Monthly Archives: July 2009

Quote for the Day

G.K. Chesterton: The madman is not someone who has lost his reason. The madman is someone who has lost everything except his reason.

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Mental Health Break

Hat tip to Ice Gal:

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William Dembski v. The Confidence Faitheists

ID proponent, William Dembski, at his blog Uncommon Descent, announced that he has a book coming out (perhaps as early as September) that will respond to the confidence atheists. Here’s what he says about it: “My book The End of Christianity: Finding a Good … Continue reading

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Contemporary Confidence Faitheism v. Harvard Biologist George Wald

Harvard biologist George Wald died in 1997, but I can’t help but wonder what he would have made of the vanguard biologists (Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne, and PZ Myers) who make up the post 9-11 new “confidence atheists” or “faitheists.” Dr. Wald … Continue reading

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Hollywood Tries to Tackle the Science v. Religion Question Accompanied by Exorcist Music and Explosions

I haven’t seen the film, but the trailer makes it appear at least mildly interesting (philosophically and as a measure of our cultural Zeitgeist ):

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Sure, Atheism’s Not a Faith

Confidence atheist PZ Myers this week on how (contra Francis Collins) he reconciles his atheist faith with the curious life-friendly values of the cosmological constants: What about chance? There’s nothing impossible about the fact that our universe was the product … Continue reading

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Entering Samadhi with Swing Dog

Swing Dog gaining Enlightenment under the Swing Tree? Next up: Swing Dog teaches yoga and the Noble Path to happiness?

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Atheist Sam Harris, Evangelical Francis Collins, and the Soft Bigotry of Strict Naturalism

In a recent piece for the New York Times, atheist Sam Harris has told us that he isn’t comfy with Francis Collins being appointed by President Barack Obama as the new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): Francis Collins is an … Continue reading

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What is a Faitheist?

By an ironic turn, atheist biologist Jerry Coyne’s blog contest to find a one word moniker for atheists and agnostics who are “accomodationist” towards religion has landed on a “winning term” that actually describes Jerry Coyne himself—and his enhusiastic followers—far better … Continue reading

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God, Mind, Quantum Effects, and Quantum Fluctuations: Is There Any Evidence that Invisible Entities (That Can Influence Matter) Actually Exist?

When a theist posits that there might have been some sort of mind, wisdom, or telos prior to matter at the beginning of the universe, are there any pieces of evidence that invisible entities even exist? Actually, there are. They’re called minds. … Continue reading

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Confidence Atheism, Religious Fundamentalism, and Don Quixote

I think that, in large part, the reason people sometimes use the phrases “fundamentalist atheist” or “militant atheist” to describe contemporary atheists has to do with the high expression of confidence expressed by some atheists. Like fundamentalists who express a high … Continue reading

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The White Roof Movement

My wife and I are seriously thinking about getting the roof of our house painted white (for energy efficiency and environmental reasons). And today the New York Times has an article on the “White Roof Movement.” Money quote: Studies show that white … Continue reading

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Mental Health Break

I made this video a few months back. I still kind of like it:

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Still Another Good Reason to Be an Agnostic

I think an agnostic is in the unique (and enviable) position of being able to look sympathetically at theism and atheism, and actually feel some engagement with the arguments of both of them—to even feel their emotional power and pull—depending … Continue reading

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Francis Collins on Science and Faith

I thought this Francis Collins talk was excellent and thought provoking:

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An Agnostic Lists Eight Pretty Good Reasons for Believing in God

As an agnostic, I don’t necessarily advocate God belief. In fact, I think that there are a lot of very good reasons not to believe in God (the problem of suffering being very high on my personal list), and I think … Continue reading

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Advice to Young Theist and Atheist Contrarians

Think! Then think some more. The truth is the whole. You’ve got to have empiricism—it’s crucial—it’s the only way to reality test your mad speculations. But don’t ignore metaphysics and epistemology. Don’t, in other words, ignore the premises underlying your worldview. And … Continue reading

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Orwellism Watch: Biologist Jerry Coyne Takes Down Robert Wright a Peg

Atheist biologist Jerry Coyne, in his recent review for the New Republic of Robert Wright’s new book, The Evolution of God, catches Wright out on an Orwellian euphemism that Wright deploys to describe Islamic historical setbacks on the road to greater tolerance: … Continue reading

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Is Religion a Tolerant or Intolerant Human Phenomenon?

Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God, has a theory. He thinks that religions tend to be morally neutral in terms of tolerance—and that their ranges of tolerant expression are dependent on the contingencies that they find themselves in. Hence, for … Continue reading

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Afairyism and Atheism: Are Disbelieving in Fairies and Disbelieving in God Epistemically Equivelent?

Ah, no. There are no good reasons that I can think of for believing in fairies (nor have I ever heard any advanced). There are, however, a multitude of good reasons that I can think of for believing that mind … Continue reading

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