Rob Boston has a post at AlterNet, “Theocracy Rejected,” reporting on how and why Frank Schaeffer, John Whitehead, and Cal Thomas have publicly repudiated their involvement with the religious right. All three now challenge the idea that Christians should seek political power in order to impose their ideas on American culture. A few quotes from … Former religious right leaders recant

The Catholic Church has announced a new updated list of seven deadly sins for the twenty-first century, which are: 1. accumulating obscene wealth2. polluting the environment3. genetic engineering4. drug dealing5. abortion6. pedophilia7. causing social injustice This has been a topic of discussion on the SKEPTIC mailing list, with many observing that the Catholic Church itself … The new seven deadly sins

In the March 6 issue of Science, there’s an interesting story on paleontologist Stephen Godfrey, who grew up in a fundamentalist environment and lost that form of faith through his education. One part I want to highlight comes toward the end: Trying to articulate where his religious beliefs stand now, Godfrey’s eyes fill with tears. … Most important, or least important?

It may be an intellectual embarrassment, but the belief that the Quran anticipates modern science and technology is very widespread among Muslims. Zillions of websites tell their readers how the Quran miraculously reveals everything from the expansion of the universe to the details of embryology. I have a good deal on this sort of apologetics … Science in the [insert-name-of-scripture]

Part 2 of my interview on the Reasonable Doubts podcast is now available online. This part (the last) of the interview also concerns Islam. It focuses not on Islam and science, but issues about proper secularist criticism of Islam. The hosts also have an interesting discussion on Islam and similar issues among themselves. Support Reasonable … Reasonable Doubts interview part 2