The Secular Islam Summit earlier this month appears to have produced “The St Petersburg Declaration,” which expresses some very agreeable sentiments. Normally I’d endorse it, and encourage others to endorse it as well. But I find it hard to support an event organized by some thoroughly vile neocon figures such as Michael Leeden, is dripping … Nice declaration, but…

That’s the headline of an opinion piece in today’s Los Angeles Times by Stephen Prothero. Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University, is author of a new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–And Doesn’t. Part of his book is based on a “religious literacy quiz” he has given to his … We live in the land of biblical idiots

I should be on the “Faith and Freethought” internet radio show tomorrow at 8pm-9pm Eastern time to discuss An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam.

The Secular Coalition of America reports that Rep. Pete Stark of the 13th Congressional District of California has acknowledged his nontheism in response to their inquiries. A Los Angeles Times article carries a little more detail: “When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a … 13th District of California: holy smiting imminent?

The 11 March New York Times bestseller list for hardcover books includes five that should be of interest and possible encouragement to infidels: The God Delusion and Letter to a Christian Nation are still there, of course, at #12 and #24 respectively; Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel is on for its third week, at #7; and … Good week for infidels in the book world

It’s out! An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam is now available in bookstores, amazon.com, etc. etc. Just in time, John Gray has a full-length review in the latest New Scientist. With any luck, An Illusion of Harmony will benefit from the current public interest in all things Islamic. Buy the book! It … An Illusion of Harmony

On March 4, 5, in St Petersburg, Florida, a “Secular Islam Summit” appears to be scheduled. Nice idea. It wouldn’t hurt to have more discussion of secularist ideas in a Muslim context. And it could be interesting to see what comes out of a gathering of secular-oriented dissidents with Muslim roots. Unfortunately, I don’t see … Secular Islam Summit

My Science and Nonbelief came out in 2006. Unfortunately, the hardcover costs $65, which is absurdly expensive. Too bad, because it’s a damn good book, and I like that I was able to include a good number of illustrations to help the text along. Anyway, the good news is that Prometheus picked up the paperback … Forthcoming books

International Jewish conspiracies and anti-evolution screeds all rolled into one [link]. The money quote: The memo points to “indisputable evidence” that “evolution science has a very specific religious agenda” and refers readers to a Web site that asserts the universe revolves around the earth. It also suggests that Jewish physicists are part of the force … Those Crazy Jewish Evolutionists

A previous student of mine pointed out an interesting article in The New York Times, on a fundamentalist Ph.D. geologist who is a young earther. Now there’s someone who’s going to have an interesting career. Not that this sort of thing is hugely unusual. Back when I was in graduate school (almost 20 years ago … Fundamentalist scientists