According to Reuters, “The U.N. General Assembly condemned defamation of religion for the fourth year running on Thursday, ignoring critics who said the resolution threatens freedom of speech.” Here’s one item that caught my eye: Islamic states say such resolutions do not aim to limit free speech but to stop publications like the Danish cartoons … UN against free speech

I just got a year-end donation request from the Internet Infidels, the parent organization of this blog. I just donated a few dollars, and if you read this blog regularly, that might be a good idea for you as well. While I’m passing the hat, if you want to support those of us who write … Passing the hat

Conspiracy theory 1— Antisemitic According to this theory, Jews control politics and finance, particularly in technologically advanced countries. They do this in order to advance their own interests, from diverting wealth to Jewish hands to stealing Palestinian lands. Fearing the consequences of discovery, however, the Jews operate behind the scenes. They often infiltrate non-Jewish institutions … Two conspiracy theories

The IHEU Newsletter reports on a Conference on the Early History of Islam and the Koran in Germany this March. There’s some fascinating research going on about very early Islam. Now, among those in the field, it’s well known that the historical sources concerning the early phases of Islam are few, late, and tendentious. In … Early Islam

J. Brian Pitts has just published an article in the latest issue of the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: “Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism.” Here’s the abstract: The cosmic singularity provides negligible evidence for creation in the finite past, and hence theism. A physical … New paper against cosmological argument

Here’s an interesting new book: Ronald Aronson’s Living Without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, and the Undecided. It’s not a book that argues against the gods. Instead, Aronson writes for the reader who is already skeptical, but who is affected by the loss of confidence in secular politics and life stances that characterizes … Living without God

I was listening to Hank Hanegraaff’s Bible Answer Man today while driving. He was trying to explain the Trinity to a caller. It seemed weird, as if Hanegraaff was describing something he didn’t understand to someone who was struggling even harder. You have to admire Christianity, in a backhanded way. There are no end of … Trinity, schminity

Discussions of science and religion can be fascinating, particularly when they become an occasion to see how the world works very differently than what our commonsense intuitions prompt us to think. Religious thought typically follows our commonsense, anthropomorphic expectations, so I figure that talking about science and religion has to include explaining how religions get … Top-down causation

Peter Slezak of the University of New South Wales has an interesting article, “Adversaries of piety and proof”, in November 19th’s The Australian. It’s rare to find a piece in the popular press that is this straightforward in explaining why naturalism is compelling and how theistic philosophers are engaged in special pleading.

I did a double-take when an article came in through the News Wire containing this: State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister who was instrumental in establishing that requirement in 2006, disapproves of the fact that Homeland Security doesn’t currently mention God in its mission statement or on its Web site … The law … Ky. law requires Homeland Security to credit God