- How Much Good Do Religious Charities Really Do?
The Rotunda • March 31, 2010
I just finished reading Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book on what we can do to improve the status of women worldwide. One of the book's major arguments is that, despite their opposition to abortion and contraception, religious groups often do more good than secular liberals give them credit for:
Religious conservatives... have [...]
- The Widening Vortex of Catholic Scandal
The Rotunda • March 30, 2010
Lately, it seems that no matter how often I write about the ever-widening story of Roman Catholic bishops and the Pope protecting child molesters, new details keep bubbling up that demand another update. Well, I'm happy to oblige.
Here's what we know so far. Pope Benedict XVI, back in the late 1970s when he was Cardinal [...]
- No Payment For Prayer: Christian Science and Health Care Reform
The Rotunda • March 29, 2010
With the historic passage of sweeping health insurance reform, Americans have reason to rejoice this week. For the first time, and despite hysterical opposition from the party of conspiracy nuts and theocrats, our government has enshrined in law the idea that every citizen has a right to affordable health care. Even if the law is [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • March 27, 2010
Editor's Note: Earlier this month, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Information Wars
The Observatory • March 26, 2010
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 9
How likely is the spontaneous origin of life? In chapter 9, Stephen Meyer likens it to one of those tornado-in-a-junkyard scenarios that creationists love so much:
"Imagine trying to generate even a simple book by throwing Scrabble letters onto the floor. Or imagine closing your eyes and picking Scrabble letters [...]
- Crafting a Rational Theology
The Loft • March 24, 2010
As atheists, we're well acquainted with the irrationalities of the world's religions. We've seen it all before: the absurdities in holy books, the convoluted twists of logic used by professional apologists, the self-contradictions and incoherent definitions that the faithful swallow without a qualm. All that can safely be taken for granted. Now let's see if [...]
- Book Review: Half the Sky
The Library • March 22, 2010
Summary: A wrenching chronicle of the injustices and preventable evils committed against women around the world. The bright spots are few and far between, but that should only instill readers with a greater sense of urgency to do something about all this. I felt intense pangs of conscience while reading this book; you probably will [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • March 21, 2010
Editor's Note: Earlier this month, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- Weekly Link Roundup
The Foyer • March 20, 2010
• It's about time! The SEC has charged a psychic with securities fraud for claiming to be able to supernaturally foretell the direction of the market.
• The staff of IslamOnline, a Cairo-based journalism website that offers a platform for liberal and reformist views, have gone on strike over plans by the Qatari owners to impose [...]
- What Is Humanism?
The Garden • March 19, 2010
I've written on the meanings of freethought and secularism, and in the third entry of this series, I want to discuss humanism. More so than the other two, humanism is a complex and fully formed life philosophy, so it'll take the most effort to adequately define.
Most concisely stated, humanism is the worldview which treats human [...]
- Britain, Fix Your Libel Laws!
The Rotunda • March 17, 2010
Legal observers have noted for some time that the laws governing defamation in the United Kingdom are far more plaintiff-friendly than similar laws in the U.S. In the U.S., anyone claiming they were libeled has to prove that the allegedly libelous statements were false. But in the U.K., the burden of proof is reversed: the [...]
- What Did the Pope Know and When Did He Know It?
The Rotunda • March 15, 2010
When I reported on the emerging Catholic sex-abuse scandal in Germany, it crossed my mind that the Pope is German. But I hadn't ever imagined that he'd have any personal connection to the allegations and confessions now being made there.
Well, it looks like I was wrong:
A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • March 13, 2010
Editor's Note: Earlier this month, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- God's Failed Land Promise
The Library • March 11, 2010
In the early chapters of Genesis, Yahweh makes a sweeping promise to Abraham, forefather of the Jewish people:
"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."
—Genesis 15:18
As I've mentioned in the past, [...]
- The Loving Compassion of the Catholic Church
The Rotunda • March 9, 2010
A few weeks ago, I mentioned briefly that the Catholic church had threatened to pull out of Washington, D.C., ending the social services they provide for thousands of people, if the city council passed a law recognizing same-sex marriage. Well, the council did pass the bill, same-sex marriage is now legal in D.C. (congratulations!), and [...]
- The Case for a Creator: Soup's On!
The Observatory • March 8, 2010
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 9
Chapter 9 is ostensibly about the origin of biological information, but what it's really about is the origin of life. We've discussed this in part in an earlier chapter, but Meyer has some other objections to raise.
First up, Strobel raises the question of the "prebiotic soup" - the [...]
- Meet a Foundation Beyond Belief Member
The Garden • March 7, 2010
Editor's Note: This past week, I wrote an essay encouraging atheists to join the Foundation Beyond Belief, a new charitable group doing good for human beings and the world in the name of freethought. I also offered to write a front-page post interviewing anyone who agreed to join the Foundation as a result of hearing [...]
- Fossilized Opinions
The Rotunda • March 6, 2010
Sam Harris is famous for the argument that religion, even moderate religion, does harm by teaching that faith is a virtue that should not be questioned, which encourages militant and violent strains of fundamentalism. Today, I want to talk about another way, subtle but unmistakable, that religion causes harm to human beings.
Because of its tendency [...]
- An Atheist at Liberty University, Part IV
The Loft • March 4, 2010
Our next stop was the Liberty campus bookstore. It was run by Barnes & Noble, and it looked pretty much like any other campus bookstore. I was surprised by the range of books available there, some of which I would have expected to be verboten on campus - from Neil Gaiman's American Gods to Jeff [...]
- Atheists, Do Some Good: Join the Foundation Beyond Belief
The Garden • March 2, 2010
Over the past year or so, I've become increasingly aware that, for the atheist movement to make a difference, speaking out isn't enough. Speech is a valuable tool, but it isn't the only tool. Almost as important is our money and our effort - the way we spend it, and the causes we support. To [...]
- The Case for a Creator: The Illusion of Parity
The Observatory • March 1, 2010
The Case for a Creator, Chapter 9
Chapter 9 of Case is about abiogenesis. It seems Strobel couldn't find any actual molecular biologists or organic chemists who support ID and were willing to speak with him about it, so it's back for another talk with Stephen Meyer, the philosopher already interviewed in chapter 4. With cheerful [...]
