Lately I’ve been reading some conservative, religion-friendly material on bioethics. Not because I greatly care about bioethics per se, but because biotechnology seems to be something that bothers religious thinkers, and so I figure anyone who works on science and religion like I do should keep up with some of the arguments. One impression I’ve … Sovereign selves

I like looking at British news sources like the Guardian and the BBC. Their contents seem much better than the appalling crap put out by the mass media here in the United States. One benefit is the Guardian also regularly runs explicitly secularist and skeptical columns by the likes of Polly Toynbee, AC Grayling, and … What’s with the British Labour Party?

Greta Christina’s blog has an interesting piece about “how to be an ally with atheists,” addressed mainly to politically left-liberal believers who want to be more inclusive towards nonbelievers. It’s almost all eminently sensible stuff; I think Christina does a very good job capturing some of the routine everyday crap that drives atheists up the … “How to be an ally with atheists”

According to Reuters, “The U.N. General Assembly condemned defamation of religion for the fourth year running on Thursday, ignoring critics who said the resolution threatens freedom of speech.” Here’s one item that caught my eye: Islamic states say such resolutions do not aim to limit free speech but to stop publications like the Danish cartoons … UN against free speech

I just got a year-end donation request from the Internet Infidels, the parent organization of this blog. I just donated a few dollars, and if you read this blog regularly, that might be a good idea for you as well. While I’m passing the hat, if you want to support those of us who write … Passing the hat

Conspiracy theory 1— Antisemitic According to this theory, Jews control politics and finance, particularly in technologically advanced countries. They do this in order to advance their own interests, from diverting wealth to Jewish hands to stealing Palestinian lands. Fearing the consequences of discovery, however, the Jews operate behind the scenes. They often infiltrate non-Jewish institutions … Two conspiracy theories

The IHEU Newsletter reports on a Conference on the Early History of Islam and the Koran in Germany this March. There’s some fascinating research going on about very early Islam. Now, among those in the field, it’s well known that the historical sources concerning the early phases of Islam are few, late, and tendentious. In … Early Islam

J. Brian Pitts has just published an article in the latest issue of the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: “Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism.” Here’s the abstract: The cosmic singularity provides negligible evidence for creation in the finite past, and hence theism. A physical … New paper against cosmological argument

Here’s an interesting new book: Ronald Aronson’s Living Without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, and the Undecided. It’s not a book that argues against the gods. Instead, Aronson writes for the reader who is already skeptical, but who is affected by the loss of confidence in secular politics and life stances that characterizes … Living without God

I was listening to Hank Hanegraaff’s Bible Answer Man today while driving. He was trying to explain the Trinity to a caller. It seemed weird, as if Hanegraaff was describing something he didn’t understand to someone who was struggling even harder. You have to admire Christianity, in a backhanded way. There are no end of … Trinity, schminity