One theocrat calls on another for cooperation by “divine religions” against secularism.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Mandela letters published
Oct 11th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image I unwittingly projected to the outside world; of being regarded as a saint.”… Read the rest
Saqlain Imam on secularism in Pakistan
Oct 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCurrently seculars are supporting democratic forces, while the religious forces are bent upon undermining the democratic disposition of the state.… Read the rest
Salman Rushdie and his son Milan discuss Luka
Oct 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd magic realism, gaming, Islamism, the fading of the fatwa, Bombay, and the movies, with Andrew Marr.… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne says science and religion aren’t friends
Oct 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe says it in USA Today! The walls are crumbling…… Read the rest
LA Times on “new” atheists v warm fuzzies
Oct 10th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAbout 300 nonbelievers from across the US and Canada gathered for three days of lively and, at times, gleefully blasphemous debate.… Read the rest
Yet more science-n-religion
Oct 9th, 2010 5:26 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe more you look at this science-and-religion thing, the more Templeton you find. In fact, I wonder if there is any science-and-religion that has nothing to do with Templeton. So consider that a challenge: if you know of any, or find any, let me know.
Mark Jones did a really good post on the subject a few days ago, and he turned up lots of intersections of s-and-r and Templeton. He skipped one though.
… Read the restDixon’s also contributed to Science and Religion, New Historical Perspectives, with fellow ISSR members Geoffrey Cantor and Stephen Pumfrey, which has this blurb:
The idea of an inevitable conflict between science and religion was decisively challenged by John Hedley Brooke in his classic Science and
Historians admit to inventing Ancient Greeks
Oct 9th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“We were young and trying to advance our careers, so we just started making things up: Homer, Aristotle, Socrates, Hippocrates, all the different kinds of columns…”… Read the rest
Not Helping what?
Oct 9th, 2010 12:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonI’m left with one question in particular about Chris Mooney’s position at the Secular Humanism bash yesterday. He kept saying various versions of “you’re not helping!” That’s not helping; I still wonder how that’s helping; I can’t see how that’s helping.
Here’s my question.
Helping what? What are we supposed to be helping with? What is this giant X that Mooney is so familiar with but I am not, that we are all supposed to join hands and help with?
Sometimes it seems to be science education in the US; sometimes it seems to be some kind of peace treaty with science; sometimes it seems to have to do with climate change…but most of the time it’s not even … Read the rest
PZ’s opening statement at the debate
Oct 9th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligion provides solace to millions, we are told, it makes them happy, and it’s mostly harmless. “But is it true?”, we ask, as if it matters.… Read the rest
Salil Tripathi reviews Salman Rushdie’s Luka
Oct 9th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWe encounter the self-righteous, injured innocence of those easily offended, who want to silence anyone who criticizes anything they hold dear.… Read the rest
Hitchens reports from Tumor Town
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligious maniacs are trying to prevent the use of existing embryos for stem cell research that would help existing humans.… Read the rest
Watch the Secular Humanist Conference live
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMooney was better than one might expect; PZ was great.… Read the rest
Oh if only we could learn to doubt
Oct 8th, 2010 10:55 am | By Ophelia BensonMore dopy mindless generalization about “New Atheism” at Comment is Free Belief, this batch courtesy of Ed Halliwell.
Almost two weeks on from the After New Atheism event at the RSA and the trail seems to have gone cold. It sounded so promising – the setup from a humanist writer professing his boredom with the stagnancy of debate…And yet it didn’t quite happen. As Mark Vernon reported, the evening itself was a bit of a damp squib, and normal service has been resumed on comment threads, with Caspar Melville – the aforementioned humanist – understandably crying foul at the pummelling he received for daring to call for more listening and less braying.
Yes, but as we know, Caspar Melville … Read the rest
Let’s “move beyond the theism of New Atheism”
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd while we’re at it, let’s accuse “the New Atheists” of braying. That will set the tone nicely.… Read the rest
Homophobic vandalism at University of Cape Town
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA pink closet, meant to promote gay rights at UCT, was torched on Monday night, just hours after it was set up… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo scold barmaid for strawmanning
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJust what you’d expect from someone who wants to stamp out beauty and replace people with robots.… Read the rest
Ahadi and Namazie meet European Parliament VP
Oct 8th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMina Ahadi and Maryam Namazie met with Roberta Angelilli to discuss the urgent case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and hand deliver a letter from her son.… Read the rest
The BHA Census campaign
Oct 7th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonData on religion produced by the 2001 census gave a wholly misleading picture of the religiosity of the UK, halving the number of non-religious people.… Read the rest
More on the Science-n-religion question
Oct 7th, 2010 11:29 am | By Ophelia BensonThomas Dixon commented on one of the recent posts on this issue, and I thought it only fair to make his comment more visible, since that post is now oldish, and I also hope he will comment further.
Dixon’s comment:
… Read the restI’ve been dismayed by some of the misinformation going around in the wake of the recent BBC Four programme I presented and a related online article I wrote for the BBC News magazine. Just for the record, I am a historian, not a theologian (although my first degree was indeed in Theology and Religious Studies), and membership of ISSR is open to anyone who has made a scholarly study of relations between science and religion, as I have. As