Modern Library

Could We Survive Our Own Deaths? (1998) Antony Flew   Part I: The Great Obstacle (a) Could we survive our own individual deaths? Surely it is obvious that we do not, that we could not? For is anyone prepared to contest the truth of the major premise in that most famous of all exemplary syllogisms: […]

Secular Wedding Ceremonies (1999) by Bill Schultz The question arises, from time to time, about what nontheists can do if they want something more elaborate than a courthouse wedding, performed by some clerk, but they don’t want to go through anything which looks like its a “church wedding.” Well, there is an alternative, but it […]

Is America a Christian Nation? Getting Out God’s Vote (n.d.) by Frederick Edwords and Stephen McCabe Is America a Christian Nation? (n.d.) by The Freedom From Religion Foundation (Off Site) America has never been a Christian nation. We are a free nation. Anne Gaylor, president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, points out: "There can […]

A1. Woodmorappe’s Collection of Bad Dates Eat one of those and your tummy will curl right up! Seriously speaking, a favorite attack on radiometric dating involves dangling "horror stories" about gross errors before the reader, thus giving the impression that radiometric dating is totally unreliable. Woodmorappe (1979), with his collection of some 350 bad radiometric […]

Dr. Hovind (G5): The assumed age of a sample will dictate which radiometric dating method is used. One method will only give results for a young age; another will only give results for a very old age. Thus, the assumed age of a sample dictates the method which, in turn, gives the assumed age! G5. […]

Young-earth "proof" #11: Since the earth’s magnetic field is decaying at an exponential rate, its strength would have been unrealistically high 25,000 years ago. Thus, Earth is less than 25,000 years old. 11. Dr. Hovind is almost certainly talking about Barnes’s magnetic field argument (1973) or some echo of it. Henry Morris, himself, once praised […]

Young-earth "proof" #7: Space dust would be vacuumed out of our solar system by the Poynting-Robertson effect in a few thousand years. Since that is not the case, the earth is very young. The Poynting-Robertson effect is an effect that sunlight has on small dust particles orbiting the sun. The continuing absorption of sunlight robs […]

Abortion is not Immoral and Should not be Illegal by Richard C. Carrier It is always refreshing debating someone who is not fanatically attached to a bizarre worldview.  We always come to enlightened agreement on many issues.  This is one of the reasons I believe secularism is the correct view–whereas theism leads to greater dispute […]

On The Subject of Conscription: Conscription, or compulsory military service, has often found opposition from the religious community based on their belief. Some Americans suggest that the country would better off if it were restored, saying it would bring a better sense of duty and patriotism to the people. On the same side, are those […]

On The Subject of Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology, which will be able to cheaply replicate and modify virtually any object with atomic-scale precision, promises to radically change human society perhaps even more then all of the technological advances of the modern era combined. It also has the potential to become the most destructive weapon imaginable–far surpassing nuclear […]

Islamic Science: Does Islamic literature contain scientific miracles? Denis Giron Over the last decade growing numbers of Muslims have declared the Qur’an to be a book filled with alleged scientific miracles. Numerous web sites, books and videos have been produced that proclaim Islam to be truly a religion of divine origin, citing “scientifically accurate” statements […]

I do not believe in God and I am here to explain why. Any discussion of the discussion of the existence of God must, I think, begin with some preliminary definitions and points of principle. As commonly understood, atheism is the denial of the existence of God. I prefer a slightly different formulation, in which […]

About This Debate Drange’s Opening Statement: The Arguments from Nonbelief and Confusion for the Nonexistence of God Wilson’s Opening Statement: The Transcendental Argument for God’s Existence Drange’s First Rebuttal Wilson’s First Rebuttal Drange’s Second Rebuttal Wilson’s Second Rebuttal Drange’s Third Rebuttal Wilson’s Third Rebuttal Drange’s Closing Statement Wilson’s Closing Statement

CHAPTER 10 The Search for Signers – Round Two With the editorial process completed, "A Humanist Manifesto" was ready to submit to a wider group of signers as a finished document. The considerations that went into deciding who to invite and who not to invite to endorse it were many. After much discussion, a list […]

CHAPTER 9 Style and Semantics It is my contention that those who signed "A Humanist Manifesto" in 1933 sought verbal integrity and a semantic change from traditional religious terms in order to clarify their naturalistic approach. However, as is the case with most editorial matters, a great deal of the response to the written word […]

It is an honor to be here. On the topic under discussion, I affirm that Jesus of Nazareth died and rose bodily from the grave. I offer two points in support of this claim. First, the New Testament documents are historically reliable accounts. Second, these documents reveal that Jesus really died on the cross and […]

Introductory Remarks (Jeff Lowder, Debate organizer) Our moderator for this evening is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California at Davis, where he double-majored in both Greek and Latin. Although his journalism career started in broadcast news at KQED-TV in San Francisco, he quickly found his niche with newspaper journalism, and he […]

<<< Part 3 Part 4     TURKEL > rather than cite verses here we will call >upon the explication of Coogan [Coog.2K, 114], who >cites an example of an Akkadian concept of "friend of the >king" - a person who paid a tax for this designated >status and was able to pass it on […]

If you are looking for an answer to the nagging question of why religion persists, you can find it hanging on the walls in the homes of countless believers. It is the sappy Christian anecdote, “Footprints,” about a troubled soul who fears that God has left him when he looks back after a trying journey […]

Review of J.J.C. Smart & J.J. Haldane, Atheism and Theism (1997) Finngeir Hiorth   Smart, J.J.C. & J.J. Haldane: Atheism and Theism, Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford 0X4 1JF, UK, and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, Mass., 02142. USA, 232 PP., bibliography, index, paperback.   In a review dated 4 April 1997 and entitled “Introduction […]

What Is Humanism? Frederick Edwords What is humanism? The sort of answer you will get to that question depends on what sort of humanist you ask! The word “humanism” has a number of meanings, and because authors and speakers often don’t clarify which meaning they intend, those trying to explain humanism can easily become a […]

God in the CCU? A critique of the San Francisco hospital study on intercessory prayer and healing Gary P. Posner, M.D. [This article was originally printed in Spring 1990 issue of Free Inquiry.] The day of publication of the July 1988 issue of the Southern Medical Journal must have been one Hell of a busy […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 18 – Isaiah and Micah OF the two Judaean prophets who were active in the eighth century, there can be little doubt that Isaiah was the more powerful. He lived in the capital city of Jerusalem and was brought into immediate association with […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 32 – Texts, Manuscripts and Translations THE task of the textual critic, to recover, insofar as possible, what the original writer wrote, is formidable. No autographs have been found, and in some instances our oldest manuscripts are separated by many centuries from the […]

Review of "Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask About The Christian Faith" by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart Gordon Stein, Ph.D. [NOTE: The following review appeared in the July/August 1982 issue of The American Rationalist.] I am puzzled by this book. Is it a sincere work, faulted by the fact that a little knowledge is […]

Review of Dean L. Overman (1997) A Case Against Accident and Self-Organisation New York: Rowman & Littlefield   To judge from the dust-jacket, this book has received a considerable amount of praise–and not just from the usual suspects. In particular, the publishers seem keen to promulgate the view that there is widespread support for the […]

Din Adamlarini Görüs Ayriliklarina Sürükleyen Sorunlar Insan Aklini Durdurmaga Yeterli Seylerdir:     Ilahiyat Fakültesinden çikma ve çogunun adi’nin basinda “Profesör” ya da “Doçent” unvanlari bulunan “&Uuml;niversiteli ilahiyatçilarimiz” da dahil olmak üzere din adamlarimizin “bilim” diye ugrastiklari seylere söyle bir göz atiniz. Göreceksinizdir ki bunlar genellikle akli dislayan seylerden ve daha dogrusu batil inançlardan olusur; […]

Toplumsal Geriliklerimizin Sorumlulari Din Adamlari Ilhan Arsel “Eger (din adamlarina) karsi benim sahsimdan bir sey anlamak isterse niz, derim ki ben sahsen onlarin düsmaniyim. Onlarin menfi istikamette atacaklari bir hatfe (adim), yalniz benim sahsi imanima degil, yalniz benim gayeme degil, o adim benim millet imin hayati ile…, o adim milletimin kalbine havale edilmis zehirli bir […]

Far-Out Religious Right Comes Out of a Crazy Mold (The Washington Spectator, Sept. 15, 1995) "Think not that I come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the […]

Library: Modern Documents: James Still: Book Review: The God Who Sits Enthroned Book Review: The God Who Sits Enthroned James Still Fernandes, Phil. (1997): The God Who Sits Enthroned. Bremerton, WA: IBD Press. 164 pages. $10.00. Dr. Fernandes’s book touches on many of the major themes in Fundamentalist Christian apologetics and concentrates especially on three […]