The US economy is in great shape—at least, Goldman Sachs is doing well, and politically that’s what counts. Still, unemployment is worrisome. Good Christian Americans might be distracted from the excellent work they’re doing in defense of health insurance companies. (At least, opposing any change in our wonderful health system seems to be a major … Economic salvation

I’ve started reading yet another Muslim book explaining why True Islam is a religion of peace that utterly rejects terrorism: Terror and Suicide Attacks: An Islamic Perspective, edited by Ergün Çapan. That’s fine and good: the more Muslims who reject jihadi ideology, the better. But immediately, the book gets off on the wrong foot. Fethullah … Murderers are as bad as nonbelievers!

Billboards advertising churches or proclaiming a Christian message are ubiquitous in American roadsides. But there are now some newcomers. I haven’t yet seen one in person, but billboards by atheistic and skeptical groups seem to be sprouting up as well. They usually appeal to the fellow nonbeliever, pointing out that they’re not alone. The reason … Infidel Billboards

I was recently offered an opportunity to debate a creationist, on the existence of God. I was intrigued by the idea at first, but then I took some advice and turned it down. There’s a stereotype of scientists taking on creationists with the naive notion of presenting some basic science and contributing something to the … Debates

More of a tangential tract complaining about Bibles with alleged missing verses. Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)

More woman-friendly interpretations of Islam may be penetrating into the grassroots more and more. For example, in an interview, Zakia Nizami Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, “a movement of Muslim women across India struggling for their citizenship rights,” says: Islam speaks of a God who is just. The Quran has given women equal … It’s all in the interpretation

My default view of religion and public life is hard-core secularist: the less our public conversations are conditioned by supernatural beliefs, the better. Having said that, I also have to acknowledge that the current reputation of secularism among political thinkers is ambiguous at best. Many religious people don’t like secularism. That isn’t surprising, but many … When is a religious public sphere acceptable?

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50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists, edited by Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk, is now available. It turned out to be very good book. I contributed one of the chapters, so I didn’t want to say anything about the book before I read it all through. But now that I’ve done so, I’m … 50 Voices of Disbelief

Saturday we adopted three kittens from the local animal shelter. But one died overnight. The other two got an emergency vet visit. We were worried about the other two for the next few days, but they seemed fine. Then, yesterday, another one suddenly collapsed without much warning. We rushed her to the vet, but in … Fairness doesn’t enter into it