Deacon Duncan

Author's details

Date registered: August 22, 2011

Biography

I gave my life to Jesus, but he didn't want it. Born-again in my mid teens, graduated from a conservative Christian college, Sunday school teacher, deacon, occasional lay preacher, amateur cantor (in my Russian Orthodox years), and lastly, atheist, deconverting in my early 40's.

Latest posts

  1. Episode 2: Superstition — May 7, 2013
  2. What I did this weekend — April 1, 2013
  3. The dreaded burnout — March 3, 2013
  4. Wielding your sword by the blade — February 17, 2013
  5. Top 5 — February 12, 2013

Most commented posts

  1. The point of viability — 195 comments
  2. The nuanced position — 170 comments
  3. Atheism+: A legitimate concern — 112 comments
  4. The historical Jesus — 93 comments
  5. Well darn. — 71 comments

Author's posts listings

May 07 2013

Episode 2: Superstition

Took me longer to finish this than I had hoped, but here it is: Life After Jesus: Superstition from Deacon Duncan on Vimeo.

Apr 01 2013

What I did this weekend

Some of you may be wondering what I’m doing with all that free time now that I’m not slaving away over laboriously hand-typed blog posts. Well, here’s a partial answer. Life After Jesus (Teaser) from Deacon Duncan on Vimeo.

Mar 03 2013

The dreaded burnout

I guess I can’t deny it: I’ve hit the wall again. I’ve come to dread the thought of writing another blog article, even if it’s only once per week. It’s time for a hiatus. I’ve had this sort of experience before, and it generally resolves on its own after a while. Basically, what I’m going …

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Feb 17 2013

Wielding your sword by the blade

For this week’s installment of Pastor Feinstein’s presuppositional apologetics, I actually find a point the Pastor got right. Only one, though—the rest of the time his reasoning is more like a man trying to do battle using a sword with no hilt.

Feb 12 2013

Top 5

Attention Twitter fans: are you having trouble deciding what to say about the news that ill health is forcing the pope to retire? Here’s a quick list of Top Five 3-Word Responses to the news: 5. It’s a start. 4. What, no cops? 3. Prayer failed, eh? 2. He deserves it.

Feb 10 2013

Shells and switches

One of the most important reasons why creationism does not belong in the classroom is because creationism promotes superstitious thinking, which is the antithesis of scientific thinking. Trying to think superstitiously about science really screws things up, and in today’s excerpt from Pastor Stephen Feinstein’s reply to Russell Glasser, we find an almost prototypical example.

Feb 03 2013

The Gypsy Curse

Over at Evangelical Realism, we’re continuing our look at Pastor Stephen Feinstein’s debate with Russell Glasser, and I I can’t help but think of a post I did a few years ago about Jesus and the Gypsy Curse. It’s like a scene from an old B-grade black-and white horror flick: Jesus is walking down some …

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Feb 02 2013

Mayberry Machiavellis

While I’m currently snowed under (literally and figuratively), here’s some interesting reading, from Religion Dispatches, on George W. Bush’s first “faith czar,” and his praise for Obama’s faith-based initiatives. John J. DiIulio, the first director of George W. Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, has taken to the Washington Post to laud President Obama’s …

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Feb 02 2013

Format change

Just a quick note: I’m switching to a more-or-less weekends only format, due to my day-job requirements. Much as I love blogging, I have to have weekdays clear to focus on my profession and still leave some time for myself and my family. I might be able to squeeze in a weekday post now and …

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Jan 29 2013

A surprising enemy

Over at latimes.com, they’re reporting that the dishonestly-named “Defense of Marriage” Act has an enemy that may surprise you. One of the nation’s leading gay-rights advocacy groups, the Human Rights Campaign, has formed a coalition of major companies calling for the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. It’s no surprise, of course, that …

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