From P.Z. Myers at Pharyngula: For more context and discussion of this list (including suggested additions and criticism) visit Pharyngula. UPDATE (October 4, 2006): The slides for the talk in which this list was given–about why scientists should oppose religion–may be found here.

There’s an interesting review, by Logan Paul Gage, of Francis S. Collins’s book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. In a backhanded way, Gage makes a good point: Collins is very eager to find design in physical cosmology (not his expertise), but soundly rejects a similar form of reasoning in biology … Searching for Design

Jefferson Public Radio did an interview with me last August, in connection with my appearance at the Jefferson Center. It was on science and religion, naturally. It was a very nice interview, so I’ve put it online.

Normally, I don’t take faith—of the blind faith, leap in the dark, I have a feeling down deep it’s true varieties—too seriously. It’s intellectually worthless, and too transparently an attempt to protect some claims from criticism. That doesn’t, however, mean that the faith-attitude isn’t widespread and effective. This past week I encountered a lot of … Faith in faith

See here.

Let me recommend Jacques Berlinerblau’s The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously to readers of the Secular Outpost. It’s a damn good book, and raises questions that nonbelievers and secularists will want to wrestle with. My primary interest lies in the science and religion area — which, in practice, usually becomes natural science … The Secular Bible

Matt Young has a report on Panda’s Thumb about the Jefferson Center’s Summer Institute this year — an event where I appeared as the “skeptical scientist” representative. It was fun, and I was impressed with the Jefferson Center. I’d urge anyone interested in a humanistic viewpoint that’s about more than religion-bashing to get involved, especially … Jefferson Center Summer Institute

The New York Times is reporting that the evolutionary biology major has been dropped from the U.S. Department of Education’s list of eligible majors for educational grants. So if you’re a low-income student applying for a Pell or other federal grant and you want to study evolutionary biology, the feds won’t pay for it. When … Evolutionary Biology Major Dropped From DOE Approved List

Continuing on the theme of Christianity and giving away wealth, the Associated Press notes that religious fraud is on the increase: Billions of dollars has been stolen in religion-related fraud in recent years, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, a group of state officials who work to protect investors. Between 1984 and 1989, … Religious fraud increasing

Jesus famously said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) In the previous post with the video about selling everything a reader interpreted this to mean that the “rich man can enter heaven (with … The Needle’s Eye