I just did another interview with Point of Inquiry, the podcast associated with the Center for Inquiry. This one centers on my book Science and Nonbelief, which came out in a low-price paperback edition a few months ago.

I just went through Charles Colson and Harold Fickett’s The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters. It’s mostly basic conservative Christian doctrine and apologetics, laced with Colson’s personal stories to show that Jesus saves etc. etc. Nothing complicated or remarkable as far as that goes. There were a couple … The Faith

Dilemma for DawkinsProof of the existence of Zeus would either verify the claim that “God exists” or it would not. It is not immediately obvious which side of this dilemma Dawkins would choose. If he granted that proof of the existence of Zeus would verify the claim that “God exists”, then he would have to … Dawkins’ Definition of “God” – Part 3

I’ve spent today lobbying Congress. Strange experience. I was part of a group of scientists and economists involved with The Union of Concerned Scientists, delivering U.S. Scientists and Economists’ Call for Swift and Deep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions to the offices of Senators and Representatives, and meeting with their staff. I don’t know how … Lobbying

Former evangelical Christian and Bible college attendee Daniel Florien has put together a list of common Christian clichés, along with translations of the real meaning behind them, along with “acceptable” and “unacceptable” responses to each. (Via Pharyngula.)

Thew Secular Web has just put up my review of Totality Beliefs and the Religious Imagination by Anthony Campbell. Short version: it’s a good book, read it if you get a chance.

The Happy Heretic, Judith Hayes’s web site, is back online after an absence of two years. Every month she puts up an essay criticizing some aspect of popular religion in the United States. I like following The Happy Heretic. I’m used to the sort of nonbelief that is common in academic circles, and I’ll never … The Happy Heretic is back

In a previous post (5/10/08), I began to examine a definition of “miracle” put forward by Richard Purtill in his essay “Defining Miracles” (Defense of Miracles, IVP, 1997): A miracle is an event (1) brought about by the power of God that is (2) a temporary (3) exception (4) to the ordinary course of nature … Purtill “Defining Miracles” – Part 2

According to a paper in PLoS Biology by Michael B. Berkman, Julianna Sandell Pacheco, and Eric Plutzer, 16% of US secondary school biology teachers are creationists. Well, 16% is a high number. Or maybe it’s low, given that more like 48% are creationists among the general public.

I apologize to everyone on behalf of physicists. The infamous Shroud of Turin, believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus with a miraculously imprinted image of Jesus on it by some conservative Protestants and Catholics, is yet more evidence that supernatural convictions are impervious to criticism. It’s a bizarre claim at face value, and … Shroud of Turin