society & culture

If You Think Atheists Should Ridicule Theistic Beliefs, Read This

This is a paper I started writing almost ten years ago, but never finished. Atheistic Advocacy as a Risk Communication Problem Jeffery Jay Lowder Abstract. In this paper, I introduce a new way of thinking about atheistic advocacy. In an important sense, atheism is a risk. Therefore, attempts to argue either for the truth of If You Think Atheists Should Ridicule Theistic Beliefs, Read This

Patheos Evangelical Blogger Rebecca Florence Miller Stands Up for Atheist Civil Rights

Rebecca Florence Miller, an Evangelical Christian and a fellow Patheos blogger, recently stood up for atheists in a big way on her blog. Here are some notable excerpts: I came away from this conversation challenged that I need to do more to stand up for the rights of atheists (and those of other religions) here Patheos Evangelical Blogger Rebecca Florence Miller Stands Up for Atheist Civil Rights

GOP Creationist Believes in Evolution Within Phyla

Check this out: rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/gop-lawmaker-claims-evolution-doesnt-square-with-facts-big-or-little-dogs-are-still-dogs/#.VFqEGyIxkoU.email In addition to the usual nonsense, there is something interesting here. This guy says he believes in evolution up to a point, that is, within a phylum. Creationists all along have endorsed evolution within “kinds,” whatever those are. Supposing that this guy knows what a phylum is, he seems to extend GOP Creationist Believes in Evolution Within Phyla

Why be Skeptical? Reason #1

In a previous post I put forward seven reasons why we should be skeptical (Reason For Skepticism #7 is in the comments section).  In this post I’m going to provide some facts and data in support of Reason For Skepticism #1: (RFS1) People are often dishonest, deceptive, or have been deceived by others. Here is Why be Skeptical? Reason #1

The End of PoR – Part 1

“The End of PoR” is intentionally ambiguous. It could mean the death or cessation of philosophy of religion, or it could mean the purpose of philosophy of religion. But I will not discuss the purpose of PoR in this particular post. I just have one brief point to make. The death of PoR as a The End of PoR – Part 1