I decided to go for a reductio ad absurdum this time. This cartoon has an identified author/artist– hooray! Dan Lietha does the CreationWise cartoon for Answers in Genesis, and that link and his Facebook page both have treasure troves of fatuous nonsense in comic form. It’s a common trope of […]
Read MoreFull of Sound and Fury: The Media Response to Dennett
This post previously published as an article in the journal Method & Theory in the Study of Religion in 2008. What is the best way for a well-known, unabashedly atheistic philosopher to have a discussion with the American general public about the value and nature of religion? It is not […]
Read MoreHow to deal with science you don’t like: call it religion
Artist: Person who didn’t exist yet, according to nearlyhalf of Americans The revelation that in 2012, 46% of Americans believe that humans were created in their present form by God in the last 10,000 years is a little staggering. Staggering but not shocking, considering that Gallup has been conducting a […]
Read MoreBiased ! = wrong
Let me say this, right from the start: I love biases. No, I don’t love that they exist, but I think they’re endlessly fascinating. I love thinking about them, identifying them, figuring out where they come from. Studying biases is how I came to the realization that the way we generally […]
Read MoreHave we evolved to reject evolution?
Following on the Pope post, there are various theories about whether people might reject evolutionary theory because it contradicts their intuitions. One was described by developmental psychologist Paul Bloom in an article he wrote for Natural History magazine entitled “In Science We Trust.” Bloom, who lays out a theory of […]
Read MoreThe Pope misrepresents evolution
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew himas an Australopithecine. Apparently in his Easter address last night, the Pope had some unflattering words for evolution: Pope Benedict XVI marked the holiest night of the year for Christians by stressing that humanity isn’t a random product of evolution. Benedict emphasized the Biblical account of […]
Read MoreWho do you admire?
At The Daily Dish, Conor Friedersdorf contemplates the results of a recent Gallup poll asking Americans which men and women they most admire. Barack Obama won out for men, whereas Hillary Clinton came out on top for women. Friedersdorf thinks the fact that politicians make up the majority of people […]
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 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 […]
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