All entries by this author

Ahmadinejad to Ratzinger: let’s fight secularism *

Oct 11th, 2010 | Filed by

One theocrat calls on another for cooperation by “divine religions” against secularism.… Read the rest



Mandela letters published *

Oct 11th, 2010 | Filed by

“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

Currently 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

And 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

He 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

About 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

The 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.

 Dixon’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

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Historians admit to inventing Ancient Greeks *

Oct 9th, 2010 | Filed by

“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

I’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

Religion 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

We 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

Religious 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

Mooney 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

More 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

And 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

A 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

Just 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

Mina 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

Data 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

Thomas 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:

I’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

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