Richard Carrier recently posted on hig blog his take on a recent conference of the Jesus Project. Based on Carrier’s description, it sounds like a very interesting scholarly project indeed. One particular paragraph in Carrier’s blog made me chuckle: Some said they were down on the Project because James Tabor was prominently associated with it … Richard Carrier’s Notes on the Jesus Project

I would never wear this shirt, but HT to Jeff Lucas for telling me about this: LINK (Yes, this is on a pro-gun website)

Philosopher Steven Hales has written an article disproving the myth, “You Can’t Prove a Negative.” Abstract: It is widely believed that you can’t prove a negative. Some people even think that it is a law of logic—you can’t prove that Santa Claus, unicorns, the Loch Ness Monster, God, pink elephants, WMD in Iraq and Bigfoot … You Can Prove a Negative

The Center for Inquiry launched a team blog on December 16, 2008 entitled, “Free Thinking.” Contributors include Joe Nickell, Tom Flynn, D.J. Grothe, Derek Araujo, Ben Radford, Lauren Becker, Debbie Goddard, and John Shook. Anyone who enjoys reading the “Secular Outpost” will very likely enjoy “Free Thinking” also.

Nature just published a resource “for those wishing to spread awareness of evidence for evolution by natural selection.” From the article’s introduction: Most biologists take for granted the idea that all life evolved by natural selection over billions of years. They get on with researching and teaching in disciplines that rest squarely on that foundation, … 15 Lines of Evidence for Evolution

Lately I’ve been reading some conservative, religion-friendly material on bioethics. Not because I greatly care about bioethics per se, but because biotechnology seems to be something that bothers religious thinkers, and so I figure anyone who works on science and religion like I do should keep up with some of the arguments. One impression I’ve … Sovereign selves

I like looking at British news sources like the Guardian and the BBC. Their contents seem much better than the appalling crap put out by the mass media here in the United States. One benefit is the Guardian also regularly runs explicitly secularist and skeptical columns by the likes of Polly Toynbee, AC Grayling, and … What’s with the British Labour Party?

Greta Christina’s blog has an interesting piece about “how to be an ally with atheists,” addressed mainly to politically left-liberal believers who want to be more inclusive towards nonbelievers. It’s almost all eminently sensible stuff; I think Christina does a very good job capturing some of the routine everyday crap that drives atheists up the … “How to be an ally with atheists”

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