I’ve been reading articles that express concern about the rather loony fundamentalism of Sarah Palin, the Republican VP candidate. (For example, Matt Taibi, Sam Harris.) American conservatism is seriously dangerous for the planet, both environmentally, and because some conservatives are crazy enough to start a nuclear war to fulfill their apocalyptic fantasies. (Mind you, the … 22nd century apologetics

I’m trying to think of anything recent that is truly new in the landscape of arguments over religion. Depending on how coarse-grained you’re willing to allow comparisons to get, there isn’t a whole lot that is new under the sun. Philosophy about religion tends to repeat itself this way. It’s hard to come up with … Repeating history

I wonder if there’s an indirect reason (on top of the direct reasons) to be concerned about Christian politics in the United States. That is, maybe they’re being too easily preyed upon by business interests, and therefore making life more difficult for all of us who want to avoid predation. As social animals, we tend … Christian politics

Groan. The Turkish creationists are at it again. Now, according to The Guardian, A Turkish court has banned internet users from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after a Muslim creationist claimed its contents were defamatory and blasphemous. At least the attempt to ban Dawkins’s The God Delusion seems to have fizzled out. Sigh. Your … Turkish ban on Richard Dawkins’s web site

There must be some agreement among right-wing “documentary” producers that associating their objects of hate with Hitler is the best way to rally their troops. First, I saw Expelled, which was full of heavy-handed associations between Nazis and “Darwinists.” And now, I watched the movie Obsession. A DVD was included as an advertising insert in … Obsession

On the one hand there are the pro-reason folks: atheists, skeptics, naturalists, humanists, and Marxists. On the other hand there are the pro-faith folks: theists, mystics, supernaturalists, religious believers, New Agers, and Existentialists. The pro-reason people are anti faith and the pro-faith people are anti reason. The big question is: Q1. Which is better, reason … Faith and Reason – Part 3

I’m not a political junkie, but I’m beginning to see a familiar sense of panic in some Democratic circles, which might mean a Republican win is likely this November. Christian nationalism may work, once again. So, as far as political secularism is concerned, we’ll get a fast deterioration rather than slow. We should expect, for … Secularists as another multicultural tribe?

There is a minor controversy going on in the UK now, concerning Michael Reiss, the education director of the Royal Society. One of the world’s most prestigious scientific societies put an Anglican clergyman in charge of its education concerns, and the result was Reiss coming out in sympathy with bringing up creationism and intelligent design … Britain vs US on creationism

In Chapter 2 of The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins gives an argument for atheism. The argument is a chain of reasoning consisting of five inferences. In my previous post on this argument (8/4/08), I pointed out that the first inference in the chain is a non sequitur: 1. Any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to … An Argument for Atheism – Part 3