Miracles From the Darkness: Medicine and Prayer
… or Where Have All the Scientists Gone?
It is one thing to examine the effects of a person's belief system on illness when there is a plausible connection between the belief, including prayer, and the body's systems, but another to seek to investigate an effect that lies outside the known laws of science.
Christian Work in the Devil’s Strongholds : Atheism in England in 1913
At the very beginning of the twentieth century, discussions on Atheism had a popularity and vigour that would astound most of us today. By contrast, in England today, religion is hardly mentioned and the main concern with any religious talk seems to be not to upset people with what you say.
Another Case Not Made: A Critique of Lee Strobel’s The Case for a Creator
In this chapter-by-chapter critique of Lee Strobel's The Case for a Creator, Paul Doland comments on the general direction of the book before analyzing Strobel's interviews with his various experts on specific topics. Topics include the origin of life, evolution, the relationship between science and religion, the origin of the universe, the alleged fine-tuning of the universe, whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, intelligent design, information theory, the origin and nature of consciousness, and whether consciousness can survive the death of the brain. Particularly noteworthy is Strobel's silence when his experts make conflicting claims (e.g., Wells and Dembski on evolution).
Mark Twain’s Private War with the Almighty
In his twilight years, unknown to his adoring public, the venerable Twain spewed relentless venom on his Maker.
Ms. Brown Goes to Washington
Lori Lipman Brown Brown goes to Washington as the first Director/Lobbyist of the Secular Coalition for America, of which Internet Infidels is a founding member. As the nation's very first 501(c)4 lobbying organization for freethinkers, the Coalition works to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints within the larger culture, and to protect and strengthen secular government as the best guarantee of freedom for all.
Bush’s God…?
George Walker Bush relates that he relied on guidance from "a higher Father" as he came to the decision to invade Iraq. Now that it's apparent that the best case scenario for Operation Iraqi Freedom will be a moderate Islamic republic aligned with Iran, and the worst case scenario a metastasizing war between Sunnis and Shiites spreading throughout the Middle East, perhaps it's time to address some questions surrounding President Bush's initial decision to go to war.
Our Giraffe
A fictional tale about a village that worships a giraffe in a tree.
Limiting God
Although we can never prove or disprove the existence of God, science can tell us where God isn't. God isn't to be found in the creation of the Earth, nor in the evolution of life. Nor can God know the future; physics shows us why.
Crosses and Flags
"Consider the crowd
who rose upon cue
to thwart the intent
of laws which forbid
praying in public
before football games..."
who rose upon cue
to thwart the intent
of laws which forbid
praying in public
before football games..."
Intelligent Design: “A Different Idea” Best Kept Out of the Classroom
A brief overview of intelligent design, prompted by President Bush's recent endorsement of the theory.
Senator Frist, the DOD, and the BSA
The "Support the Boy Scouts" amendment recently passed the Senate 98-0 after a federal District Court had declared unconstitutional the government support for theists-only BSA that the bill redeclares to be the law. Its Constitution be damned, nontheists are not protected by that document even if everyone else is!
Nazism: Atheism’s Bane?
Whenever I critique the inherent, ubiquitous, and incessant relationship between Abrahamic monotheism and senseless violence, I inevitably receive defiant rejoinders not only from Christian rigorists but from misinformed moderates and secularists as well. Such people offer Hitler and Nazism as verification of humanity's purely secular propensity toward excessive bloodshed. But contrary to popular opinion, Adolf Hitler was not an atheist.
Moral Relativism and the Catholic Church
Although the church's animosity toward the concept of moral relativism has achieved a great deal of press coverage, there has been reluctance by the media to state the obvious: the Catholic Church has engaged in moral relativism repeatedly throughout its history. Calls for moral absolutism will only slow the increasing sexual and social freedom of women, the recognition of equality for homosexuals, and the advancement of science. If history is any guide, the church will eventually be forced to reinvent itself once more and embrace modern moral judgments regarding these issues. At which point, no doubt, the church will pretend it never believed anything different, and insist that its current moral beliefs are absolute and represent the unchanging truth as given by god.
An Open Letter to Professor Antony Flew
An open letter to Antony Flew criticizing his much publicized renunciation of atheism. He is confused about what sort of God he now believes in. The evidence on which he rests his case for abandoning naturalism is poorly researched. And his arguments for a nonnatural designer God are poorly reasoned.
Out-of-Body Experiences
Paranormal experiences that transcend the perceived confines of the body, such as out-of-body experiences, may be seen as evidence of the existence of a "spiritual body" that can exceed the confines of the physical body. This article, however, provides a simple neurological explanation for such paranormal experience.
Review of The Evolution of the Soul
In The Evolution of the Soul Richard Swinburne makes a courageous attempt to defend (Cartesian) substance dualism—the thesis that the mind (or soul) is distinct from the body, yet interacts with it. Nagasawa's review critically analyzes two of Swinburne's arguments: (i) that one's conscious existence entails the existence of one's soul; and (ii) that a dualist has no obligation to explain how interaction is possible between ontologically distinct minds and bodies. At the very least, Nagasawa concludes, Swinburne has an obligation to explain why such interaction is inexplicable—and without invoking the existence of God.
Hi! I Am a Secular Conserv… BRRR…
"I felt an itching sensation to add another fringe color to our progressive rainbow: 'Hi! I am a secular conserv...' Brrr! Just an innocent attempt to spell out my political identity gives me goose bumps! I can imagine the apoplectic reaction from a sea of secular progressive officers and religious liberal soldiers: 'A conservative among our troops?!'"
Sermon on the Pope’s Homily
We're faced today--not with a good German shepherd--but with a German tank, "Der Panzer Kardinal." The tank, Pope Benedict XVI, is equipped with the two symbols of papal authority as well as with the old palavers: the same previous ideology of a medieval, anti-Reformation, antimodern paradigm of the papacy.
Born Anew
A long journey from Christian fundamentalism to Orthodox Judaism to
Agnosticism results in a rather unique perspective on what it means to be born anew.
Human What?
Pope John Paul II, who had just died, was being touted as a champion of human rights. Countless eulogies elevated him to near sainthood, with only an occasional mention of his "controversial" stands on issues related to "sexual morality." This, it seems, is the category under which the news reporters at least classified humanity's all-too-obvious need to control the destructive global population rate explosions, and the basic rights of people who happened to need love from others of the same gender.
Pope Leo I Weighs in on the Papacy
Having visited the Vatican on the eve of the conclave to choose a new pope, Pope Leo I is appalled by the demise of the true faith.
Metaphysical Naturalism?
Naturalism is an alternative to supernaturalism, which includes theism. Paul Draper, an agnostic philosopher at Florida International University, explains the difference between naturalism and theism well: “Naturalism and theism are powerful and popular worldviews. They suggest very different conceptions of the nature of human beings, our relationship to the world, and our future. Though I […]
Is American Law Based on the Ten Commandments?
Not only is God not mentioned in the Constitution, there is no mention of the Bible, Moses or the Ten Commandments. If the Ten Commandments are the basis for American law, it is peculiar that they bear no mention in the most important founding legal document of our nation.
From Fine-Tuning to Theism: How Gaping Is the Chasm?
Advocates of intelligent cosmological design often rely heavily on the embattled fine-tuning argument to prop up their theistic beliefs. But, even if the argument were to come up trumps, there would still be a gaping chasm between so-called fine-tuning and a Christian God.
Astrology and the Hindu Psyche
Although belief in astrology seems to prevail universally, a major difference between the astrological practices of other religions and Hinduism is that astrology gained religious sanctification in Hinduism. Nowhere has reliance on astrology gone so deep as in Hindu society.
The Sad Case of Alister McGrath
A scathing indictment of Oxford theology professor Alister McGrath's (mis)understanding of atheism.
Secularists Should Support Civil Marriage Equality for Gays
The failure to distinguish between marriage as a civil institution, and marriage as a religious institution continues to cloud the issue of civil marriage equality for gays. Lawmakers who fail to recognize this distinction appeal to the "sanctity" of marriage in their efforts to ban same-sex marriage. Secularists should call attention to this important distinction between the civil and the religious in order to promote civil liberties and equality.
Fulfilling the Responsibility to the Supreme Truth:
Can Martyrdom Achieve this Duty?
When a belief system is justified with life having a greater moral value than death, life will be encouraged. When a belief system is justified by death having a greater moral value than life, death will be encouraged. Humankind's destiny should not be the end of its collective existence.
A Review of Lee Strobel’s The Case for a Creator
"Christianity and theism disproved via the Lee Strobel logic methodology."