Daft Claim: Atheism will decline (prepare to be amused)

So an article on News24 caught my eye that claims that it is inevitable that Atheism will decline. Now when faced with such articles I do wonder if the author is serious, or if he is simply trolling for a reaction – in this instance, I truly do think that he is serious. So let’s take a look … Read more

Cartoons of Mohammed – needlessly provocative or a defence of free expression?

Let’s start this thought experiment with a small scenario. Suppose you lived in a small town that contained buildings for the various religious beliefs to meet in, a Mosque, a synagogue and a Catholic Church. How would you feel if things played out like this. Each friday, the catholics and Jews would gather outside the … Read more

You can be fooled by Sciencey sounding stuff

So I attended a great talk last night that took place at Reading Skeptics in the Pub by Matt Parker, a mathematician, stand-up comedian, and skeptic. It sounded fun, and even if the maths went zooming over the heads of all, the standup comedy would still make it worth attending. It was indeed great fun, and Matt … Read more

Claim: Without god you have no morality

In response to various stories that criticise belief I’ve seen the moral argument pop up. For example, David Quinn writes in the Irish Independent a response to Stephen Fry’s observation that the God of the bible is quite immoral.. But matter cannot produce a moral law. It cannot produce ‘justice’. If matter and its emanations … Read more

Should the UK’s NHS fund homeopathy? #BBCTBQ

Today’s BBC Big Questions has three – ‘Are the rich paying their fair share?’, ‘Should the NHS fund homeopathy?’ and ‘Are women taking over religion?’ Oh this is easy … “No”, “No”, and “Nobody cares (except a few religious folks)”, ah but getting there will be fun, because as I start to write this prior … Read more

Freedom of Speech vs Holocaust Denial

Freedom of speech is a rather important right, and while it is quite easy to support the concept when it is manifesting itself as criticism of ideas we oppose (drawing Mohammed for example), what happens when we are faced with the promotion of things that we find to be highly offensive and utterly absurd – … Read more