I am a graduate of medicine and theology with a Ph.D in medical ethics. I tutor in medical ethics at the University of Melbourne, am an (occasional) adjunct Lecturer in Ethics at Ridley Melbourne, and a voluntary researcher with Ethos. I am also a Fellow of ISCAST and a past chair of the Melbourne Chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality. I have special interests in professional ethics, sexual ethics and the ethics of virtue.
by Jesse Galef – It’s so easy to make someone’s day better. I’m a big fan of Improv Everywhere, who stage elaborate public displays of randomness (their most famous event is probably the annual No-Pants Subway Ride). Apart from public spectacle, they have a knack to make onlookers smile and appreciate the brief detour from the mundane, expected, daily life. But I’ve never seen them do it in a more simple fashion than in The High Five Escalator. One of… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Rowan Atkinson had such a great sketch as the devil, I went looking for more. And lo and behold, I found another hilarious bit of him as a vicar extolling the amazing entertainment of this Jesus character: Wouldn’t it be fun to perform this? (By the way, if you didn’t get the ending, don’t feel bad – neither did I. But it made more sense after checking out the wikipedia page.) Enjoy your Friday! Read more
by Jesse Galef – Yesterday I asked how you would react to someone praying for you. Your reactions spanned the gamut, as I expected. There’s one type of response I wanted to specifically address, because I think it’s a common one: why would I possibly object to someone trying to be nice? I was originally motivated to write yesterday’s post after Chris Stedman of the Interfaith Youth Core tweeted the question. I’ve met Chris in person a few times -… Read more
by Jesse Galef – How do you feel when people say they’re praying for you? I’m not talking about them praying for you to “find your way” (which I find rather condescending) but the times they genuinely care about your well-being and think their prayers will help. Two days ago, Rev. Robert Barron wrote a piece on CNN.com about why Christians should pray for Hitchens. They got enough responses from both sides that CNN posted a new piece yesterday entitled… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Yesterday, Hemant implied that we can’t know anything about the afterlife, and called out the evangelical Charisma magazine for printing an FAQ about Heaven. (Turns out we have jobs in Heaven…) Well, I don’t read Charisma magazine, so I don’t know what it said about Hell. But I already know what it must be like. I have it on good authority: Rowan Atkinson before he starred as Mr. Bean. It looks like we’ll be seeing the… Read more
