All entries by this author

Bared walruses? Paired galoshes?

Oct 19th, 2010 4:58 pm | By

Oh hooray hooray hooray, Chris Stedman gives us more advice on how to be a Good™ atheist instead of a Bad atheist. I’m so pleased to have more because I can’t ever seem to get it straight in my head, you know? What is it they think we should do – shout a little louder was it? Start the chainsaw earlier?

I spoke with a Christian friend about my budding efforts as an atheist promoting religious tolerance and interfaith work. She too was excited about the idea of bringing people together around shared values in spite of religious differences…

Oh yes that was it! Not shouting louder, no no; bringing people together around shared values in spite of religious differences. … Read the rest



UAE: court rules men can “discipline” wives *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

“According to Islamic law, a man has the “right to discipline” his wife and children.” Just don’t leave a mark.… Read the rest



Funny how capricious miracles are *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

If MacKillop were being canonised for being good, there would be less need to question the excessive and sycophantic coverage.… Read the rest



“The militant atheist pack-hate” *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

Hey, everybody, let’s pay attention to the positive aspects of religion!… Read the rest



“Evangelical atheists” *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

Hey, everybody, let’s bring people together around shared values in spite of religious differences!… Read the rest



Have some slush

Oct 18th, 2010 12:18 pm | By

John Haught says, in God and the New Atheism, that gnu atheists get faith all wrong, at least from the point of view of theology, which

thinks of faith as a state of self-surrender in which one’s whole being, and not just the intellect, is experienced as being carried away into a dimension of reality that is much deeper and more real than anything that can be grasped by science and reason. [p 13]

You know…there’s a problem here. I would like to say something sober and restrained about that; I would like to give a cool, sarcasm-free account of what I think is wrong with it, for once; but I find it very hard to do that, … Read the rest



Many traditionalist clergy

Oct 18th, 2010 10:35 am | By

The Anglican Bishop of Fulham is going to switch over to Catholicism because he prefers the Catholic church’s way of dealing with pesky women, which of course is to tell them to shut up and do what they’re told.

The Pope created a special enclave in the Roman Catholic Church for Anglicans unhappy with their church’s decision to let women become bishops.

Too bad all men can’t find enclaves like that, isn’t it. If only. If only there were special enclaves in universities for male academics unhappy with the prospect of seeing women become professors. If only there were special enclaves in law for male lawyers who don’t want to have to put up with women judges or prosecutors; if … Read the rest



Anglican clergy hate women *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

“Many traditionalist clergy are unhappy with the level of protection so far offered to them from serving under a woman bishop.”… Read the rest



Frans de Waal on morals without God *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of the Darwinian view that morality grew out of the social instincts.… Read the rest



Yale fraternity pledges chant “No means yes!” *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

And “Yes means anal!” – while marching past women’s dormitories. Welcome to rape culture.… Read the rest



Sean Wilentz on Glen Beck as “educator” *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

The return of the John Birch Society.… Read the rest



New albigensianism

Oct 17th, 2010 11:57 am | By

The gnu atheist-haters have been having a busy weekend. Yesterday Michael Ruse told us, after saying that he took Philip Kitcher’s article seriously even though he disagreed with it, and wouldn’t be writing about it if he didn’t –

(Actually, as a general rule that is just not true. I write about the New Atheists, even though I don’t think their position is worth taking seriously at all. Or rather, I accept many of the conclusions, but I think the arguments are lousy. But I write about the New Atheists because I think their hateful attitude towards believers is a potential force for great social and moral evil.)

And today Julian Baggini told us about the way atheism is … Read the rest



Thanks? For what?

Oct 17th, 2010 11:21 am | By

Twelve of the Chilean miners went to a “service of thanksgiving” at the mouth of the San Jose copper and gold mine today. Thanksgiving for what?

Imagine this scenario. Imagine last Thursday the Minister of Mines and all the engineers held a press conference and revealed that they had blown up the mine and trapped the 33 on purpose.

Would the 33 and all the people who were afraid for them for 70 days feel grateful to the minister and the engineers for rescuing them after first trapping them?

They wouldn’t, you know. They would be livid. They would be angry beyond imagining – they would want to do violence.

But that’s what “God” did, obviously.

So why are people … Read the rest



Anglican congregation accepts pope’s invitation *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

To convert to Catholicism to escape ordination of women. God hates women.… Read the rest



Baggini gives atheist “sermon” in Westminster Abbey *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Divides atheists into good, reasonable atheists and bad, dogmatic, theist-hating atheists. Puts himself in the first group.… Read the rest



Alex Clark reviews Luka and the Fire of Life *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Rushdie includes a trip through the Respectorate of I, where everyone takes offence and visitors are warned to mind their manners.… Read the rest



Benoît Mandelbrot 1924-2010 *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Mandelbrot coined the term “fractal” to refer to a new class of mathematical shapes whose uneven contours could mimic the irregularities found in nature.… Read the rest



10 die in Indian temple stampede *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

The victims had gathered to witness the traditional sacrifice of goats; 40,000 devotees had thronged the temple at the time of the stampede.… Read the rest



Gender equality in Sweden *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Both in education and in the labour market, the genders are not equally represented.… Read the rest



The anger fuelling Serbia’s rioters *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

“The gay parade was a provocation against Serbian people,” explains a member of the nationalist group 1389.… Read the rest