Month: August 2012

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence (ECREE), Part 5: Is ECREE False? A Reply to Greg Koukl and Melinda Penner

In my first post in this series, I offered a Bayesian interpretation of the principle, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” (ECREE). Greg Koukl, however, disagrees with ECREE. He recently explained why on his radio show (click here for audio); also, Melinda Penner, a member of Koukl’s staff, has written on the issue here and here. In Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence (ECREE), Part 5: Is ECREE False? A Reply to Greg Koukl and Melinda Penner

Benjamin Netanyahu on Communists vs. Theistic Terrorists

(redated post from March 26, 2006) Jim Still’s recent entry on this blog, “Everything is Permitted Under God,” reminded me of a Larry King interview of Benjamin Netanyahu from several years ago (2001?), in which Netanyahu made a very interesting comparison of the behavior of atheistic communists vs. the behavior of theistic terrorists. Ever since Benjamin Netanyahu on Communists vs. Theistic Terrorists

The Evidential Argument from the History of Science, Part 4: Reply to ‘cl’

Introduction Theists hold that there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect person (God) who created the universe. Metaphysical naturalists, on the other hand, hold that the universe is a closed system, which means that nothing that is not part of the natural world affects it. Metaphysical naturalism (N) denies the existence of all supernatural The Evidential Argument from the History of Science, Part 4: Reply to ‘cl’

Jehovah is a Sexist – Part 5

Todd Akin and Paul Ryan are sexist pigs who show a complete lack of fairness and compassion towards women.  They represent well the sexist conservative Christians who are now driving the Republican party.  The sexist views that they have tried to turn into federal laws have a long history, a history that can be traced Jehovah is a Sexist – Part 5

What Is a Hate Group?

After hearing (or being reminded, I’m not sure which) that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) classified the Family Research Council (FRC) as a hate group in 2010, that got me wondering. What is the definition of a “hate group,” anyway? It’s unclear how, precisely, the SPLC defines “hate group.” While searching their website, I What Is a Hate Group?