In a recent editorial commenting on “New Atheists” Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, Michael Gerlson presents the following purportedly unanswerable objection to atheism: But there is a problem. Human nature, in other circumstances, is also clearly constructed for cruel exploitation, uncontrollable rage, icy selfishness and a range of other less desirable traits. So the dilemma is … Open Question to All Atheists: Can You Answer This?

Ebon Musings argues that atheism is a civil rights issue, while DJ Grothe argues that it is not. LINKS:“Atheism Is a Civil Rights Issue” by Ebon Musings“A Reply from DJ Grothe” (includes rejoinder by Ebon Musings) by Ebon Musings

I’m new to this whole blogging thing, but I thought I would start off with a big post. A few weeks ago my nephew, who is an evangelical Christian of the progressive Jim Wallis type, not the neanderthal James Dobson type, asked me to explain briefly why I am an atheist. I wrote the following … Atheist Manifesto

Here’s a hearty, full-throated recommendation for Philip Kitcher’s latest book, Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith. If you’re looking for a short, very readable but substantive book on creationism, intelligent design, and the very real challenge Darwinian evolution poses for any supernaturalistic faith, this is the one. Go out and buy … Living with Darwin

There are, no doubt, many quiet cases of religious discrimination that never make headlines. A submission to the News Wire alerted me to this one, but I was unable to post it on the Wire, because the story is told in three separate installments on a blog. The story begins on 27 April, when high-school … Atheist high school student’s ordeal ends

Jonathan Edwards, who won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was an evangelical Christian who “decided to risk everything to follow God’s revealed path, moving to Newcastle in 1987 to become a full-time athlete in the belief that his preordained success would enable him to evangelise to an unbelieving world; since he … Born-again British Olympic gold medalist becomes atheist

There is an interesting recent book by two Catholic sociologists, Andrew Greeley and Michael Hout: The Truth about Conservative Christians (The University of Chicago Press, 2007). Much of it is not news to anyone who has been paying attention to the conservative Protestant subculture, though Greeley and Hout put a very useful emphasis on the … The Truth about Conservative Christians

I recently read a review of Robert Morey’s 21-year-old book The New Atheism at Bill Muehlenberg’s CultureWatch blog, which describes Nicholas Capaldi’s The Art of Deception as “a famous atheist debating guide, in which every trick in the book is offered to fellow atheists as they attack theists.” There are just a few problems with … Christian deception about The Art of Deception

There’s an interesting draft of a report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that lists recent creationist and intelligent design activity in Europe, both Muslim and Christian. It’s interesting that enough of this is going on to require such a concerned report, though naturally the level of anti-evolution activity in Europe remains … Creationism in Europe

Susan Blackmore has an interesting op-ed opposing faith in The Guardian. The common understanding of faith, “Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence,” however, is a bit fishy. No doubt that’s often how it’s presented: I’ve had no end of students who conceive of faith as having to do with realities … Faith