Taner Edis


Free speech for Muslims?

I often complain about how conservative Muslims’ overdeveloped sensitivity to religious insult erects barriers to the freedom of speech, and particularly speech criticizing anything Islamic. That’s a serious problem for nonbelievers and anyone who cares about freedom of expression. But here in the US, where we so love to posture about how we’re so much Free speech for Muslims?

Religious reason for secularism

Here’s a religious rationale for some degree of secularism, as expressed by famous creationist Harun Yahya: “Muslim writer and intellectual, Harun Yahya, believes that “secularism is the safeguard of Islam.” Instead, he says, of the hypocrisy of women with very little religion, dressed in long black robes, or men in white robes and long beards, Religious reason for secularism

Pressure on secularism

I don’t know if secularism was ever as much a consensus position as we sometimes think. But I do think it’s weaker today. Consider some recent examples of conservative religious pushback against even rather mild secularist political positions. First, the United States. Take a look, if you can, at “In Defense of Religious Freedom A Pressure on secularism

Conservative anti-science

Chris Mooney has an interesting post, citing recent research by Gordon Gauchat that shows a noticeable decline in trust in science among political conservatives in the United States, over the past few decades. There isn’t much that I know of in this sort of research that would help me estimate what the contribution of conservative Conservative anti-science

More secular (and obnoxious, and stupid) Millennials

I’ve been looking at some social psychology research concerning the so-called “Millennial” generation, in their twenties today. (I figure it doesn’t hurt to know more about my students.) Often, the research finds that the Millennials are an obnoxious, shallow, and stupid bunch. (OK, that’s my take on it. But basically, reading the survey results, my More secular (and obnoxious, and stupid) Millennials

Secular Scandinavia

Well, I’m back from my trip to Norway and Sweden, and when you add this to my previous trip to Denmark, I can now pretend to be an expert on all things Scandinavian. Still, I did have a chance to ask locals (humanities and social science types, mostly) about whether the Scandinavian reputation for secularity Secular Scandinavia

New Chick Tract

Jack Chick does global warming denial. As a bonus, Chick’s “Was it ‘Global Warming’ or God’s Warning?” argues that extreme weather events in the US are due to the US not being friendly enough to Israeli interests. Presumably if we slaughter more Muslims, we will have fewer tornadoes. Your name Your email Subject Your message New Chick Tract