- A Crack in the Wall
The Garden • July 30, 2007
The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that promotes intelligent design creationism, is infamous for its authorship of a secret document called the "Wedge Strategy", which lays out their plan to overthrow the theory of evolution and "replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and hurnan beings are created by God". The leak [...]
- Poetry Sunday: Creation
The Foyer • July 29, 2007
The third installment of Daylight Atheism's Poetry Sunday is some time overdue. Once again, I'd like to welcome back Philip Appleman, whose contribution this week is the poem "Creation". (I will feature other poets - but Professor Appleman has written so many beautiful works, I can't resist sharing them with my readers.)
The Lascaux cave complex [...]
- How to Think Critically III: Randomness
The Observatory • July 28, 2007
I've written before that the human mind is a pattern-seeking engine. We are wired by evolution to seek cause-and-effect relationships in the world around us, and when there are relationships to be found, we often do very well. The problem is when there are no causal relationships to be found. People in such situations often [...]
- Why I Am Not a Libertarian III
The Library • July 26, 2007
Opportunity and Obligation
One of the driving notions behind libertarian political theory is that society should be a meritocracy. By removing all restraints on competition, we will create a system where the hardest-working, most talented, most creative people succeed. And this is a good idea which I agree with. We need to encourage effort and innovation [...]
- Why Do They Care?
The Loft • July 24, 2007
In the summer of 2006, Republican Senator David Vitter (about whom you might have heard some news lately) said the following about a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage:
"I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one," said Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. "I think this debate is very healthy, [...]
- Not Being an Angry Atheist
The Garden • July 22, 2007
In the marketplace of ideas, atheists and atheism are still fighting to carve out a place. We have made some dramatic gains, but our long-term success is not yet assured. The sheer novelty of our message has, no doubt, attracted much interest and attention, but we must still work to win an established place in [...]
- Book Review: The Assault on Reason
The Library • July 20, 2007
Summary: A blistering, brilliant counterattack on the forces that have conspired to undermine American democracy.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's The Assault on Reason is a passionate, scathing book that paints a clear picture of where America has gone wrong. Our democracy is far from dead, but as events of recent years have shown, it [...]
- Do You Really Believe That? (II)
The Observatory • July 18, 2007
The Tower of Babel
The second installment of "Do You Really Believe That?" will examine another classic Old Testament story, the Tower of Babel. According to this story, in the days after Noah's flood, all humanity spoke one language. Filled with pride and ambition, they came together and began to build a tower "whose top may [...]
- Why I Am Not a Libertarian II
The Library • July 16, 2007
Positive and Negative Liberty
The second major reason why I am not a libertarian has to do with the social safety net - programs like public education, universal health care, food stamps or unemployment pay - that are funded by redistributive taxation. Hard-core libertarians decry these programs as theft or even slavery, arguing that it is [...]
- The Basis for an Atheist's Morality
The Garden • July 14, 2007
Yesterday, the Washington Post published an editorial titled What Atheists Can't Answer. The author, Michael Gerson, is an influential evangelical Christian and was formerly George W. Bush's chief speechwriter.
Compared to most attacks on atheism, including a few I've rebutted recently, Gerson's essay is fair and honest. He rightfully steers clear of the slanderous and [...]
- An Incident in the Senate
The Rotunda • July 12, 2007
The U.S. Senate traditionally opens each day's session with a prayer, and today's was a first: the invocation was given by Rajan Zed, a Hindu priest who was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. This was the first time a representative of Hinduism has ever been invited to do this.
However, there was an [...]
- Breaking Down Barriers
The Garden • July 11, 2007
Have you ever spent a long time debating someone and trying to persuade them, before ultimately realizing that it was all wasted breath and that they weren't really listening to you at all?
This has happened to me more than once. I've had e-mail conversations with theists, some of which went on for weeks and involved [...]
- Know-Nothings
The Loft • July 9, 2007
"We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess, vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your Bible and the works of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans and your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We want one fact. [...]
- A Reply from D.J. Grothe
The Foyer • July 7, 2007
A few days ago, I criticized Matt Nisbet and D.J. Grothe for asserting that "there is no such thing" as discrimination against atheists, in the post "Atheism Is a Civil Rights Issue". I also wrote to Grothe to raise some of the points made in that post, asking him if he stood by his claim [...]
- The Eisenhower Test
The Rotunda • July 6, 2007
The campaign of Mitt Romney, a Mormon, for the Republican presidential nomination has caused rifts within the party's base, as evangelical Christians agonize over whether they could support a candidate who believes slightly different things about God than they do. The latest spat in this conflict comes in a post by Albert Mohler, president of [...]
- Book Update
The Foyer • July 5, 2007
I've finished the fourth chapter of my book, which deals with the argument from reasonable nonbelief and draws on the Ebon Musings essay "One More Burning Bush", plus its subsidiaries.
As before, any regular commenter who's interested in reading the chapter and offering feedback is welcome to do so. E-mail me or leave a comment if [...]
- America the Paradox
The Rotunda • July 4, 2007
On this Fourth of July, I've been giving careful thought to what this day signifies. For Americans, this is a date that means more than barbecue grills in the backyard or colorful stars blossoming in the night sky, more even than patriotic music and red-white-and-blue flags rippling in the breeze. These are time-tested symbols, but [...]
- Atheism Is a Civil Rights Issue
The Rotunda • July 2, 2007
Back in April, I noted with dismay when science writer Chris Mooney urged atheists to be silent and not voice their views, lest they provoke negative reactions from religious people. Now his partner in that effort, Matthew Nisbet, has written a far worse post along the same lines which has stirred up a hornet's nest [...]
