Claim: “atheism is a nonintellectual exercise in self-deception”

I have perhaps been guilty in times past of living inside a religious bubble, and so having now stepped outside, it is always worth pondering the thought that I have just exchanged one bubble for another, hence I often expose myself (intellectually) to things that are clearly not ideas I agree with. Today’s example comes from … Read more

“Eppur si muove.” (And yet it moves.)

Galileo was famously arrested and then sentenced by the Inquisition for the crime of heresy – his crime? – he simply supported the fact based observation that the earth revolves around the sun, and so was overturning the idea that the earth was the centre of everything. He was also famously quoted as  saying to those who … Read more

Religion, Sex, Porn and Politics

The more religious people are, the more upset they will often be about the availability of porn, and yet surprisingly enough (to some), that degree of religiosity also correlates with a voracious consumption of porn, so what is going on here? Valerie Tarico, a psychologist and writer in Seattle, has a great article over on AlterNet that … Read more

Letter from a Christian who is upset about non-believers

Ken Frank appears to be trying to be humorous, but to be brutally honest, instead comes across as a bit of a plonker. He has written a letter to the South Jersey times, and so I when I came across it, could not resist adding a few thoughts … To the Editor: The poor guy/girl has to … Read more

Morality without a God

The rather common religious claim is that without the absolute values sourced from a god your morality is relative and can be whatever you want it to be. This apparently will then leave you free to do whatever you like if you decide that it is OK. The counter argument is the rather obvious observation … Read more

When faced with Islam, many are now opting to shake a fist at it and say NO.

Wherever Islam manifests itself as a dominant force there are some rather common attributes that are commonly associated with it, namely … Intolerance for anything except the specific variation of Islam that prevails; even other variations of Islam are not tolerated. This is very much as odds with the rather basic human right that is … Read more