Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism
Abstract: The cognitive science of religion is a new field which explains religious belief as emerging from normal cognitive processes such as inferring others’ mental states, agency detection and imposing patterns on noise. This paper investigates the proposal that individual differences in belief will reflect cognitive processing styles, with high functioning autism being an extreme … Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism
Pro-Life Atheists
Hemant Mehta’s post about pro-life atheists is a great reminder of the diversity among nontheists. While the stereotype of atheists, at least in the U.S., is that we are all liberal on a variety of issues, that isn’t the case. Pro-life atheists are an example.
Jerry Coyne Blogs about Three Critical Reviews of Nagel’s Book
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Another Example of Theistic Mind Reading: Mark Driscoll Says Obama Isn’t a Christian
Here is a link to Hemant Mehta’s post at Friendly Atheist.
Prometheus Books strikes distribution deal with Random House
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Call for Papers
While I am blogging about the Internet Infidels, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I.I. is always interested in publishing new essays on The Secular Web. Our “Call for Papers” page lists essays and book reviews we would especially like to publish, but if you are interested in writing on another … Call for Papers
The Flat Earth Society
Yes, there really is a Flat Earth Society. They even have a website.
Podcast: Objective morality and atheism; the evil god challenge; risks posed by religion
I did a podcast for Malcontent’s Gambit here. It’s about 45 mins long. Alan and I got into some interesting topics, including: whether atheists can allow for absolute moral values, my evil god challenge, and the potential dangers posed by religion.
Loftus’s Outsider Test for Faith viewed in HD with Bayes’s Theorem
In a recent post, I mentioned that anyone interested in the discussion regarding “atheism versus faith” should be reading John Loftus. Particularly, I noted an argument from his excellent Why I Became an Atheist, the “Outsider’s Test for Faith” (OTF), which he is elaborating upon in a new book of that title to be published … Loftus’s Outsider Test for Faith viewed in HD with Bayes’s Theorem
Tom Flynn on Dennis Prager
As always, Tom Flynn has written another spirited essay, this time in response to Dennis Prager on atheism and consolation. LINK I agree with pretty much everything he writes. Yet I find myself thinking, “Yeah, but …” as I read it. I think the first thing that needs to be said is that what counts … Tom Flynn on Dennis Prager