Do teachers in public schools have a right to teach whatever they want? Do they have a right to teach creation science alongside or instead of evolution if they are convinced that evolution is wrong but creation science is right? Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that school boards have the right to prohibit teaching creationism because such lessons would constitute religious advocacy and, hence, such restrictions do not constitute an infringement on a teacher's free speech rights.

 

Read Article: Webster v. New Lenox (1990)

Critiques of theism usually focus on whether or not theistic claims are true or at least reasonable. There is certainly a lot to criticize here, but there is also another direction which critique can take: arguing that rather than just a harmless or trivial falsehood, belief in gods is actually wrong because it undermines or denies important human qualities like personal responsibility, creativity, etc.

This can be a helpful argument to be able to make given how often religious apologists — both theists and atheists — try to claim that theism shouldn't be criticized so harshly because even if it is false, it's harmless at best if not positively beneficial. It can be shown that this is a poor justification for false beliefs, but being able to counter it more directly as well is a good idea. Read more...

If you spend much time discussing religion, politics, and philosophy, you'll quickly find that if you want to get anywhere you'll need to acquire some skill when it comes to analyzing, understanding, and refuting basic arguments — and that's all before you learn how to properly construct your own. But just where do you go to get such skills?

Book of the Week: The Philosopher's Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods

An important form of the Argument from Religious Experience focuses on the issue of mysticism - it might be called the Argument from Professional Religious Experience. What is claimed is that, throughout time, in various cultures and places, there have existed particular individuals who have somehow had direct, personal experiences with God. Read Article: Argument from Mysticism