- Treating Demon Possession with Antipsychotics
The Observatory • March 30, 2011
As I've written in the past, modern Christianity has never outgrown the demoniac fixation of its founders, who believed that evil spirits were constantly on the prowl and assaulting them. People like Gary Collins - an evangelical, a clinical psychologist, and the head of a 15,000-member association of Christian counselors - still believes, based not [...]
- The Necessity of Hell
The Loft • March 28, 2011
After my earlier post on this subject, Slacktivist has written several follow-up posts about the evangelical freak-out over the news that one of their own may not believe in Hell:
For Mohler, as for most of Team Hell, we can see that there are two distinct categories. On the one hand there is what is "clearly [...]
- The Language of God: Intelligent Design
The Observatory • March 27, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 9
By B.J. Marshall
The subtitle to this chapter is "When Science Needs Divine Help," which immediately sets up a couple of problems. First, is Collins asserting that Intelligent Design (ID) is science? Second, where does divine help fit in with the application of the scientific method? In response to the first, [...]
- The Contributions of Freethinkers: Ursula K. LeGuin
The Loft • March 25, 2011
Although I've highlighted the lives of some amazing feminists on Daylight Atheism, I don't want to give the impression that the only thing women can be famous for is fighting for the rights of women. Today's post is a reminder that freethinking women have made their mark in other areas of human culture as well.
Science [...]
- Activists, Beware the Veal Pen
The Rotunda • March 23, 2011
Ophelia and Hemant have pointed out that the White House is creating an "Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge" to encourage college students and religious groups to work on community-service projects. What's more, Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard, was invited to the kickoff meeting, and he's overjoyed:
I can vouch for the fact that [...]
- Weekly Link Roundup
The Foyer • March 22, 2011
• Greta Christina posts her completed list of atheists of color.
• In early 1981, Carl Sagan sent this letter to the Explorers' Club - an international society dedicated to scientific exploration - regarding their men-only admission policy. Several months later, the first female members were admitted. (HT: Geek Feminism Blog)
• Johann Hari writes about "the [...]
- Movie Review: Agora
The Library • March 21, 2011
When I wrote my review of Creation last year, a commenter suggested I see Agora, the 2009 film by Alejandro Amenábar about Hypatia of Alexandria. It took me a long time to get around to doing that, but I've finally seen it, and it was worth the wait. It only had a very limited theatrical [...]
- The Language of God: YEC is Dumb
The Observatory • March 20, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 8
By B.J. Marshall
I can summarize this chapter by quoting Collins himself: "Thus, by any reasonable standard, Young Earth Creationism [YEC] has reached a point of intellectual bankruptcy" (p.177). He spends the bulk of this chapter providing reasons why YEC is horribly flawed, and then he concludes with a "plea to [...]
- A Guide to God-Spotting
The Library • March 19, 2011
Some of my favorite atheist writers have been jousting over the issue of whether any imaginable evidence could convince them of the existence of God. Among those who answer in the negative, the consensus seems to be that God is such a nebulous and unfalsifiable hypothesis, it's impossible to test in any meaningful way.
This [...]
- Swimming in a Sea of Pseudoscience
The Observatory • March 18, 2011
This past weekend, I was out at brunch when I saw a rack of free magazines in the restaurant's foyer. I picked out one of them, which as it turned out was a promotional brochure and schedule for something called the New Life Expo to be held in New York City this coming weekend.
I [...]
- The Graying of the Priesthood
The Rotunda • March 16, 2011
I've written several times before about the decline of the Catholic church in the West. But today, I want to shine a spotlight on one corner of the world to study a lesser-known but extremely important symptom of that decline. This was brought to my attention by the journalist and atheist Dick Gross, author of [...]
- Atheist Action Items
The Foyer • March 15, 2011
• We've all been following the news about the massive earthquake and tsunami that's devastated Japan, and I won't waste your time rehashing the details. Help on an international scale is urgently needed, and the Foundation Beyond Belief has stepped in and is raising funds for the Japanese Red Cross. They've already collected almost $10,000, [...]
- Exclusive: See God's Actual Handwriting!
The Loft • March 14, 2011
While I was in San Francisco this January, I happened to notice this pamphlet in a newspaper kiosk outside my hotel:
Intrigued, I picked up a copy and read more. It turns out that this is the newsletter of one Vassula Ryden, a Greek housewife who, for over twenty years now, has been receiving regular messages [...]
- The Language of God: The Irony of Misunderstood Agnosticism
The Library • March 13, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 7
By B.J. Marshall
The final part of this chapter on the godless takes aim at agnosticism. Collins first gives Huxley's coinage of the term, and then he proceeds to misunderstand agnosticism in a way that's rife with glaring contradictions.
Collins gives a lengthy quote of Huxley's from Wikipedia, which you won't find [...]
- The Financial Ignorance of Religious Texts
The Library • March 11, 2011
Among the many other prohibitions in the Old Testament, there are several verses that prohibit charging interest on loans (at least to one's fellow Israelites - foreigners are apparently OK to gouge). Some of them are:
"You shall not lend upon interest to your brother, interest on money, interest on victuals, interest on anything that is [...]
- Curiosity as a Purpose of Life
The Garden • March 9, 2011
One of the most common questions religious believers ask atheists is where we find purpose in life, what makes our existence meaningful and worthwhile. I've written about this subject on Ebon Musings, but I want to add to my answer. Both atheists and theists can give the usual answer of wanting to do good in [...]
- Let's Get This Show on the Road
The Foyer • March 8, 2011
As most of you probably know, I've been writing for Daylight Atheism for quite some time now. But in all that time, save for a few exceptions, none of you out there in cyberspace have ever met me in person. Well, it's time for that to change.
As of today, I'm now on the speakers' bureau [...]
- The Catholic Church Answers Your Sex Questions
The Library • March 7, 2011
Gather round, readers! I've got a real treat in store for you, because today the Roman Catholic Church is going to answer all your questions on dating and sex. Yes, that's right - if you've ever wanted your raunchiest, most explicit questions about human intimacy answered in full, uncensored detail by a group of elderly [...]
- The Language of God: Collins vs. Dawkins
The Library • March 4, 2011
The Language of God, Chapter 7
By B.J. Marshall
The next part of Francis Collins' discussion of atheism is largely an attack on Richard Dawkins. Given that The Language of God is about biology, I suppose it would seem natural to attack an evolutionary biologist like Dawkins.
Collins' first attack is that Dawkins, in The God Delusion, argues [...]
- An Open Letter to Jeremy Stangroom
The Garden • March 3, 2011
Dear Mr. Stangroom:
It's come to my attention that you've recently devoted your blog to the purpose of highlighting uncivil statements by the so-called New Atheists. This is a laudable pursuit, as I strongly believe that the world needs to know exactly who these people are and what they stand for. To that end, may I [...]
- Yes, Virginia, The Bible Does Teach Hell
The Library • March 3, 2011
Slacktivist, my favorite progressive Christian blog, has been reporting on how the religious right has been in a tizzy over the news that prominent evangelical pastor Rob Bell may no longer believe in eternal damnation. (I know, I know - he doesn't believe that God will torture billions of people in a lake of fire [...]
- Atheism Is Breaking Out All Over
The Garden • March 2, 2011
Right around the time I received James A. Haught's editorial "Fading Faith", I was working on a similar post of my own. It was motivated by the brutal murder of Salman Taseer and the other signs that religious eliminationism is growing throughout the world, which drove me to wonder if there's any reason left to [...]
