There’s an interesting selection from an interview with Wafa Sultan, a secular Arab-American, broadcast on Al Jazeera. (Thanks to D J Grothe for mentioning this.) It’s an eloquent expression of secularist frustration with fundamentalist Islam. It’s unfortunate that this appears on the web site of MEMRI, a right-wing Islamophobic organization who I don’t trust very … Wafa Sultan interview

I’d like to give a quick shout out to Andreas Heldal-Lund who continues to maintain Operation Clambake, a clearinghouse of valuable information on the Church of Scientology. Many of us infidels have corresponded with Andreas over the years and I remember a particularly tough time he went through five years ago keeping the secret library … Operation Clambake

Brad Harrub of Apologetics Press gave a talk at my university last week, to kick off a series of creationist presentations that went on in local churches. I like talking to creationists — their views at least have the virtue of being wrong, when so much else said in defense of religon is not even … Beleaguered Minority?

The New York Times has just published a rather stupid review of Daniel C. Dennett’s new book, Breaking the Spell. The intelligent design creationists like it, and just about anyone who buys into the traditional self-conception of philosophy as the fundamental intellectual discipline should find much in it to like as well. Wieseltier, the reviewer … Dennett review in NYT

If anyone is still interested in the points of connection between creationism and postmodernism, or just wants something that has less to do with modal navel-gazing, take a look at Norman Levitt writing on Steve Fuller and ID.

I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been busy migrating the software that supports the secweb.org kiosk. That’s online now so I can breathe a little easier. Yesterday I read a fantastic article in the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs by primatologist Robert Sapolsky on primate behavior (also online here). The typical story of … Lessons from Primates

Here’s one that belongs in the category, “I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.” When people see the words “Catholic priest” and “stand trial” used together, they will probably assume that the priest is either being prosecuted or sued for some sort of alleged sexual abuse. A recent court proceeding in Italy, however, … Frivolous Lawsuit on the Historicity of Jesus

Victor Reppert here provides an assessment of the Drange-Wilson debate on the existence of the Christian God.

I’ve been following developments in the cognitive psychology of religion over the past few years. I think they’re very interesting, and obligatory reading for anyone seriously interested in questions concerning the truth of supernatural and paranormal claims. I’ve come across a few accessible articles lately that are good introductions: Paul Bloom’s “Is God an Accident?” … Cognitive Psychology of Religion

Speaking as a physicist, I think our biggest problem in science is being boring. Easily 95% of what we publish is ho-hum stuff, perhaps interesting to a handful of fellow experts in a sub-sub-subspecialty, but almost no one else. My own work has been no exception. But as a physicist who is interested in religious … *&^%$#@! Philosophers…