There are a number of religious groups which object to evolution and which find that evolution is incompatible with their religious beliefs. Although they may be missing something and their conclusion may be mistaken, they are nevertheless sincere. Does this mean, then, that teaching evolution in science classes infringes upon the rights of these people and their children to the free exercise of their religion?

 

Read Article: Segraves v. California (1981)

In Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Atheist and Secular Humanist Society has paid for a billboard stating: "Being a good person doesn't require God. Don't believe in God? You're not alone." There shouldn't be anything the least bit controversial or problematic about this, a simple statement that atheists are not alone and atheists aren't bad people.

There are Christians in Fort Lauderdale, however, for whom such simple statements are just horrible — and the presence of such a billboard near Christians is utterly intolerable. It's not merely "controversial" to say that atheists exist and that atheists can be good people, but it is in fact an insult to these Christians to learn that they don't have a lock on morality and that there might be atheists lurking in their midst. How do they manage to sleep through the night now? Read more...

Critics of atheism and contemporary atheists complain about the tone of so-called 'New Atheism' and insist that it can only have negative effects for atheists in society - as if atheists used to be the subjects of universal adulation and praise. Well, one positive effect of the atheist books which everyone loves to hate is the vastly increased public profile of atheists in society - and thus also the market for even more books by atheists about atheism.

Book of the Week: Philosophers Without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life

In many religions throughout history, gods have been portrayed variously as male and female, often embodying important masculine and feminine attributes. The tradition of philosophical theism, however, has had difficulty with the issue of gender. Many people act as though God is male rather than female or genderless, but theologians argue that God is genderless. Why does this difference exist? Read Article: God & Gender - Is God Really Male?

The threat posed by conservative, evangelical Christianity to America's secular democracy is multifaceted, but one significant threat that has gone unnoticed by most Americans is the attempt by certain right-wing religious groups to Christianize America's military and militarize America's Christianity. This phenomenon has developed with little notice for many years, but publicity from secular groups combined with a growth that can no longer be ignored have caused more and more mainstream publications to pay attention.

There is little to nothing good to be said about these developments in the military, but it's not clear that the government is concerned enough to do anything about them. The sad fact is that backers of Christianization of the military have been placed in offices of significant power and influence in the military and they have no incentive to turn against their own religious ideology. Read more...

From: "Truth Liberty"
Subject: Re: Atheism

I never believed in a god, but after experiencing God for the first time after a near death experience. I could never and can never deny the experience I had with God and the fulfilment since then.

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This second group of criteria for truth are very personal and internal, involving the manner in which a person reacts to the outside world and even the very nature of their character. Although the development of all three (emotions, intuition, and instinct) certainly depends upon one’s social circumstances and background, they are in the end fundamentally very subjective.

 

Read Article: Truth as Emotions, Intuition, & Instinct - Criteria of Truth from Inside Us

Regular readers may be familiar with an argument I've frequently raised about theocracy: one of the chief problems with any degree of theocracy in a government is how dissent against the government can easily be translated into dissent against God. Thus political disagreements become apostasy and political protesters become sinners. It's not often that apologists for theocracy admit to this, but the Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami in Iran has. Read more...

If a person pays a religious or other non-profit group for services rendered, do those payments count as a charitable contribution that can be deducted from taxes? This ruling emphasized the difference between paying a non-profit group for its services and giving that same group a free gift. Just because the services are claimed to be religious in nature does not therefore mean that payments for those services qualify as a gift. However, this decision was made moot when the IRS made a deal with the Church of Scientology to allow payments for auditing and training sessions to be tax deductible as charitable contributions.

Read Article: Hernandez v. Commissioner Internal Revenue Service (1989)

Although apocalyptic writing constitutes its own independent literary genre, it still plays an important role within the gospels of the New Testament. In each of the four canonical gospels, a central story involves Jesus describing a coming apocalypse in a manner that is consistent with traditional apocalyptic literature.

 

Read Article: Apocalyptic Gospels: New Testament Gospels and Apocalyptic Literature

America's time with Prohibition is generally looked upon as a failed political experiment, but it should be recognized for what it really is: the consequences of what happens when the American government adopts an essentially religious agenda and ideology to enshrine in the law. This is because Prohibition was originally pursued by Christian fanatics for religious reasons and was ultimately adopted by the government on the basis of those religious reasons.

The original prohibitionist organization was the Anti-Saloon League of Ohio which was founded in 1893. The national Anti-Saloon League of America was founded just two years later in 1895. It probably won't surprise people familiar with the Religious Right that even this movement was characterized not just by its anti-alcohol agenda, but also by strong currents of anti-immigration, conspiracy theories, and anti-Catholicism. Whatever the era, there are certain themes which the Religious Right keeps returning to. Read more...

Although Mike Huckabee may not have a theology degree, he has been and continues to be an ordained Baptist minister. Why did he make the move from the pulpit to political life? According to Huckabee, he wanted to bring Jesus Christ to the nation: "I didn't get into politics because I thought government had a better answer. I got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers, that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives." He also said "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ." Although he admits that he would phrase it differently today, he doesn't repudiate his original views.

Read Article: Why did Mike Huckabee Leave the Pulpit and Enter Politics?

Many fans are aware of that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were close friends. Tolkien helped convert Lewis to Christianity, whereas Lewis encouraged Tolkien to expand his fictional writing; both taught at Oxford, both were interested in literature, and both wrote fictional books which propagated basic Christian themes and principles. At the same time, though, they also had serious disagreements - in particular, over the quality of Lewis' Narnia books.

 

Read Article: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Religious apologists often offer the argument that the design of the universe is evidence of the existence of a God. When asked about where this evidence is, they will cite examples of they say is "fine tuning" in the universe — like how our solar system is set up so that Earth is right in the zone where life can exist. This is an appealing argument because our solar system does appear to be arranged in a balanced, convenient manner — but the truth may be that our solar system is far more chaotic and precarious than we realize. Read more...

Religion, and especially Christianity, is often treated as though it should be immune from criticism, much less harsh attacks. Blasphemy laws are a primary means used by religions to control critical speech and ideas. Criminalizing blasphemy uses both the power of the state and the idea of sin to suppress both the expression of ideas as well as the contemplation of those ideas. This causes people to self-censor before the state has to get involved by imposing censorship.

Blasphemy laws have lost a lot of credibility over the years, but some believers continue to support them as valid and effective. For some, just calling into question whether Christianity is true or rational is scoffed at by — and these same people think nothing of lambasting political ideologies like liberalism or socialism. Is such a double-standard justified? Do you think that religion should be protected by anti-blasphemy laws? This may sound like an odd question on an atheism site, but even some atheists seem to believe that religion should be treated differently from other ideologies and belief systems — though not many advocate going so far as to provide legal protection for religion alone.

The mere fact that a person doesn’t happen to believe in any gods isn’t very meaningful. Thus, if atheism is going to have intellectual or moral significance, it must be for other reasons. Those reasons can’t be found simply in critiques of religion or arguments against theism; instead they must be found in a general program of reason, skepticism, and critical inquiry. Read Article: Is Atheism Morally & Intellectually Significant?

It's common to see criticism of science based on the idea that science's provisional nature makes it less reliable. This is contrasted with belief systems like religion which purport to provide absolute truth. Such criticism is obviously common from creationists and other religious apologists, but we can also see it coming from apologists for pseudosciences like astrology.

Defenders of science will normally respond that the provisional nature of science is an advantage, not a disadvantage, because it allows science to take into account new ideas and new evidence. This, in turn, helps ensure that science adheres to reality rather than to our expectations, assumptions, and ideologies. This seems like a reasonable defense, but it seems that human psychology isn't prepared to accept it.

According to recent research, people are more likely to believe someone who makes their claims with more confidence regardless of how wrong they have been in the past. Read more...

If you've ever had any sort of discussion with theists about the validity of religion or existence of gods, chances are good that you've had to raise basic principles of logic like pointing out logical fallacies or a failure to construct a genuine, valid logical argument. This should cause a person to go back and revise what they have said because what good is making an argument if you rely on fallacies or aren't making a genuine argument in the first place?

Sometimes, though, you might encounter a person who simply denies that recognized principles of logic apply to them or to their arguments. What can you do with such people? Read more...

The Philosophy of Religion is the philosophical study of religious beliefs, religious doctrines, religious arguments and religious history. The line between theology and the philosophy of religion and theology isn’t always sharp because they share much in common. Theology tends to be apologetical in nature, committed to the defense of particular religious positions. Philosophy of Religion is committed to the investigation of religion itself, rather than the truth of any particular religion. Read Article: Philosophy of Religion: Religious Belief, Theism, Practice

Francis Collins is a popular figure among liberal Christians today. Many regard Francis Collins as an excellent authority on how science and religion, but especially evolution and religion, can be reconciled. Collins' authority depends, however, on not only the quality of his arguments but also the accuracy of his claims about religion and science. Both are highly debatable, especially since he gives us reason to question even the accuracy of his claims about his own life and beliefs. Read more...

Whatever one might think about the theoretical compatibility of science and some set of possible religious beliefs, it remains an undeniable fact that there are a significant number of popular beliefs which are contrary to science, reality, and/or history. There is no compatibility between these religious beliefs and reality, but rather than amend their religion many believers insist on trying to amend reality — or at least pretend reality doesn't matter. Read more...

If evolution is taught in public school science classes, shouldn't other theories about the origins and development of life also be taught at the same time? Isn't the focus on just one idea narrow-minded? Some believe that it is and therefore argue that there should be "balance" - if one theory (evolution) about life is taught, then "the other" theory (creationism) should also be taught.

 

Read Article: McClean v. Arkansas (1981)

Subliminal or unconscious messages that you are being watched can increase people's honesty — apparently, if you think or feel like you are being watched, you'll act like you are being watched and follow the rules more carefully. One way to get people to feel like they are being watched is to communicate religious messages and teach religion because this causes people to feel like they are being watched by a god.

One implication of this is that religion improves honesty, though not necessarily in a good way because the effect seems to be entirely based on fear. Would this, however, mean that society as a whole would be better off with more religion? This is certainly what a lot of religious apologists believe and argue, but the empirical evidence tells us a different story. Around the world secularity correlates highly with honesty whereas religion correlates highly with public corruption. Read more...

Carl Sagan was one of the most important scientists of the latter half of the 20th century - not so much because of original research or ground-breaking discoveries, but because of his passion for sharing his love of science with the rest of the world. Through his lectures, books, and videos, innumerable people came to better appreciate science and what it can tell us about the universe we live in. Many went on to become scientists themselves and his impact on science will be long remembered.

Book of the Week: Conversations with Carl Sagan

Atheists and freethinkers have defined atheism relatively consistently over the past couple of centuries. Although a few have focused solely on the sense of 'strong' atheism, many more have differentiated between 'weak' and 'strong' atheism. Included here are definitions of atheism from nonbelievers and freethinkers from the early 20th century and before.

 

Read Article: Definition of Atheism for Early Freethinkers