want your friends also enjoy the benefits you are enjoying now?  Don’t you think it’s completely normal to do that? I believe that when it comes to spiritual topics, we should think the same way.  What I’ve found is that we usually don’t want anyone to tell us about something they found very interesting about a spiritual or religious matter. They may be enjoying the benefits of ...