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What's New Archive ● 1998 ● August

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What's New?

The following is an itemized list of new items available on the Secular Web.

• August 27, 1998

• • Added "Does the Christian Theism Advocated by J. P. Moreland Provide a Better Reason to be Moral than Secular Humanism?" by Richard Carrier to the Modern Library.
    Carrier refutes Moreland's claim that theism offers more and better reasons to live a moral life than atheism or secular humanism.

• August 26, 1998

• • Added Secular Nation to the Magazines page

• August 23, 1998

• • Added Feature article: Has science proven the "divine" health benefits of religion?

  • Added "Nonbelief vs. Lack of Evidence" (1998) [ 31K ] by Theodore Drange
    Here are two atheological arguments, called the "Lack-of-evidence Argument" (LEA) and "the Argument from Nonbelief " (ANB). LEA: Probably, if God were to exist then there would be good objective evidence for that. But there is no good objective evidence for God's existence. Therefore, probably God does not exist. ANB: Probably, if God were to exist then there would not be many nonbelievers in the world. But there are many nonbelievers in the world. Therefore, probably God does not exist. Reasons are given for saying that although LEA is not totally implausible, ANB is a stronger atheological argument than it is.

  • Added The Great Lakes Humanist Society (Off Site) to the list of local organizations

• August 22, 1998

• • Cosmology for Beginners (1997) [ 8K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    A Review of Pirani's and Roche's Universe for Beginners.

  • Added "Church and State in Norway" (1997) [ 19K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    An overview of church-state relations in Norway.

• August 21, 1998

• • Added "Secularism in New Zealand" (1998) [ 8K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    Bill Cooke's Heathen in Godzone "gives introduction to and survey of secularism in New Zealand, particularly focused on the history of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanist."

• August 18, 1998

• • Added Lively Answers to Theists: Review of Robin Le Poidevin's Arguing for Atheism (1998) [ 22K ] by Keith Parsons
    The "book is a logically deft and clearly written introduction to the philosophy of religion. It should be useful for undergraduate courses, though parts, such as the discussion of the modal ontological argument, are quite complex and certain to confuse beginners. The book is also a brief for atheism. In general, it serves both of its functions well. However, the three parts of the book are unequal in value. I found part 3, in which Le Poidevin examines the possibility of religion without God, to be of less interest than the earlier sections. Further, though I regard part 1, 'The Limits of Theistic Explanation,' as a nearly complete success, I have some reservations about the treatment of the problem of evil in part 2."

• August 15, 1998

• • Added July 1998 Feedback to the Feedback section.
    Outrageous questions and comments from our readers with our irreverent, yet carefully considered replies!

• August 14, 1998

• • Added Ramendra Nath to the list of Internet Infidels Supporters.

• August 12, 1998

• • Added Feature article: On Their Honor: Has the Media Told the Whole Truth about the BSA-UUA Dispute?

• August 11, 1998

• • Added "Is God Dead?" (1998) by Ramendra Nath to the Modern Library.
    Professor Ramendra, one of India's foremost secular thinkers, summarizes the arguments against the existence of God from his book by the same name.

• August 10, 1998
• • Added "The 'Big Bang' Argument for the Existence of God" (1998) [ 31K ] by Theodore Schick, Jr.
    "Some believe that evidence for the big bang is evidence for the existence of god. Who else, they ask, could have caused such a thing? In this paper, I evaluate the big bang argument, compare it with the traditional first-cause argument, and consider the relative plausibility of various natural explanations of the big bang."
• August 9, 1998

• • Added "Review of Robin Le Poidevin's Arguing for Atheism" (1997) [ 8K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    "I think that Le Poidevin has written a good introduction to atheism. His book is probably less adequate as an introduction to the philosophy of religion, and it is even less adequate as an introduction to metaphysics."

  • Substantially updated the secular humanism section of the Modern Library

  • Added a "Book Reviews page" to the atheism section of the Modern Library

  • Added "Review of Tony Davies' Humanism" (1997) [ 6K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    There may be other people who judge Davies' new book more positively, but to me he only adds a new kind of humanism to the earlier humanisms, "hotchpotch humanism", which is not humanism at all. Those who would like to learn more about hotchpotch humanism should read this book. Other people should rather read other books. Routledge still needs to publish a good book about humanism.

  • Added "Review of Michael Martin's Big Domino in the Sky" (1997) [ 6K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    "The Big Domino in the Sky presents the case for atheism in the context of a number of stories. The book therefore is a mixture of philosophy and fiction. Much philosophy is, of course, a kind of fiction, so the extension of philosophical arguments to more common kinds of fiction is quite natural. But it does not happen often that authors of fiction are as qualified in philosophy as professor Martin."

  • Added "Review of J.J.C. Smart & J.J. Haldane, Atheism and Theism" (1997) [ 7K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    "Smart has a highly refined philosophy of atheism, metaphysics, and ethics. From contacts with 'atheists in the street', particularly as they can be found in contemporary freethought circles, I suspect that Smart's philosophy is too profound and too difficult for most of them. Quite a pity!"

  • Added "Review of Jenny Teichman's Social Ethics: A Student's Guide" (1997) [ 7K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    "Considered as an introduction to ethics, Teichman's book omits much, perhaps too much. On the other side, her style is clear and matter-of-fact, and it is easy to find one's way in her book, Teichman has also an interesting approach to ethics and I have experienced the study of her book as rewarding. So her book can certainly be recommended. And the reader who wants to learn more, can use her bibliography as a good point of departure for further studies. But not for the study of atheism or humanism."

  • Added "Review of Geoffrey Scarre's Utilitarianism" (1997) [ 6K ] by Finngeir Hiorth
    "This is an excellent introduction to and survey of utilitarianism, an important current in contemporary ethical theory."

  • Added Finngeir Hiorth author page
    Thanks to Michael Martin for putting us into contact with Professor Hiorth

  • Added "William Lane Craig: Christian Theism's Hired Gun" (1998) [ 39K ] by Jeffery Jay Lowder
    Lowder argues that the time has come for nontheists to hire someone full-time to defend nonbelievers against the attacks of religious apologists like William Lane Craig, the "hired gun" debater of Evangelical Christianity.

• August 5, 1998

• • Added "Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq" (1997) (Off Site) by Jeremiah D. McAuliffe
    "Warraq's book is long, detailed, referenced and footnoted, but with extensive and glaring intellectual flaws. It would take a book twice as long as his to refute each of his errors. This paper shall first identify five general flaws that are present in Warraq's work and are also often seen in other anti-Muslim writing. I shall then discuss some issues and problems specific to Warraq's book. Throughout both parts I shall draw attention to areas that appear to me to be valid criticism."

• August 4, 1998

• • Added August: Pope Shoots Self in Foot; Southern Baptists Do It to Their Wives (1998) by Judith Hayes (The Happy Heretic, August 1998)

  • Added The Three R's or Relating Radiometric Relativity (1998) [ 10K ] (Off Site) by Cliff Hanlon
    A rebuttal to Matson's claim that the arrival of light from an exploding star, known as supernova 1987A, disproves young-earth creationism.

  • Added Rejoinder to Cliff Hanlon's "Three R's" (1998) [ 9K ] by Dave Matson
    "Only a small part of my argument is based on a radiometric clock, and there is not the slightest evidence that such clocks, as a whole, have ever been 'reset.'"

See "What's New?" for past months.

We also recommend checking the following pages to keep abreast of recent changes at the following highly recommended sites:

• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Humanist Association
• Council for Secular Humanism
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Inc.
• National Center for Science Education
• Operation Clambake (anti-$cientology site)
• Skeptic's Society
• Talk.origins Archive