Tag Archives: atheist

The New Pope’s Liberalism vs. Thomas Aquinas’s Leninism

Posted on December 15, 2014 by

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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What’s a Penis, and What’s It for? Thomas Aquinas vs. Ludwig Wittgenstein

Posted on November 29, 2014 by

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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What Does It Mean To Be An Agnostic?

Posted on November 17, 2014 by

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 →

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Free Thought Road or the Orthodox Route?

Posted on October 30, 2013 by

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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Why Nietzschean Nihilism Will (Probably) Not Be the Human Future if Religion Dies

Posted on October 27, 2013 by

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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Atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hair for a Sunday

Posted on August 4, 2013 by

In turns fascinating, complicated, disturbing, funny, and inspirational. The very American story of a rambunctious contrarian:

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The GOP: Unhinged, Yet Still (Kind of) Popular?

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Andrew Sullivan recently made the following observation: [T]he GOP Obama faces is arguably the most partisan, factional and deranged that it has been since I started observing it in the mid-1980s. Yes, and the GOP is nevertheless on track to gain … Continue reading →

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Is Nietzsche Important To The Atheist-Theist Debate? And What About Socrates?

Posted on April 20, 2013 by

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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Bill Maher on the New Pope

Posted on March 23, 2013 by
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Jerry Coyne’s Claim: Science And Religion Are Not Compatible

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

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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A Nice Example of How Conspiracy Theories (and Religions) Work

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

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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A T-Shirt I’d Like to See

Posted on March 18, 2013 by

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 →

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Ye Shall Be As Gods?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by

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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Increasing Knowledge Does Not Increase The Peace

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

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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Chimps are Smarter and Faster Than You at Some Tasks, Therefore God Exists?

Posted on February 17, 2013 by

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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The End of Faith Through Critical Thinking

Posted on February 16, 2013 by

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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Enlightenment Up!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by

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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Is Belief in God Reasonable?

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

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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Can Your Evolved Brain Be Trusted to Bring You to the Actual Truth of Matters?

Posted on January 25, 2013 by

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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An Atheist Speaks From The Heart About Aging

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

Try not to cry. __________ One of Maurice Sendak’s books is here.

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