I will give props to HBO, it has consistently produced great dramas including Game of Thrones, The Sopranos and True Detective but, despite being a purely capitalistic enterprise (i.e., pay to watch), it has always inexplicably leaned left.  Now it is producing the movie The Normal Heart, which is a film version of the nearly thirty year old play about a homosexual activist trying to bring attention to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the early 1980′s. This isn’t HBO’s first foray into this area, it produced the movie …And the Band Played On and the mini-series Angels in America.  Of course HBO is not alone, Hollywood has produced a number of films about AIDS including Philadelphia, Longtime Companion and the very well written and produced Dallas Buyer’s Club.

“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that “suits” him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters

This past week pastor Tullian Tchividjian was dismissed from The Gospel Coalition (or TGC).  The leadership of TGC insists it was over disagreements about the doctrine of sanctification.  Pastor Tchividjian, who is the grandson of Billy Graham, believes it was really about his criticism of reformed leaders C.J. Mahaney and Josh Harris who are accused of covering up sexual abuse at their church. I will give the folks at TGC the benefit of a doubt and chalk it up to theological differences but that disturbs me as well.

Whenever I share my journey in faith and highlight how apologetics helped save my belief in Christ, I am attacked on social media as capitulating to “carnal reason” instead of trusting the Holy Spirit.  Now, with such folks, it is usually a waste of time to show how this is a false dichotomy or how reformed epistemology addresses this topic but it isn’t just the average “Twitter Christian” who is hostile to defending the faith. Recently, philosopher Myron Penner has argued for an approach to the faith that is more inline with the fideism of Soren Kierkegaard and his book on the subject, (which is a hot mess) won honorable mention from Christianity Today as one of the best works of last year.

While all of you were thanking God that you’re not Mark Cuban, I was compiling the Three Things You Need to Read this Week:

An atheist on Facebook objected to one of my posts where I claimed I was depressed when I didn’t believe in God because I knew without a deity, life had no purpose.  He claimed that if God existed, He would be a  purposeless being who could not grant purpose to others.  Is he right?

Philosopher James Anderson crafted a wonderful post over at The Gospel Coalition entitled Can Life Have Meaning Without God?.  He argued we naturally ask whether our lives have purpose, that is whether they are directed toward some goal or end.  He asserts we also ask if our lives have significance, that is :whether they count for anything as part of greater whole. Third, we want to know whether our lives have value. Is my life worth anything overall? Is it better lived than not? Is the world a better place for having my life as part of it?”