Republican candidate Rick Perry is being compared to George W. Bush, our most recent president from Texas. Here is one place the comparison breaks down. Perry is not campaigning to be the “Education President,” as Bush did. Whatever its merits, Bush was president when the “No child left behind” act became law. Based on Perry’s … Science is not democratic

Take a look at Joel Mark’s short essay in the NYT; “Confessions of an Ex-Moralist.” It’s nice to see amoralist points of views expressed once in a while. Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)

“DM,” who had been flooding this blog with threats (which occasionally got through the spam filter and other trapping devices), finally seems to have overreached. We’ll see if he stops. It would save me some time and general headaches. Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)

At ten-years-old, while still an Orthodox Jew, I wondered why an all-powerful God had to take a day off each week to rest. I also worried about what bad things might happen to us if such a controlling God should fall asleep at the wheel of the universe. As an atheist, I now appreciate the … Rest is a human need

On his Dangerous Idea blog Victor Reppert reprints an old exchange between us (we have been going at it for over 35 years now): An Old Exchange between Keith Parsons and myself over theistic explanations This is one that appears in my paper on Hume on Miracles, Frequencies and Prior Probabilities. [Parsons] Science is unavoidably … Laws of Supernature

Prayer, at best, can be an effective placebo. It helps believers feel they are doing something positive, and prayers might even “cure” some psychosomatic disorders. Now let’s look at the prayers of politicians. Several presidential candidates asked God whether they should run, and God said “yes.” Funny how God’s plan always seems to be the … Human solutions for human problems

Our Governor Goodhair held his fundamentalist pep rally in Houston Saturday. Though only 8000 had registered for the event about 30,000 attended as megachurches—like John Hagee’s in San Antonio—bused in the faithful. Except for a few mentions of abortion, the speakers kept it strictly apolitical, scrupulously avoiding the wedge issues that have inflamed the culture … The Day of Prayin’ and Eatin’

Since I believe in fair and balanced blogging (ahem), and since I have been very critical of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s fundamentalist pep rally to be held at Houston’s Reliant Stadium tomorrow, I am reprinting here a letter to the editor of The Houston Chronicle defending the event: Satan deceives I was totally disgusted by … In Defense of the Prayerapalloza