Monthly Archives: July 2011

50 Elite Academics Respond to the God Question

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

A great YouTube:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  . Here’s the list (in order) of those responding: 1. Lawrence Krauss, Physicist 2. Robert Coleman Richardson, Physicist, Nobel Laureate 3. Richard Feynman, Physicist, Nobel Laureate 4. Simon Blackburn, Cambridge Philosopher 5. Colin Blakemore, Oxford Professor … Continue reading →

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Collective Guilt Watch: If Muslims are Responsible for Osama Bin Laden, Are Anti-Muslim Bloggers Responsible For Anders Behring Breivik?

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

Anders Behring Breivik—the Norwegian who recently went on a Christian nationalist inspired rampage, murdering over 90 of his fellow citizens in Norway—immersed himself in the rhetoric of anti-Muslim blogs where Muslims are routinely tarred with collective guilt for such things as 9/11. The question is thus … Continue reading →

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Atheist vs. Thomist: Did Jason Rosenhouse and Jerry Coyne Commit Logical Fallacies in Their Dust-Up with Edward Feser?

Posted on July 27, 2011 by

Who is being irrational here? In the midst of some recent exchanges between Thomist scholar Edward Feser and atheists Jason Rosenhouse and Jerry Coyne are some interesting questions concerning logical fallacies, and when we’re really guilty of having committed them. Jason Rosenhouse, for example, pointed … Continue reading →

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Should We Trust Our Born Again Experiences (And Other Spiritual Epiphanies)?

Posted on July 26, 2011 by

As I see it, there are two ways we arrive at conclusions about the world, and act on them: we can think critically (which entails some attempt at objectivity, logic, investigation, appeals to evidence, etc); or we can think associatively (which … Continue reading →

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How to Change The Way You See Things: Conceptualization, Reconceptualization, And Thomas Aquinas

Posted on July 24, 2011 by

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             . Thomas Aquinas thought that vegetables and animals have souls. According to him, the soul of the vegetable—its matter and essential form—is to take in nutrients, and the soul of the animal is to enjoy access to the senses and to move. But … Continue reading →

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New Atheist Bait: The Norway Gunman Is A Christian

Posted on July 23, 2011 by

Islam appears to be off the hook on this one. The guy who first set off a bomb in Oslo and then wrecked mayhem on a Norwegian island, killing over 90 people, is a Christian. The following was reported at AP this … Continue reading →

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Is Richard Dawkins Afraid to Debate William Lane Craig?

Posted on July 21, 2011 by
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Dead Parrot Watch: The Multiverse Appears To Be in Trouble. Does That Mean Atheism Is in Trouble Too?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

In 2008, cosmologist Bernard Carr of Queen Mary University of London, told a science journalist for Discover the following: If there is only one universe, you might have to have a fine-tuner. If you don’t want God, you’d better have a … Continue reading →

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John Ashcroft Watch: Will Michelle Bachmann Let the Mighty Eagle Soar Again?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

Given Michelle Bachmann’s penchant for weird displays of public religiosity, do you suppose, were she to win the White House in 2012, that she might bring John Ashcroft back into the public eye, and into her cabinet? You remember George … Continue reading →

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Josh McDowell Seems to Hate the Internet (Because It Breaks The Evangelical Apologist’s Monopoly over His Traditional Audience)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

Addressing the International Christian Retail Show at the Colorado Convention Center recently, the widely known evangelical apologist and Noah’s ark hunter, Josh McDowell, made the following observation (presumably with his brows knitted together in grave concern): The Internet has given … Continue reading →

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Michelle Bachmann’s End Times Prayer

Posted on July 19, 2011 by

Ladies and gentlemen, the likely Republican nominee to be the next President of the United States:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      . At Salon, Alex Pareene asks a good question: If Michele Bachmann is a true Christian, she should rise bodily to Heaven during … Continue reading →

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Is God Belief Unhelpful?

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

Well, I suppose that depends on what you mean by “unhelpful.” If you think it’s plausible that the universe has an ultimate (good) meaning grounded in a Great Mind that preceded matter, then it becomes an existential question whether or not it … Continue reading →

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Paradise Lost: The Problem with God Belief as Properly Basic

Posted on July 16, 2011 by

Christian philosopher William Lane Craig has written that one’s experience of God can be properly basic for the believer in the same way that, say, the hearing of a piece of music is properly basic for the hearer. It’s an experience … Continue reading →

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The Empty Box: The Problem with a Personal God

Posted on July 14, 2011 by

I don’t dismiss the idea that God is a person. I dismiss the idea that you or I, under normal circumstances, can ever know whether or not God is a person and actually is relating to us, at any given … Continue reading →

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Sisyphus Hound: What a Dog Can Teach Us about God Belief and Existentialism

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

There’s a lot to ponder philosophically in this very short video of a dog, Sisyphus-like, having difficulty keeping a rock in place:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            . Albert Camus once wrote that we must imagine Sisyphus happy, and, indeed, the dog appears happy … Continue reading →

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Critical Thinking Watch: Why Atheism is as Question Begging As Theism

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

Is the atheist conclusion that matter preceded mind from the very “beginning” of the universe more plausible, evidence-based, or rational than the theist conclusion (that mind preceded matter)? I say no. Here’s why. As a matter of logic, if you reject the … Continue reading →

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Jiaozhou Bay Bridge: China’s 26 Mile Sea Bridge is the Largest Ever Built

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

This is not an artist’s simulation of a 26 mile sea bridge that the Chinese would like to build someday. It’s a 26 mile sea bridge that the Chinese actually opened recently. They are starting to run circles around the … Continue reading →

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Burdens of Proof: Why I’m (Still) an Agnostic

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

Who has the burden of proof on the God question—atheists or theists? I say neither because, when you raise an existential question, the truth is the whole. Nobody gets a free ride or has a prior right to win an … Continue reading →

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Question of the Day

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

If Adam or Eve, in the Garden of Eden, had cut down a tree, would they have discovered that it possessed tree rings? Image source: Wikipedia Commons.

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Free Speech vs. Career Building: Are They Incompatable?

Posted on July 9, 2011 by

There are lots of pressures to conformity in the world, but three examples really jumped out at me recently. The first comes in the form of some young scientists, concerned for their career prospects, scattering away from a video camera to avoid … Continue reading →

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