How do you Solve a Problem like Fundamentalism?
This is an insightful and accurate description of the pernicious effects of fundamentalism on, well, everything. http://churchandstate.org.uk/2013/02/christian-fundamentalists-are-driving-our-country-into-the-dark-ages/ I particularly like the last paragraph which is an antidote to the overly-optimistic bromides you often hear about how education, particularly science education, is the cure for the current plague of anti-intellectualism and fundamentalism. Baloney. Trying to stem … How do you Solve a Problem like Fundamentalism?
Correction to chpt 2 of Believing Bullshit
Here’s an endnote I am adding to a chapter I am contributing to the upcoming Handbook on Humanism (edited by AC Grayling and Andrew Copson [Wiley Blackwell publisher]). I now realize I got something wrong in chapter 2 of my book Believing Bullshit, so might as well set the record straight publicly. Here’s the endnote … Correction to chpt 2 of Believing Bullshit
Event June 8th UK: Can Science Solve Every Mystery?
Centre for Inquiry UK and Conway Hall present Can science solve every mystery? A scientist, a philosopher and a Christian discuss. Peter Atkins, David Papineau, Peter S. Williams Can science answer every question? Should scientists show a little humility and acknowledge there are questions that only religion can answer? Are science and religion “non-overlapping magisteria”, … Event June 8th UK: Can Science Solve Every Mystery?
Dualism is Unhealthy
No, seriously. (LINK) “The fact that the simple priming procedures used in the studies had an immediate impact on health-related attitudes and behavior suggests that these procedures may eventually have profound implications for real-life problems. Interventions that reduce dualistic beliefs through priming could be one way to help promote healthier — or less self-damaging — … Dualism is Unhealthy
Draft for comments please
Here’s a rough draft of half of a chapter I am contributing to an edited volume. Comments and feedback please. Very best Stephen What are science and reason? Humanists expound the virtues of science and reason. But what are science and reason? And we should we think it wise to rely on them? … Draft for comments please
Bollocks Venn Diagram
Check this out: This is terrific! I note that Scientology lies in the intersection of all four categories of nonsense. I guess that means that it is the most irrational of all.
A Taxonomy of Interlocutors
This post is mostly addressed to nontheists who engage in online debate with theists. If you discuss a topic as controversial as religion in a public forum, you will get challenged. The resulting debates are sometimes intellectually stimulating, instructive, and fruitful. Other times…not so much. Here at SO I recently engaged in two discussions on … A Taxonomy of Interlocutors
Richard Dawkins finds Jesus
Hot news from Oxford, England: Noted atheist scientist and author Richard Dawkins has declared that he is no longer an atheist and has become a Christian. Dawkins, author of The God Delusion was quoted as saying, “Really, there is just a bit too much evidence of design in living things to attribute it all to … Richard Dawkins finds Jesus
Bias in the Philosophy of Religion
An interesting post over at Prosblogion.
Boudry’s Hoax on “Sophisticated Theologians”
Dr. Maarten Boudry performs a ‘Sokal-style hoax‘ on two theology conferences. Here is the abstract: The Paradoxes of Darwinian Disorder. Towards an Ontological Reaffirmation of Order and Transcendence. Robert A. Maundy, College of the Holy Cross, Reno, Nevada In the Darwinian perspective, order is not immanent in reality, but it is a self-affirming aspect of reality … Boudry’s Hoax on “Sophisticated Theologians”