Ten Commandments: Basis for American Law?
Thursday January 31, 2008
One of the arguments most frequently offered for the creation of Ten Commandments plaques, monuments, or displays on government property is that they are the foundation of American (or Western) ... Read More
Hospital: Breast Surgery "Not Part of God's Plan" for Transgendered Woman
Thursday January 31, 2008
Charlene Hastings, a male-to-female transgendered person, was refused a breast augmentation surgery because the California hospital decided that it was against God's will. This same hospital allows the same surgery ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Should Faith Healing be Allowed on Children?
Thursday January 31, 2008
Ten Commandments & Context
Wednesday January 30, 2008
An interesting aspect of the legal questions surrounding government monuments to the Ten Commandments concerns the context of those monuments. Courts have made it clear that in certain contexts a ... Read More
Church Tithing or Religious Extortion?
Wednesday January 30, 2008
Christian churches traditionally expect members to "tithe" 10% of their income to the church. This money is used to support church buildings, services, and of course proselytization. Unfortunately for some ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Is Belief in God Justified?
Wednesday January 30, 2008
Just because there is no definitive evidence for the existence of god doesn't mean that belief in some god can't be justified. A belief can be justified and reasonable even ... Read More
Second Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Make Graven Images
Tuesday January 29, 2008
It is believed by most theologians that this commandment was designed to underscore the radical difference between God as creator and God’s creation. It was common in various Near East ... Read More
Mormon Doctrine Makes Small Concession to Hard Reality
Tuesday January 29, 2008
The Book of Mormon used to say in its introduction that "After thousands of years all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the ancestors of the American Indians." ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Anti-Christian Atheists
Tuesday January 29, 2008
Why do so many self-professed “ex-atheists” demonstrate that they don’t even know what atheism is by misdefining atheism, agnosticism, and even theism at times? As a general rule I think ... Read More
Evolution Basics: Aftermath of the Scopes Monkey Trial
Monday January 28, 2008
Image Source:Jupiter Images
Although Scopes technically lost the case, many have perceived it as a victory for evolutionists and rationalism. It put a spotlight on the beliefs of fundamentalists, holding them ... Read More
Open Response to an Offended Internet Theist
Monday January 28, 2008
One of the more curious behaviors of Christians on the internet is how frequently they keep repeating the same questions and myths which have been expressed so often by so ... Read More
Book of the Week: Truth, Knowledge, Or Just Plain Bull: How To Tell The Difference
Monday January 28, 2008
Image courtesy PriceGrabber.com
There are many different claims out there vying for our attention and acceptance. We encounter claims in politics, religion, and of course advertising. Some claims are true or ... Read More
Sanctified Religious Violence as a Form of Religious Devotion, Holy Obligation
Sunday January 27, 2008
Many religions proclaim that they are peaceful and opposed to violence, but these same religions generally have traditions in which violence, war, and aggression not only exist and are not ... Read More
Peter Mullen: Secularism is Worse than Terrorism
Sunday January 27, 2008
Religious liberals and moderates have, for various reasons and in various ways, been accused of indirectly and inadvertently abetting fundamentalists and extremists. I've never seen them react well to such ... Read More
Mailbag: Religions and Ethics
Sunday January 27, 2008
From: "Hannah"
Subject: Resentment
Why all this resentment of religions? God cannot be tested like g or c. Believing in Him is personal. Religions have been responsible for giving us a code ... Read More
Should People Follow the Ten Commandments?
Saturday January 26, 2008
In all of the political and cultural debates over the Ten Commandments, one question that receives far too little attention is whether anyone should be expected to adhere to the ... Read More
As Feminism Grows, Religion Declines
Saturday January 26, 2008
I have written often about the connection between feminism, secularization, freethought, and atheism. Not all feminists are atheists and, unfortunately, not all atheists are feminists; however, critiques of traditional, patriarchal ... Read More
Secularism 101: What is Secularism? Is Secularism Anti-Religion, Anti-American?
Saturday January 26, 2008
Secularism is one of the most important movements of the modern West. The influence and power of secularism differentiate the modern West from the Middle Ages and from other regions ... Read More
Church & State Fundamentals: Secularism as a Political & Social Movement
Friday January 25, 2008
Although secularism tends to be used in a restricted sense today, it nevertheless retains a philosophical aspect, particularly when it comes to political and social situations. Throughout its history, the ... Read More
Darryl Burling: No Need to Read Much Atheistic Literature to Attack Atheism
Friday January 25, 2008
Should Christians be expected to know what atheism is before criticizing it? Should Christians be expected to have read what atheists say about atheism and what arguments atheists offer against ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: Beware of Recruitment into the Homosexual Lifestyle
Friday January 25, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster:National Archives
A common which the Christian Right tries to make against gays and efforts to increase social acceptance of homosexuality is the idea that gays want ... Read More
What Are the Ten Commandments?
Thursday January 24, 2008
The Ten Commandments are a set of ten basic rules of behavior, mostly negative in construction, that appear in the ancient Hebrew scriptures and are directed at the Hebrews as ... Read More
Alabama: Evangelical Film Shown to Public School Students
Thursday January 24, 2008
Attempts to inject evangelical Christianity into public schools is a game that never seems to get old for some people. The most recent effort is repeated showings of the film ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Are You An Atheist Who Has Ever Been In A 'Foxhole'?
Thursday January 24, 2008
Does God Exist? Argument from Intuition & Instinct
Wednesday January 23, 2008
Image Source:Wikipedia
Sometimes people can argue that anyone who is truly religious simply "knows" that their god really does exist. Logical proofs and empirical evidence simply aren't necessary to validate this ... Read More
D.H. Wilson's Guide to Agnostic Arrogance & Ignorance
Wednesday January 23, 2008
This site is as much about agnosticism as it is about atheism, and for that reason it's important to point out cases where people falsely try to present agnosticism as ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Atheist Fiction
Wednesday January 23, 2008
In much fiction, atheists either don't appear at all or, if they do, they are portrayed negatively. Religious and theistic faith, in contrast, are typically depicted positively, are encouraged, and ... Read More
First Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Have Any Gods Before Me
Tuesday January 22, 2008
The first, most basic, and most important commandment - or is it the first two commandments? Well, that’s the question. We’ve only just gotten started and we’re already mired in ... Read More
Atheism is a Disease?
Tuesday January 22, 2008
Most of the arguments which religious theists make directly against atheism crash and burn spectacularly because rely on falsehoods (like false definitions of atheism) or grossly poor reasoning. Rarely do ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Wives Need to Learn to Submit
Tuesday January 22, 2008
Not only have millennia of indoctrination convinced people that women should be subordinate to men, but it has also convinced women themselves that this lower status is good, proper, and ... Read More
American Prejudice & Bigotry Towards Atheism, Atheists, and the Non-Religious
Monday January 21, 2008
Atheists are the most despised and distrusted minority in the United States. Americans are more prejudiced and bigoted against atheists than any other group. This isn't a subjective perception of ... Read More
Christian Dating: What Would Jesus Do?
Monday January 21, 2008
Christian attitudes towards sex and sexuality have traditionally been far more negative than people tend to realize. As I wrote a few days ago, for centuries Christian leaders treated marriage ... Read More
Book of the Week: An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism
Monday January 21, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
Debates over atheism and theism have occupied many of the greatest thinkers, philosophers and theologians through history. Unfortunately, we don't see many such debates today — but that doesn't ... Read More
Evolution Basics: Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
Sunday January 20, 2008
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 ... Read More
What is Faith?
Sunday January 20, 2008
In debates between theists and atheists, there tends to be a lot discussion about the nature and value of "faith." Although not explicitly emphasized in every religion to the same ... Read More
Mailbag: Burden of Proof
Sunday January 20, 2008
From: "Richard"
Subject: Question: Why do people choose to be atheists?
You think that it is up to theists to convince you that their God exists. Suppose that my God does exist. ... Read More
Should You Reveal Your Atheism to Family, Parents?
Saturday January 19, 2008
Many atheists struggle with deciding whether they should reveal their atheism to their family or not. Especially if a family is very religious or devout, telling parents and other family ... Read More
Richard Land: Don't Ask, Don't Tell on Religious Beliefs
Saturday January 19, 2008
Many conservative evangelicals adopt a very hypocritical stance when it comes to the relationship between religion and government. They will complain loudly that there is no such thing as "separation ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: Without God, All Things are Permitted
Saturday January 19, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster:National Archives
Religious believers tend to associate their religion closely with morality. Some go so far as to think that the two are inseparable -- that without ... Read More
Godless Science vs. Religion
Friday January 18, 2008
The debate between science and religion goes on without resolve and without satisfaction for any involved. We might get somewhere if we narrowed the terms of debate a bit: on ... Read More
Muslim Clerk Refused to Touch Bible Story Book
Friday January 18, 2008
How far will Muslims and other religious believers go when it comes to refusing to do a job on the basis of religious faith? Just when you think you've heard ... Read More
Myths About Church / State Separation & Hostility To Religion, Religious Belief
Friday January 18, 2008
Some of the most popular myths about church / state separation and efforts to keep civil government secular are based on the belief that this is all evidence of hostility ... Read More
Are Godlessness & Secularism a Threat to Religious Liberty?
Thursday January 17, 2008
A common complaint made about secularism is that it is contrary to religious liberty. At best this is a misunderstanding about secularism because a failure to endorse or promote any ... Read More
Official Vatican Newspaper Condemns Harry Potter
Thursday January 17, 2008
The Vatican's position on Harry Potter has changed considerably over the years. Pope John Paul II once praised both the author and the book series, saying that the leading character ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Will the Internet Promote Skepticism and Atheism?
Thursday January 17, 2008
Should Atheists Be Politically Active?
Wednesday January 16, 2008
There isn't much in the way of explicit political activism on the part of open, godless atheists in America. There are no godless, atheistic political parties, for example. Why is ... Read More
Huckabee Opposes Secular Constitution, Supports Amending It
Wednesday January 16, 2008
Mike HuckabeePhoto: Alex Wong / Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has whined more than once that he thinks he gets too many questions about his religious beliefs. It seems ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Make Everyone An Atheist?
Wednesday January 16, 2008
Many atheists wish that atheism were more common, but doesn't the process by which one comes to atheism matter more than simply arriving at that particular conclusion? If not, then ... Read More
Godless Intellectual Values: Intellectual Values are Important, Godless, Secular
Tuesday January 15, 2008
When people in America talk about 'values,' they are usually talking about moral values -- and moral values concentrated around controlling people's sexuality, to boot. Neither moral values nor sexual ... Read More
Secular Reasons to be "Under God"
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Most arguments for having the government become more religious are, naturally, religious in nature. But are there any independent, secular arguments for the idea that our nation is founded upon ... Read More
Comment of the Week: God is Love
Tuesday January 15, 2008
The claim that "God is love" is a popular apologetic tactic with conservative Christians. The primary motive seems to be the assumption that love cannot be proven to exist, so ... Read More
The Wheel: Punishment in Hell for Deadly Sin of Pride
Monday January 14, 2008
Image Source:Jupiter Images
Prideful people, those guilty of committing the deadly sin of pride, are said to be punished in hell by be "broken on the wheel." It's not clear what ... Read More
Atheists' Nightmare or Theists' Nonsense?
Monday January 14, 2008
Many Christians seem to think that it's easy to come up with "killer" objections to secular, scientific atheism. When offering such objections, though, they frequently demonstrate a serious lack of ... Read More
Book of the Week: Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul
Monday January 14, 2008
Image courtesyPriceGrabber.com
For most people, pain is something to be avoided: it is a sign that something is wrong and that something needs to be fixed. But for a few people, ... Read More
Different Versions of the Ten Commandments
Sunday January 13, 2008
Quite a few politicians and citizens want the government to display the Ten Commandments on public grounds and in various government buildings, like schools. In such a situation, it becomes ... Read More
Evolution Basics: Myth vs. History in the Scopes Monkey Trial
Sunday January 13, 2008
Image Source:Jupiter Images
The so-called "Scopes Monkey Trial" began July 10, 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee, when high school biology teacher John T. Scopes (1900-70), faced court proceedings on the charge of ... Read More
Reconstruction: Cultural Genocide Against Orthodox Christianity?
Sunday January 13, 2008
Some things written by "traditional" and "orthodox" Christians are just too bizarre to be believed. We've all seen plenty of strange arguments attacking basic science, for example, but even worse ... Read More
Mailbag: Freethinking, But Not About Jesus
Sunday January 13, 2008
From: "Yahmdallah"
Subject: Freethinking
your article entitled "Jesus' Ethics" was especially tawdry, even for you. You nearly got a group of Christian peasants with torches at your virtual door, but in the ... Read More
Does God Exist? Teleology and Design Arguments
Saturday January 12, 2008
Image Source:Wikipedia
Often this is called the Argument from Design because one is arguing from the existence of design and to the conclusion that the design requires God to explain. Instead, ... Read More
Mythology vs. Religion: Do Atheist Critics Get It Wrong?
Saturday January 12, 2008
A popular argument against atheist critics of religion is that atheists misunderstand and/or misrepresent religion: they treat religion as a literal representation of reality rather than a set of symbols ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: What Would Jesus Do? Strike Down the Islamofascists!
Saturday January 12, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster: Library of Congress
Christianity is supposed to be a religion of peace. Despite that, Christians often find themselves embroiled in violent conflicts where their religion is ... Read More
Benedict XVI: Was Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) A Nazi?
Friday January 11, 2008
Source: Wikipedia
Photographer: Marian Lambert
The question of Joseph Ratzinger’s involvement with Nazi Germany and the Hitler Youth is important. Neither Ratzinger nor any member of his immediate family joined the NSDAP ... Read More
Christianity and Sexuality
Friday January 11, 2008
The traditional Christian condemnation of gay sex and gay couples shouldn't be all the surprising because early Christianity also had a very dim view of heterosexual sexuality and heterosexual marriages. ... Read More
Albert Einstein on the Existence of God
Friday January 11, 2008
What did Albert Einstein think about belief in personal gods? Einstein said: 'During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution, human fantasy created gods in man's own image who, by ... Read More
Religious Specialists: Prophets, Priests, and Sorcerers
Thursday January 10, 2008
Image Source:Jupiter Images
There certainly exist religious belief systems and religious communities with no clear role for religious specialists - figures of religious authority whose position depends upon religious learning or ... Read More
Huckabee's Religious Authoritarianism: Vertical Politics
Thursday January 10, 2008
Mike HuckabeePhoto: Alex Wong / Getty Images
Many people have expressed concern that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee might be more of a fervent Christian Nationalist than he has thus far ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Are Atheists Arrogant for Denying God?
Thursday January 10, 2008
Values of Godless Science: Modern Science Needs No Religion or Gods for Values
Wednesday January 9, 2008
It is commonly claimed by both critics and supporters that modern science is value-free. This is false, though it is true that science lacks many of the values traditionally ascribed ... Read More
Pope Benedict XVI: Prayer for Molesters & Rapists
Wednesday January 9, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI in Loreto, ItalyPhoto: Giuseppe Cacace / Getty Images
The Catholic Church has long had a problem with priests who have molested, abused, and even raped children. Worse than ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Convert Me to Christianity
Wednesday January 9, 2008
There are quite a few Christians who seem to invest a lot of time into trying to convert atheists to Christianity, but are they going about it the right way? ... Read More
Does God Exist? Cosmological Arguments
Tuesday January 8, 2008
Image Source:Wikipedia
The Cosmological Argument covers a lot of ground and takes a number of different forms. The most common deal with two ideas: that the existence of the universe requires ... Read More
Is It Impossible to Live as a True Atheist?
Tuesday January 8, 2008
Religious theists sometimes seem amazed by atheism — amazed that atheism exists and that atheists can get by so well. This amazement can be taken to curious extremes, even to ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Why Do Atheists Argue?
Tuesday January 8, 2008
Many religious theists are strangely surprised that atheists would trouble themselves to argue about or even discuss the existence of gods and reasonableness of religious beliefs. Some theists are under ... Read More
Atheism Basics: What is Godlessness? Defining Godless Secularism, Godless Atheism
Monday January 7, 2008
It's true that atheists are by definition godless, but it's possible to draw a subtle distinction between the two concepts. Atheism is the absence of belief in gods; godlessness is ... Read More
Religion of Peace: Tree of Knowledge Vandalized
Monday January 7, 2008
Readers may remember my post about the "Tree of Knowledge" erected in Chester County, Pennsylvania, by the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia. Some local Christians were very upset that atheists ... Read More
Debating Atheism
Monday January 7, 2008
Book of the Day: The Atheists Debater's Handbook, by B.C. Johnson.
Are there good reasons to be an atheist? Are the arguments for theism sound, or can they be rebutted? Many ... Read More
Violence & Justice: Religious Violence as a Means for Achieving Justice
Sunday January 6, 2008
It's often said that violence doesn't achieve anything, but if that's true why do so many people use violence in order to achieve various goals? To be more specific, it ... Read More
Theo Hobson on Atheism: Disingenuous and Ignorant
Sunday January 6, 2008
It's difficult to criticize atheism as such. As nothing more than the absence of belief in gods, there is little to criticize beyond whether it's reasonable or rational and even ... Read More
Mailbag: God is Love
Sunday January 6, 2008
From: "Little Angel"
Subject: God
God is defined as Love. Therefore, when you say God does not exist, you are treading on the same grounds as one who would say love does ... Read More
Myth: Religious Extremists Hijack True Religion, Give Religion a Bad Name
Saturday January 5, 2008
A popular way to define religion, as well as other complex concepts, is to identify an 'essential' feature and say it is the defining characteristic. There are many problems with ... Read More
Pitiful Atheists, Waiting for a New Religion?
Saturday January 5, 2008
A number of religious people seem to have a great deal of difficulty comprehending the idea of not being religious, not needing a religion, and not being interested in having ... Read More
Adolf Hitler: As a Christian, I Feel that My Lord and Savior was a Fighter
Saturday January 5, 2008
What did Adolf Hitler think about Jesus Christ? According to Hitler's own words: 'My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points ... Read More
Religious Terrorism as Symbol, Ritual & Performance Violence
Friday January 4, 2008
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize, right? Terrorism is designed to frighten people into submitting to some group's desires which have not been achieved through the normal political process, ... Read More
Pets vs. Priests: Which Provide More Comfort?
Friday January 4, 2008
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have done a study at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital which was meant to look into how people cope with bereavement but provided an interesting bit of ... Read More
Propaganda Poster: Criticism of Religions is Not Free Speech
Friday January 4, 2008
Image © Austin ClineOriginal Poster:University of Minnesota
One of the most pernicious forms of attempted censorship of unwelcome views isn't overt repression, but rather to convince people not to express those ... Read More
Pope Benedict: Equality for Gays Threatens World Peace
Thursday January 3, 2008
Reactionary forces — mostly religious — have always worked hard against the advancement of equality and basic rights for traditionally disadvantaged minorities. Today the primary target of reactionaries are gays ... Read More
Weekly Poll: Where Do You Go With Questions About Atheism?
Thursday January 3, 2008
Student Rips up Bible, Forced to Take Psychological Evaluation
Wednesday January 2, 2008
In Parker High School in Janesville, Wisconsin, a student was suspended and ordered to stay away from the school until he underwent psychological counseling. His "crime" wasn't attacking other students ... Read More
Forum Discussion: Have You Come Out to Your Families?
Wednesday January 2, 2008
For atheists, coming out about their atheism can be just as hard as it is for gays to come out about their homosexuality. Friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers often adopt ... Read More
Tony Hendra's Failure To Understand Atheism, Basic Logic
Tuesday January 1, 2008
I think I've noticed a curious correlation in the material produced by anti-atheist writers: those who engage in the most serious misrepresentations of atheism and/or atheists also tend to demonstrate ... Read More
Comment of the Week: Evangelist Tactics on Atheist Sites
Tuesday January 1, 2008
Every atheist site that has any sort of community interaction or reader feedback will inevitably attract the attention of internet evangelists — Christians who are convinced that they will be ... Read More