What's New Archive ● 2002 ● June
June 30, 2002
Added "Ethics: Why Not Intellectual Integrity?" by J R to the Agora.Every theory and belief should stand up to the light of logic and reason.
June 29, 2002
Added "The Pledge of Allegiance, the Courts, and Death Threats" by Jeffery J. Lowder to the Agora section of the KioskShocked by the hatred and bigotry openly expressed by politicians and journalists in response to the recent appeals court decision declaring unconstitutional the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, Lowder argues that it is time for nontheists to come out of the closet and stand up for their beliefs--or risk losing what little religious freedom they might enjoy.
June 28, 2002
Added "Is Christianity Absurd?" by Michael Martin to the Modern section of the Library. [Michael Martin is the author of The Case Against Christianity, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification and other books as well as numerous articles on atheism, theism, and similar subjects.]Is Christianity absurd? Michael Martin says that, based on the dictionary sense of the word "absurd," and on the practices and beliefs of Christianity, it is.
June 24, 2002
Added a Miscellaneous page to the Modern Library. First offerings are The Celebrity Atheist List and the Famous Dead Nontheists list.June 17, 2002
Updated the Secular E-Mail Lists page under E-Mail Lists and Electronic Resources: E-mail lists on topics ranging from American Atheist News to the Christianity List.June 14, 2002
Added a link on the Morality and Atheism page to "Is Same-Sex Marriage Good for the Nation", a debate between Norm Allen and Rev. John Rankin.Norm Allen is Deputy Editor of Free Inquiry magazine and head of African-Americans for Humanism. Rev. Rankin is an author, host of the Mars Hill Forum series, and a former agnostic who turned to biblical faith and earned graduate degrees in theology from Gordon-Conwell and Harvard.Added a link on the Separation of Church and State page to "Is the United States a Christian Nation? Should It Be?", a debate between Dr. Ed Buckner and Rev. John Rankin.
Dr. Buckner is Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism and serves as Editor of its Free Inquiry magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Georgia State University. Rev. Rankin is an author, host of the Mars Hill Forum series, and a former agnostic who turned to biblical faith and earned graduate degrees in theology from Gordon-Conwell and Harvard.
June 12, 2002
Added "The Incredible, Amazing, Illogical Rant of Cal Thomas" by David R. Gleeson to the Agora section of the Kiosk.Cal Thomas's April Fool's Day rant on Atheism is laughably bad, and quite possibly contains more logical fallacies per square inch than any paper in the history of published literature.
June 10, 2002
Jeffery Jay Lowder updated "The Rest of the Story"Lowder expanded footnote 37 concerning Strobel's incomplete discussion of alternative explanations to the alleged Resurrection.
June 5, 2002
Added "Does The Claim of Jesus' Resurrection Prevail Under the Federal Rules of Evidence?" by Edward Tabash to the Features section of the Kiosk.Edward Tabash, a constitutional and civil rights attorney, critically analyzes Faith on Trial by attorney Pamela Binnings Ewen. Whereas Ewen attempts to show that a trial conducted under the Federal Rules of Evidence would uphold the claim that Jesus was supernaturally resurrected following his execution, Tabash argues that the so-called evidence of Jesus' supernatural resurrection would not even be admitted into evidence, thus the jury would not even get to hear it--let alone decide if it were true.Updated "Was There a Big Bang? I Honestly Don't Know" by Richard C. Carrier to a new 3rd edition (2002).
The 3rd edition has added material, particularly in response to Karen Fox's defense of the Big Bang Theory in her 2002 book of the same name, and addresses some new evidence.Jeffery Jay Lowder posted a very minor revision to his essay, "How Not to Argue Against the Historicity and Resurrection of Jesus"
June 4, 2002
Updated "The Rest of the Story" by Jeffery Jay LowderIn this update to his book review of Lee Strobel's Case for Christ, Lowder makes a long overdue retraction of his previous claim that psychological studies on human memory provide good reason for doubting the transmission accuracy of oral tradition. In written correspondence, Lowder said, "If I make an error, it is important that I publicly acknowledge it and correct it." (Too bad our critics don't always operate this way.) Lowder also updated his discussion of the empty tomb and the appearances to reflect his current position on these issues. Finally, Lowder made several other minor corrections and modifications to his book review.
June 2, 2002
Thanks to Reed Esau, The Celebrity Atheist List (hosted by the Secular Web) is once again up and running--and better than ever! Added "Answer to 'Why I Am Not a Hindu'" by A Hindu Woman to the Modern section of the Secular Web Library."A Hindu Woman" critically analyzes Why I am Not a Hindu by Ramendra Nath and asserts that he does not present a balanced appraisal, ignoring the good that is in Hindu Dharma in order to concentrate on certain negative aspects only. As "A Hindu Woman" puts it, "I think his account is biased."
See "What's New? " for past months