Skeptics have long argued that the human propensity to believe in gods is due to a pervasive and potent feature of human psychology–the tendency to project human form and activity. The Greek philosopher Xenophanes, maybe the first critic of religion, noted over 2500 years ago that people’s gods looked and acted like them. Ethiopians worshipped … Theism and the Genetic Fallacy

This one is devoted to Catholic-bashing and conspiracy thinking. On the other hand, lately I’ve been reading a fair bit of conservative Catholic philosophy. There’s an argument that conservative Catholics and Chick deserve each other.

I was just refereeing a paper that among other things, found a slight gender imbalance among Turkish (Muslim) college students surveyed about their acceptance of evolution. About a quarter overall accepted evolution, with female students being a few more percentage points in favor than the males. The paper also had a reference to an American … Gender in creationism

Vic Reppert sent me a link to his Dangerous Idea Blog where he discusses Sam Harris’s effort to debunk misconceptions about atheism: http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2008/12/sam-harris-on-myths-and-truths-about.html Vic’s comments are generally even-handed. He often takes heat from some of his nuttier correspondents for not being mean enough to us atheists, and I admire his commitment to fairness. I do … Vic Reppert on Misconceptions about Atheism

Fred Phelps, Jr. is affiliated with Westboro Baptist Church, the church that stages anti-homosexual protests at the funerals of U.S. military killed in action. (In case you’re wondering what these funerals have to do with Phelps’ complaints, welcome to the club.) Anyway, someone had some fun at his expense. Capitalizing on Fred’s homophobia, a man … Fred Phelps Humor

Over at Debunking Christianity, John Loftus describes his experience in attending the Apologetics Conference put on by the Evangelical Philosophical Society: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-review-of-apologetics-conference.html

Richard Carrier recently posted on hig blog his take on a recent conference of the Jesus Project. Based on Carrier’s description, it sounds like a very interesting scholarly project indeed. One particular paragraph in Carrier’s blog made me chuckle: Some said they were down on the Project because James Tabor was prominently associated with it … Richard Carrier’s Notes on the Jesus Project

I would never wear this shirt, but HT to Jeff Lucas for telling me about this: LINK (Yes, this is on a pro-gun website)

Philosopher Steven Hales has written an article disproving the myth, “You Can’t Prove a Negative.” Abstract: It is widely believed that you can’t prove a negative. Some people even think that it is a law of logic—you can’t prove that Santa Claus, unicorns, the Loch Ness Monster, God, pink elephants, WMD in Iraq and Bigfoot … You Can Prove a Negative