Monthly Archives: February 2009

No Religion, Please — We’re English

[T]he common people are without definite religious belief, and have been so for centuries. The Anglican Church never had a real hold on them, it was simply a preserve of the landed gentry, and the Nonconformist sects only influenced minorities. And … Continue reading

Posted in culture | 11 Comments

Scandinavia!

It was difficult to read this New York Times piece without feeling just a little cheered… Mr. Zuckerman, a sociologist who teaches at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., has reported his findings on religion in Denmark and Sweden in “Society … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Secular & right-wing edition of bloggingheads.tv?

Well, depends on how you define secular. I interviewed Greg Cochran on bloggingheads.tv recently, talking about evolution, etc.  I think this might be the only way that you could get two registered Republicans on that show; have them talk only … Continue reading

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 26 Comments

On objective ends

Jim Kalb offers a criticism of the general mission statement of this weblog, Is “the secular” so clear?: My own view, which my book goes into at length, is that by itself rational empiricism gives you desire and technique as … Continue reading

Posted in philosophy, politics | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

Human Rights and Faith

Here’s a good thumb-sucker piece, courtesy of Arts & Letters Daily, about the connection between human rights and religious belief. In there somewhere is a version of the “midwife” argument — i.e. that whether or not religious faith was necessary to … Continue reading

Posted in culture | 13 Comments

Bummer!

No wonder the newspaper business is in trouble. Look at the standard of reporting in this story from the Baltimore Sun: Police said a 58-year-old man stabbed his teenage son after he refused to take off his hat at church earlier … Continue reading

Posted in culture | 7 Comments

How Many Miracles?

Incidentally, as a resource for arguing about Christianity, I have found the Christian Think Tank website invaluable. For example:  How many miracles did Jesus perform, according to the Gospels?  Answer: 36 … including three revivifications, which is two more than I … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Suicide bombings, God & religion

I have a post here @ ScienceBlogs. Remember, correlation need not be transitive….

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The God Who Wasn’t There

While reading my Sunday Telegraph this morning, my eye was caught by an ad for yet another proactive atheist venture, a movie (or at any rate a DVD) titled The God Who Wasn’t There. Its premise seems to be that Jesus of Nazareth … Continue reading

Posted in history | 57 Comments

SR Sets the Pace

Does the New York Times read SecularRight.org? Here was me on Feb. 19 bringing up the Harvard Implicit Association Tests. Here was the Times on Feb. 20 bringing up the Harvard Implicit Association Tests. Coincidence? I think not.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments