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How to Think or What to Think?

John Loftus raises an issue that I would like to address: Should professors teach students how to think or what to think? http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2012/06/open-challenge-to-dr-keith-parsons-and.html  John gives a link to an article by philosopher Peter Boghossian: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/07/192/boghossian Boghossian challenges what John calls the “received” view of pedagogy. The received view can be summed up by the slogan How to Think or What to Think?

Open Question to Theists: Do You Condone the Use of the Phrase a “Murder of Atheists”?

I just learned about this. Apparently the apologist who runs the site www.truefreethinker.com has described Geisler’s response to The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave as a “murder of atheists.” (See here and here.) To be clear, the author is not calling for the murder of atheists. Rather, he says, I am employing the term Open Question to Theists: Do You Condone the Use of the Phrase a “Murder of Atheists”?

Should We Love Bashar al-Assad?

Recently, Victor Reppert and I have been having one of our occasional slugfests, er, polite discussions. Actually, our exchanges are quite polite compared to the flaming displays of “Internet courage” all too often seen in this medium. Anyway, the point at issue concerns the claim by Christians to be able to love the sinner while Should We Love Bashar al-Assad?

Gay Marriage on a U.S. Military Base and the Religious Right’s Hypocrisy

Apparently there was a wedding ceremony for two lesbians in the base chapel at Fort Polk in Louisiana, conducted by one of the base chaplains. Not surprisingly, the Radical Religious Right (RRR) is outraged. Here are some of the quotations from the Fox News site: “The liberal social experiment with our military continues,” Rep. John Gay Marriage on a U.S. Military Base and the Religious Right’s Hypocrisy

Where is the Outcry from Theists Against the BSA’s Reason for Its Policy of Discrimination against Nontheists?

I want to begin by clarifying that I am not raising a constitutional or legal question at all. Let’s assume that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have the constitutional right to associate or not associate with whoever they wish. I’m coming at this from a very different angle. Again, I’m stipulating that the BSA Where is the Outcry from Theists Against the BSA’s Reason for Its Policy of Discrimination against Nontheists?

Theist-Atheist Discourse: Some Thoughts on Victor Reppert’s Post

Victor Reppert and I have been having a productive and healthy exchange about the tone of theist-atheist discourse. If you haven’t already seen it, I encourage you to read his latest post on the topic. Disclosure Before commenting on his post, I want to provide a sort of “disclosure” statement about biases, similar to what Theist-Atheist Discourse: Some Thoughts on Victor Reppert’s Post

Do Atheists Concede the Ground of Death Too Easily? A Reply to Greta Christina

According to Greta Christina, atheists concede the ground of death too easily. She quotes or paraphrases the following sentiment. “Sure, atheism may have better arguments and evidence. But religion is always to going to win on the death question. A secular philosophy of death will never comfort people the way religion does.” In response, she Do Atheists Concede the Ground of Death Too Easily? A Reply to Greta Christina