Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
I was writing yesterday about the religious claim that the default status of humans is that we are all fundamentally flawed, and suggested that if this was really true then the world should not be getting better, yet as a stark contrast to that the measurable worldwide trend is one in which violence of all types … Read more
There has been a “10 ‘Non-Commandments’ Contest,” in which people were asked to offer modern and far better alternatives to the famous 10, and the prize on offer for the winner was $10,000. Who is doing this? Lex Bayer, an executive at AirBnB, and John Figdor, a humanist chaplain at Stanford University Why? The cynical might simply make … Read more
If you have ever debated a Creationist then the concept of Quote Mining will be familiar. This is where a specific quote is lifted out of its original context and then presented in isolation in order to verify the quote miner’s view. For example, Darwin wrote the following in the Origin of the species … To suppose … Read more
A rather common claim made by different belief systems is that they not only hold the high moral ground but that they also have the ultimate incarnation of ethics. Associated with this is usually the seconds claim that beyond the boundary of their specific belief resides a wasteland of no ethics or morality but instead … Read more
Generally Mormons are decent, honest, respectful, and don’t have a culture that involves either alcohol or drugs, and so because of this some might argue that even if the actual beliefs are not true, being part of the culture can be beneficial. “Raise your kids Mormon, because they nurture things such as public speaking, athletics, … Read more
In today’s UK Guardian, we have an insanely silly article by Joseph Harker. Now please do not misunderstand me, this is not an attack upon Mr Harker, but is instead criticism of the quite popular and completely mythological view that religion acts as a force for good. I remain confident that Mr Harker is indeed … Read more