Articles Index

Popes: Longest Pontificates

Here is a list of the 13 longest pontificates in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Each of these popes reigned over the Catholic Church for an unusually long time. Today some believe that especially long papacies are bad for the Church because they prevent necessary change from happening when it should.

Mike Huckabee's Religious Authoritarianism: Authoritarian, Vertical Politics

Many expressed concern that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was more of a Christian Nationalist than he let on. His claim that Christians must win America for Christ was highly suggestive, and his desire to amend the Constitution to align it with 'God's standards' was worse. There are also less explicit ways to communicate authoritarian and theocratic principles to those who are in the know, for example with Mike Huckabee's rhetoric about 'vertical politics.'

Intelligent Design & Creationism

In reviewing the history of religious opposition to evolution generally and the Intelligent Design movement in particular, Judge Jones found a clear continuity between the two. He thus concluded that Intelligent Design as introduced into Dover schools is simply the newest format used by religious opponents of evolution to get their religious beliefs introduced into schools and to get evolution kicked out.

Mike Huckabee on Finding Answers: Accepting Jesus Christ Into Our Lives

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 Mike 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.'

Intelligent Design Methodology - Methods of Intelligent Design

One of the most significant ways in which Intelligent Design is revealed as being political and ideological rather than scientific is by the methods used by Intelligent Design apologists. In science, researchers are expected to provide substantial evidence in support of their claims and to show how their explanations do a better job than the alternatives. Intelligent Design, in contrast, invests all its time attacking evolution and little to no time coming up with anything better.

Intelligent Design & Politics - Political Goals of Intelligent Design

Intelligent Design is, like all other creationist movements, more about politics and religion than about science. Where Intelligent Design differs is that it was originally and deliberately conceived in explicitly political terms whereas earlier creationist movements tended to acquire political goals and principles over time. This is very important to understand because it reveals as false the pretensions of Intelligent Design apologists that they are involved in a scientific enterprise.

Intelligent Design & Evolution

Understanding the critiques of evolution that come from Intelligent Design is critical to understanding Intelligent Design itself. This is because Intelligent Design ultimately doesn't amount to much more than an assault on naturalistic, materialistic evolution. Intelligent Design was created to find a foundation for attacking evolution that sounded more rational than traditional creationism, but it hasn't grown beyond most of the fundamental problems behind all forms of creationism.

Creationist Tactics

Creationists have been successful in convincing some people that their views have scientific merit and/or that evolution has flaws it does not really have. One of the ways this has been achieved has been through the spread of falsehoods. This is not true of all creationists, and sometimes it is not done intentionally; many creationists are simply ignorant of evolutionary science and pass on lies and distortions they picked up from creationist sources without recognizing them as such.

Creationism and Science

Are creationism and science antithetical? Not as much as you might think - or at least, not in the way you might think. Although it is common wisdom to assume that creationist beliefs are incompatible with science, the first hint that something is amiss should be clear when we observe how much effort creationists put into arguing that they are being scientific and that evolution is not scientific. The problem is they assume that science today is done like it was in its earliest days.

What is Balanced Treatment? Balancing Evolution & Creationism

Although not heard quite as often today, calls for 'Balanced Treatment' were once a fundamental aspect of creationist attempts to insert their beliefs into science classes across the country. According to creationists, school science classes needed to balance evolution against creationism. Through such efforts creationists hoped that not only would scientific creationism receive more widespread acceptance, but also that evolution would slowly wither away and die.

Creationism & Flood Geology

The Flood story in Genesis plays a central role in the arguments of Scientific Creationists — more central than many outsiders seem to realize. The Flood story isn't used by creationists as a means for simply trying to demonstrate that Creationism can be scientific; rather, it is also a means for trying to undermine evolution. The Flood story helps demonstrate the extent to which creationism ultimately depends and relies upon fundamentalist religion rather than science or reason.

What are Hypotheses, Theories, Facts in Science?

There's a lot of confusion over use of the terms hypothesis, theory and fact in science. We have popular usage, popular impression of how scientists use the terms, and how the terms actually get used in science. All three share some things in common, but none match. This confusion is no minor matter because popular ignorance about how the terms are really used in science makes it easier for creationists and other religious apologists misrepresent science for their own ideological purposes.

What is the Scientific Method?

Science is defined by the method scientists use to make discoveries and produce knowledge. The scientific method separates science from unsuccessful attempts to produce knowledge which people try to sell: faith, religion, pseudoscience, etc. Understanding science means understanding how the scientific method works, how scientists work, and so why science is superior to the alternatives. We rely too much on science to pretend it's no better than or different from the alternatives.

Marriage: Religious Rite or Civil Right?

Many argue that marriage is essentially and necessarily a religious rite -- they conceive of marriage in almost exclusively religious terms. Therefore, legalizing gay marriage constitutes a type of sacrilege and an unjustified intrusion of the state into what is necessarily a religious matter. Because of religion's traditional role in sanctifying marriages and presiding over wedding ceremonies this is understandable, but it's also incorrect.

Defining Science - How is Science Defined?

The definition of science poses some problems for people. Everyone seems to have an idea of what science is, but articulating it is difficult. Ignorance about science isn't a viable option, but unfortunately it's not too hard to find religious apologists spreading misunderstanding. Because science is best defined by scientific methodology, an accurate understanding of science also means understanding why science is superior to faith, intuition, or any other method of acquiring knowledge.

Scientific Laws - What Are Scientific Laws?

It's common to see religious apologists preaching about allegedly scientific "laws" as if they were absolute, definitive truths. This sort of argument is very appealing to religious apologists because the existence of scientific laws implies the existence of a lawgiver. It also seems to make it easier for them to construct arguments that appear to undermine genuine science, but the reason why these arguments don't work is the fact that they don't represent real science.

The Relationship Between Creationism & Evolution

Perhaps the most significant characteristic of Scientific Creationism is its almost obsessive focus on evolution. Although some creationists try to engage in scientific work or try to develop arguments about how a global Flood could have created the geological evidence we find, most of what passes for debate among creationists is little more than attacks on evolution itself. This betrays what the primary concern of creationism ultimately is: to reject and deny evolution.

Supreme Court Decision in Cuffley v. Mickes

Does Free Speech extend even to groups that are unpopular with the general public, including those considered hateful and unacceptable? Should all groups, whatever their political positions, be allowed to participate fully in government programs? Those questions were tested in Cuffley v. Mickes, which pitted the Ku Klux Klan against a state government that didn't want them to receive the publicity which usually accompanies participation in an Adopt-A-Highway program. The state lost.

FW/PBS v. City of Dallas (1990) - Supreme Court Decision

Zoning and licensing are common means used by city governments to control and even eliminate sexually oriented businesses, based upon the common religious belief that such businesses are inherently immoral and necessarily encourage moral decay. But just how far can local governments go in pursuit of this goal? Just how blatant can they be in using generally applicable laws to regulate or restrict certain types of ideas and speech which religious conservatives object to?

Roth v. United States (1957) - Supreme Court Decision

What is obscenity? This is an important question because, if the government can ban something "obscene," then that material falls outside the protection of the First Amendment and those who wish to distribute such material will have little, if any, recourse against censorship. Even worse, allegations of obscenity stem almost entirely from religious foundations, which means that essentially religious objections to material can remove basic constitutional protections from that material.

Pornography as Subversion - Can Porn Be Politically Subversive?

Is pornography good or bad for society? You'll find liberals on both sides of this question, and quite a few who don't regard it as necessarily good or bad. Almost all conservatives, however, do say that pornography is harmful and most attempts to censor sexually explicit material come from the politically and religiously conservative. This is arguably a violation of free speech and expression protections, but perhaps even worse it's a form of political and cultural control.

Objective vs. Subjective in Philosophy, Religion

Distinctions between objectivity and subjectivity lie at the heart of debates and conflicts in philosophy, morality, journalism, science, and more. Very often "objective" is treated as a vital goal while "subjective" is used as a criticism. Objective judgements are good; subjective judgments are arbitrary. Objective standards are good; subjective standards are corrupt. Reality isn't so clean and neat: there are areas where objectivity is preferable, but other areas where subjectivity is better.

Constructing Atheist Identity

By itself, atheism doesn't really qualify as an identity or even much of a basis for an identity because mere atheism is simply the absence of belief in gods. Nevertheless, you'll find a lot of people - some atheists, but mostly theists - who try to create just such an "atheist identity." They aren't doing atheists any favors, though, because they are creating identities designed to control atheists by framing what is and is not "acceptable" behavior from submissive, quiet atheists.

Dictionary Definition of Atheism

What is the definition of atheism? How do atheists define atheism? How do dictionaries define atheism? A common theme throughout the definitions here is the primary use of 'disbelieve' when defining atheism. Some dictionaries drop this, but most comprehensive dictionaries do not. For some reason, however, people simply ignore this word and move right along to the secondary sense of 'denial.' When we take a closer look at the word 'disbelieve,' we find two senses: an active and a passive.

Catholic Excommunication - How To Get Excommunicated From the Catholic Church

If you are an atheist who was once a Catholic, you should consider having yourself excommunicated. There are few more definitive and public steps you can take on behalf of the rejection of religion. Unless and until you are excommunicated, you are still counted as a Catholic. Why would you allow them to regard you as even provisionally Catholic? What are you afraid of? Do you still have doubts about believing in God and are keeping your options open in case you want to return to the Church?