Interesting op-ed in The New York Times: “The Devoted Student” by Mark C. Taylor. He observes that fundamentalists have become more agressive in his (and other) classrooms. Fair enough, though those of us who are science (rather than humanities) faculty probably could have told him that having to deal with fundamentalists in the form of … “The Devoted Student”

Partly because Richard Dawkins has recently come out with a book strongly attacking religion, it seems there’s a political debate going on among nonbelievers interested in science-and-religion issues. Dawkins expresses disdain for the “Neville Chamberlain school” of defenders of evolution who take a liberal compatibilist view and deny any conflict between science and religion. By … The Politics of Science and Religion

Doug Krueger submitted the following reply to Steve Hays. The selection from Parsons says: “In conclusion, we have seen that there are a great number of practical difficulties in confirming the occurrence of an apparent miracle. Even if these difficulties are overcome, however, we have seen that there are no grounds for considering any event … From Doug Krueger: Reply to Steve Hays

Just over a month ago New Life mega-evangelical Ted Haggard was outed by his gay lover. Now another evangelical preacher has resigned after being confronted by church elders. Paul Barnes of Grace Chapel in tony Englewood, Colorado recorded a taped confession that was played last Sunday for the 2,100 member congregation. According to the Reuters … Another Gay Evangelical Minister

I’ve lately been coming across many demographic arguments suggesting that religion is gaining ground and nonbelief is declining. It seems to be a conservative talking point lately, and I’ve even come across some “heh heh we’re winning because we’re outbreeding the infidels” crowing among intelligent design proponents, such as this post by Denyse O’Leary. There … Religion and Demographic Trends

I recently read Alexander Saxton’s Religion and the Human Prospect. Very interesting. I think anyone interested in ambitious, grand-scale thinking about religion will enjoy it. As a science-type who likes to wade into humanities territory when I think I can get away with it, I especially liked this book. Saxton is an historian who takes … Religion and the Human Prospect

Interesting counterattack by David Kuo against Focus on the Family’s hit job against his book.

I recently watched an excellent interview-style debate between professional philosophers over the objectivity (or lack thereof) of moral propositions such as “Murder is wrong.” The program, “No Dogs or Philosophers Allowed,” discussed the issue in an episode titled “Beyond Morality,” named after a book by one of the guests, Richard Garner out of Ohio State … From Keith Augustine: There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

Chris Carter has recently posted an article challenging the idea that consciousness depends (for its very existence) on the brain. I’ve read it carefully and am underwhelmed. I have two general comments. First, though Carter summarizes the evidence for mind-brain dependence well in the beginning, he has merely asserted–and comes nowhere near demonstrating–that William James’ … From Keith Augustine: Does Consciousness Depend on the Brain?

ReligionFacts.com has a chart on their site, “The Big Religion Chart,” summarizing the major “religions / sects / groups / philosophies / belief systems.” Atheism is included in the chart and is listed as having 1.1 billion adherents worldwide. I’m virtually certain that this number is wildly overstated. The only way they can come up … Number of Atheists Worldwide