Atheism

A common objection to critiques of psychic and parapsychological claims is that neither research into them nor belief in them really does anyone any harm - does it? After all, if we are talking about unlikely, but ultimately harmless, beliefs, then why bother making a fuss? Let people continue with their notions about telepathy if it makes them happy and gives them something to do.

 

Read Article: Does Parapsychology Do Any Harm?

The Legionnaires of Christ has been beset with scandals in recent years -- scandals involving drugs, sex, and secret children. The founder, Father Marcial Maciel, fathered children with at least two woman and sexually abused seminarians. Father Thomas Williams, one of the order's most visible and famous members, also has a child.

It can't be a coincidence that these scandals are about sex -- and that they are both about sex. Priests with secret wives and secret children are nothing new. The Catholic Church didn't start out requiring priests to be celibate and they still don't -- there are lots of marries priests in the Catholic Church. So why tell some of them that they have to be celibate now? Read More...

A single person, group, or school known as the Deuteronomist Editor was probably responsible for several Old Testament books, now called the Deuteronomist History. The Deuteronomist History was created independently of the Torah and its purpose was to explain the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile. Most of the Deuteronomist History is focused on expounding Deuteronomist Theology: prosperity and suffering are caused by God based on whether your obedient or disobedient.

Read Article: Deuteronomist History

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)

Vincent Nesser and Phillip Savini are administrators for Brownsville Area Middle School. First they thought they had the authority to discipline a student for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance (thus demonstrating exceptional ignorance of students' rights and constitutional law). Now the school board thinks they don't have to pay anything after being sued (thus demonstrating greater ignorance of basic civil law).

And if that weren't all bad enough, the school board has been egged on to these stupid decisions by local veterans who appear to be even more ignorant of constitutional and civil law. Sure, they may claim to have fought to protect Americans' rights, but now that they're home they're fighting to undermine Americans' rights. I think that means they forfeit any respect and dignity that otherwise comes with being a veteran. Read More...

If the Ten Commandments are the basis for American law or government, where is the First Commandment to be found in American law? Where is the First Commandment to be found in the Constitution which is the foundation for American law and government? How can Christians justify saying that American law owes anything to the First Commandment?

Read Article: The First Commandment and American Law

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

Why do atheists focus so much of their criticism on "popular" religion rather than the "academic" religion of professional theologians and religious apologists? The answer is found right in the question: certain forms of religion are "popular" and, what's more, they are popular for a reason.

Ignoring popular religion is not wise because the foundations of popular religion are the foundations of religion itself. Read More...

There are a lot of people out there who sincerely believe in the power of faith to treat wounds and cure disease -- even to the point where they dismiss the use of proven, scientific medicine. Perhaps they have the right to do so for themselves, but what out children? Should their lives be put at risk for religion?

It would not be unprecedented to ban faith healing for underage minors. Just because adults have a protected right to engage in a particular behavior doesn't mean that children have the same protections. Adults can be treated as though they can make an informed decision, even if perhaps in some cases they really can't.

Children, however, are protected from bad decisions -- even including bad decisions encouraged by their parents. There are lots of things which adults are allowed to do but which children are prohibited from trying to do. There are also things which parents are not allowed to do with children. Should faith healing be one of them?

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

Few Christians seem willing to admit the extent to which their religion is influenced by their culture. For outsiders it's more obvious -- though there's always new evidence to be had for it. A new bit of evidence comes form comparing Christians' view of Jesus.

In America, Christians describe Jesus in positive terms like "love" whereas in South Korean Christians describe Jesus in terms like "sacrifice," "blood," and "suffering." Even non-Christians follow this pattern, demonstrating that it's a product of culture rather than simply religion. Read More...

It's common for Christians to say that atheists are just "angry" at the Christian god, as if atheists really believe but are engaged in some sort of rebellion against a parental figure. It's a ridiculous assertion since atheists can't be mad at something they don't believe exists.

But setting that aside for a moment, wouldn't anger at the Christians' god be justified? If it did exist, why shouldn't people be angry at it? Read More...

Interrogations of witches followed many standard Inquisition procedures, but with some added bonuses. Accused witches were all stripped naked, had all of their body hair shaved of, and then "pricked." The sexually neurotic Malleus Maleficarum had become the standard text on how to deal with witches, and this book stated authoritatively that all witches bore a numb "devil's mark" which could be detected by sharp prodding.

 

Read Article: Torture & Sexual Repression: How the Torture of Witches Revealed the Sexual Repression of Inquisitors

If you're interested in getting emergency contraception, you can't necessarily trust that a pharmacy will tell you the truth about what you're entitled to. Seventeen-year-old girls have nearly a 1 in 5 chance of being lied to; even some doctors will be lied to.

What would inspire pharmacies or pharmacists to lie to people about their contraceptive options? That shouldn't be too hard to figure out... Read More...

The Christian Right makes a big deal about teaching kids in schools about the "contributions" of religion to American history -- and by "religion" they mean "Christianity." And by "contributions" they only mean the things they approve of, not the whole history, warts and all.

They most certainly don't want public schools to teach about the contributions of atheists and secularists, especially when those contributions were made in opposition to Christianity. Read More...

The Gideons International distribute Bibles all over the world. They don't do this to educate people about the Bible or even to provide Bibles to those who otherwise can't afford to purchase one themselves. The purpose of the Gideons is, in their own words, to "win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." They exist solely to evangelize Christianity and convert people to Christianity. You can take a stand against the Gideons when they actions break the law.

Read Article: How to Counter Gideon Bibles in Hotels & Schools

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is taking the typical anti-science agenda of the Republican Party a step further. Not content with the GOP simply being anti-science when it comes evolution, climate change, and other topics, he's adding political science to the list of taboo topics.

That's right, political science -- the scientific study of how politics is done. Jeff Flake, a politician, submitted a successful amendment to stop the National Science Foundation from funding political science research. Read More...

For much of human history, there has been the perception that morality is largely or wholly dependent upon religion. Thus, people have argued that a person simply cannot be good without a religious belief system and, more importantly, a belief in some god. But is this perception accurate? Is it perhaps arguable that ignoring the existence of any gods might actually be preferable? Perhaps it shouldn't matter to us whether any gods exist or not when debating moral values.

 

Book of the Week: Can We Be Good Without God?: Biology, Behavior, and the Need to Believe

Many people who adopt the label of agnostic assume that, in doing so, they also exclude themselves from the category of theist. There exists a common perception that agnosticism is more 'reasonable' than theism because it eschews theism's dogmatism. Is that accurate or are such agnostics missing something important?

 

Read Article: What is Agnostic Theism?

Frequently promoted as a good example of a black Republican, Jesse Lee Peterson is indeed a solid American conservative: he opposes the right of women to vote. That is the traditional conservative position, though in recent years conservatives have tended to avoid saying so in public.

Only a few Republicans have been courageous enough to say publicly what so many seem to still think privately. Read More...

From: "Sean"
Subject: nice web sites

I am not a physicist or a mathematician. But in general if something like E=mc2 is true, then doesn't that mean something always was?

Read More...

Every dictionary has a definition of religion, but not every definition is equally good. Some are decent, but others are horrible. Sometimes older dictionaries have better definitions than newer ones, but more recent comprehensive dictionaries tend to have the better overall definitions of all. It's easier to understand what religion is if you understand the advantages and disadvantages of some of the more commonly cited definitions found in dictionaries.

 

Read Article: Defining Religion: Dictionaries on the Definition of Religion

Joe Barton (R-TX), infamous for apologizing to BP on the floor of the House of Representatives, has now tried to justify slashing funding for school lunches for poor kids by citing a non-existent Bible verse. It would be bad enough to cite a real Bible verse to justify a political policy -- especially one like this -- but citing a fake Bible verse just makes Barton look like an idiot.

Barton isn't the first or only conservative Christian to have no idea what's in the Bible he pounds, so no one should be surprised to see him do it. Read More...

A major split has developed between conservative and modernist religious visions in America. The conservative vision is anti-Enlightenment, anti-modernity, and anti-liberty. The modernist vision accommodates religion to the political, moral, and scientific insights which define modern society.

Read Article: Increasing Divisions Within American Churches

The idea of an atheist attending church services seems contradictory - doesn't that require belief in God? Isn't freedom on Sunday morning one of the benefits of atheism? Although most atheists don't count themselves as part of religions which require regular attendance at churches or other houses of worship, you can still find some who do...

Read Article: Do any atheists go to church? If so, why?