Lately here at SO I have issued a number of calls for civility in discussions, eliciting some very uncivil responses from some quarters. Generally, though, the comments have been encouragingly positive and make me think that the rude and the crude, as always, make us overlook the good people. Yep, civility, restraint, and respect. All … Nasty as you want to be: Bash Erdogan

Don’t. Unless the attack also involves a larger issue that needs to be discussed, don’t bother. The reason that I do not generally respond to personal attacks is that anybody who would believe it would be someone for whom I have no respect and for whose opinion (about me or anything else) I could not possibly care … How to Respond to Personal Attacks

Do you need a Ph.D. in philosophy to be a legitimate and respectable participant in the theism/atheism debate or the science/religion debate? Of course not. But you do need to know what you are talking about. Those, however accomplished in other fields, who leap into the debate philosophically uninformed inevitably commit freshman mistakes that expose … Doing it Right the “Old” Way

John Loftus says that I have gotten old and so I favor an old, outmoded atheism and I should get with the new, hip, aggressive, in-your-face, take-no-prisoners atheism: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2016/04/keith-parsons-is-just-old-that-explains.html Loftus’ Debunking Christianity site has an ad for foods that fight dementia. I guess that was meant for me! Actually, I am 63. Is Loftus that … In Defense of “Old” Atheism

Okay, here is what I have decided to do: I will convert my home in Houston-area suburbia into a temple to Zeus. In the Houston area, developers are unburdened by zoning rules, so there should be no problem along those lines. Still, I can anticipate that some of my stodgier neighbors and the nosy types … The “Religious Freedom” Scam

A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban targeted a crowd of Christian children celebrating Easter: http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/27/asia/pakistan-lahore-deadly-blast/ In the comments section of my last post on religious violence we had a lively discussion about the causes of religious violence and to what extent they were genuinely religiously motivated. Such attacks as this one (which, alas, are not … Really Religious Violence

A recent studv (based on surveys conducted between 1972 and 2014 that produced responses from over 58,000 Americans) shows that belief in God has declined significantly in recent decades. =============== The findings show that from the early 1980s to 2014: • Those who identified their religion as “none” increased from 7 percent to 21 percent. • Those … Hope for a Brighter Future

Every time there is yet another terrorist attack by jihadists, you can count on some immediate responses: The media will devote obsessive attention, national leaders will condemn and decry, bigots will blame the innocent, and presidential candidates (some of whom are bigots) will issue calls to “get tough.” And scores of liberal pundits and academics … Religious Violence: The Question that Will not go Away

Texas Attorney General (and indicted securities fraud suspect) Ken Paxton has hired fundamentalist activist Jeff Mateer as his top assistant: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/150years/article/Paxton-hire-draws-ire-for-fighting-gay-marriage-6925133.php In Texas it is just business as usual to hire zealots and ideologues and put them in positions where they are supposed to be working for the people, all the people (an not just the ones, … Texas AG Hires Anti-Gay and anti-Church/State Separation Activist