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Tag Archives: atheist
The New Pope’s Liberalism vs. Thomas Aquinas’s Leninism
Thomas Aquinas was the Leninist of his day; he was a Party man. For Aquinas, nothing should be done without reference to The Party. All focus should be on The Party. The Party is the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy … Continue reading
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Tagged atheist, ecology, entropy, God, hedgehogs, lenin, philosophy, thomism
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What’s a Penis, and What’s It for? Thomas Aquinas vs. Ludwig Wittgenstein
What’s better: to see a thing as having both essential and accidental features, and placing it in a genus-species hierarchy (Thomas Aquinas’ view), or to drop hierarchy and essentialism in definition altogether, and just see a thing as sharing “family … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, Nietzsche, philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, thomism, Wittgenstein
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What Does It Mean To Be An Agnostic?
I’m an agnostic, which for me means the following: I take it that there is only one way the cosmos actually is, and I don’t know what that one way is. There are a gazillion logically possible ways it could … Continue reading
Free Thought Road or the Orthodox Route?
Wow. I like this Anglo-French Enlightenment inspired cartoon from 1890: __________ Talk about push-back to Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress! “Freethought Road” takes you past a secular schoolhouse and Investigation, Reason, Education, Humanity, Justice, Science, Virtue, Love, and Liberty, with “Truth” shining … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, critical thinking, faith, God, reason, religion, the Enlightenment
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Why Nietzschean Nihilism Will (Probably) Not Be the Human Future if Religion Dies
Temperament. A pretty good reason to think that the world won’t collapse into dog-eat-dog nihilism should religion die has to do with the inheritable nature of temperament. Psychological studies suggest pretty consistently that temperament drives ideology (such as whether you’re … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, civilization, evolution, God, philosophy, psychology, religion
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Atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hair for a Sunday
In turns fascinating, complicated, disturbing, funny, and inspirational. The very American story of a rambunctious contrarian:
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Tagged America, atheism, atheist, Madelyn Murray O'Hair, philosophy
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Is Nietzsche Important To The Atheist-Theist Debate? And What About Socrates?
I agree that Nietzsche is important to the atheist-theist debate and that contemporary “new atheists” tend to ignore him, but it should be remembered that Nietzsche never made any direct case against theist arguments, but instead went straight to the … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, Islam, Jesus, philosophy, religion
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Bill Maher on the New Pope
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Tagged atheism, atheist, Bill Maher, Catholicism, gay marriage, hypocrisy, Jesus, Pope
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Jerry Coyne’s Claim: Science And Religion Are Not Compatible
The religious emperor has no clothes? Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne is being a bit of a bomb thrower here with his claim that science and religion are flat out incompatible. See if you agree with his arguments. Is he clearing … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, evolution, God, Islam, jerry coyne, Jesus, religion, science
15 Comments
A Nice Example of How Conspiracy Theories (and Religions) Work
The below video is a perfect deconstruction of conspiracy theories and religious stories (in my view). Lay before the world an engaging and logically possible narrative, highlighting along the way anything that might lend it plausibility. Then wait for people … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, conspiracy theories, God, Islam, Jesus, psychology, religion
2 Comments
A T-Shirt I’d Like to See
If I were going to make a t-shirt and sell it, here’s what it would say: Show Me the Evidence Just because something is logically possible, it doesn’t mean it’s actual or even probable. __________ If people brought this simple … Continue reading
Ye Shall Be As Gods?
Wearable computing in the form of smartwatches may be the next big extension of man (and woman). Here’s The Los Angeles Times on what Apple appears to be up to: [Smartwatch owners may soon be able to] read emails, Facebook notifications … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, apple, atheism, atheist, God, Jesus, religion, Republican party, technology
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Increasing Knowledge Does Not Increase The Peace
That, at any rate, is John Gray’s thesis, and he has a new book out. In a recent interview at The Spectator, he had this to say: [K]nowledge can never eradicate the conflicts of the human world, or produce harmony where … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, atheist, books, God, John Gray, optimism, pessimism, philosophy
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Chimps are Smarter and Faster Than You at Some Tasks, Therefore God Exists?
Natural selection has given chimps a phenomenal short term memory. Japanese researchers have found that if you flash the average chimpanzee a screen of numbers in different locations up to nine, then cause the screen to disappear, the chimp can … Continue reading
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Tagged Alvin Plantinga, apologetics, atheism, atheist, chimps, evolution, God, science
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The End of Faith Through Critical Thinking
Here’s the Pew polling numbers on God belief: __________ And here’s University of Chicago geneticist Jerry Coyne’s tart take on what the numbers tell us: [P]racticing science erodes one’s religious belief. Sounds right to me. Critical thinking on weekdays and … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, critical thinking, doubt, evolution, jerry coyne, reason, science
10 Comments
Enlightenment Up!
The following is from a recent debate in Australia between physicist Lawrence Krauss and a couple of Muslims. __________ What I find hopeful is the very existence of such a debate (between young Muslims and an atheist scientist). It suggests … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, Islam, philosophy, science, the Enlightenment
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Is Belief in God Reasonable?
The below debate between theist William Lane Craig and Alex Rosenberg, author of The Atheist’s Guide to Reality, was recently posted at YouTube. I post it here because Rosenberg is a scrappy and forthright defender of scientific naturalism, equal to … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, Jesus, philosophy, psychology, william lane craig
8 Comments
Can Your Evolved Brain Be Trusted to Bring You to the Actual Truth of Matters?
The philosopher Thomas Nagel, in his most recent book, writes the following: Mechanisms of belief formation that have selective advantage in the everyday struggle for existence do not warrant our confidence in the construction of theoretical accounts of the world … Continue reading
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Tagged Alvin Plantinga, atheism, atheist, Darwin, evolution, philosophy, science, thomas nagel
11 Comments
An Atheist Speaks From The Heart About Aging
Try not to cry. __________ One of Maurice Sendak’s books is here.
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Tagged aging, atheism, atheist, death, fitness, friends, life, love, meditation, yoga
2 Comments
