From Dispatches From the Culture Wars: The Southern Poverty Law Center has added several “mainstream” religious right groups to their list of hate groups for their zealous opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians, including the American Family Association and the Family Research Council. And the theocons are throwing […]
Read MoreSo….Skepticon
I’m glad I went, and I had a good time. That said, I most likely won’t go back. It’s amazing, what they’re doing. A free conference in the Midwest for non-believers, with this kind of lineup of stellar speakers? Anybody in the area who is remotely interested in these topics […]
Read MoreSkepticism and atheism
Lots of thoughts brewing on this subject during Skepticon. I’ve posted many of mine on Hemant Mehta’s blog Friendly Atheist.
Read MoreOdds and ends
I’m getting ready to go to Skepticon 3 tomorrow. It doesn’t actually start until Friday, but it’s a good seven hours to Springfield, Missouri so I figured I’d allow a day for the drive and then hopefully wake up fresh and open-minded Friday morning. I love a conference you can […]
Read More“Psychic” Kids
Well, this sounds like about the worst idea for a TV show ever. Jen from Skepchick writes: In summer of 2008, the American television channel A&E premiered a series called Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal and has just begun airing the second season this November. Presided over by professional […]
Read More12-year-old girl beaten after Christian youth meeting for “having a boy’s name.”
From Change.org: What’s in a name? A 12-year-old girl at Hernando Middle School in Mississippi was beaten by five fellow students — reportedly because they said her name, Randi, was “a boy name.” “They started talking about me like I was a man,” she told local news station WREG. “That […]
Read MoreAnother snippet on dickishness
Comment from m5 in reply to this blog entry on Dispatches from the Culture Wars: I’m pretty sure THIS guy and his ilk are the ones Phil Plait was talking about in his Don’t Be a Dick speech, and I wish certain people would stop insisting criticism of THIS sort […]
Read MoreAtheism and (not) being a dick: a belated rant with copious footnotes
The “What would convince you that there is a god/supernatural/really weird thing out there?” argument continues. I didn’t read the whole thread. I’m feeling fatigued on the subject, honestly. It’s easy to demonstrate the existence of weird things (even really weird ones), rather more difficult to prove the supernatural (depending […]
Read MoreWhat would convince you that God exists?
This isn’t a new question, that’s for sure. I’ve been asked it more times than I can recall, starting roughly ten years ago when I thought it would be fun to go online and argue at length with strangers about whether it makes sense to believe in God or not. […]
Read MoreThe trickiness of characterizing empathy in politics, part 1
So as mentioned, I’m working my way through Frans de Waal’s book The Age of Empathy. On my drive I also listened to the audiobook of Michael Shermer’s The Mind of the Market, and it was almost comical to expose myself to both at the same time and read/listen to […]
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