All entries by this author

Parking tickets are one thing, and…

Dec 3rd, 2009 11:41 am | By

The Irish Times notes how globally the Vatican thinks and acts.

Ultimate responsibility for the way in which the safety of children was so recklessly ignored does not lie with any individual bishop. It does not lie even with the Irish hierarchy as a whole. It lies with the Vatican. We know this because the approach to allegations of child abuse was consistent, not simply between bishops or across Irish dioceses, but around the world. There was a way of doing things – keeping the crimes secret and moving the abusers on to another parish until the whole pattern began to repeat itself.

World government with a vengeance, that is – a theistic institution that has managed to make … Read the rest



Walk on by

Dec 2nd, 2009 4:35 pm | By

Good ol’ Rick Warren. He’s a trip. None of that soppy good Samaritan crap for him. None of that ‘let him cast the first stone’ nonsense. No sir. Rick Warren knows what kind of people he likes, and who’s worth saving and who isn’t. He also knows who’s on his team and who isn’t. He keeps track, and he’s not such a fool as to bother helping people who aren’t on his team. That would be foolishness! No flies on Rick.

In recent days, Pastor Rick Warren has come under fire for refusing to condemn an Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda that would make some homosexual acts punishable by death. “[I]t is not my personal calling as a pastor in America

Read the rest


There’s a difference between ‘thoughtful’ and ‘wrong’

Dec 2nd, 2009 12:44 pm | By

Oh the tedious predictability and smugness of the middlebrow mind.

Traditionally, religious wars were fought with swords and sieges; today, they often are fought with books. And in literary circles, these battles have usually been fought at the extremes.

It’s smug and predictable to pretend books are the equivalent of swords; it’s smug and predictable to cast anything one wants to sneer at as (somehow, and self-evidently) ‘extreme’; it’s smug and predictable to pretend that religion and atheism are really equivalent and each as bad as the other. It ought to be possible even to disagree with atheism without making that stupid stale untrue move, but apparently it isn’t, at least not for hacks. I would like Kristof not … Read the rest



Rick Warren Refuses to Condemn Ugandan Bill *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

Says no one cared about Christians who died last year. Good answer.… Read the rest



Uganda’s ‘Anti-Homosexuality’ Bill *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

There has been increased campaigning against homosexuality in Uganda, led by churches and anti-gay groups.… Read the rest



Noam Chomsky on Nick Cohen *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

‘Oh, Nick Cohen’s a maniac. These are just diatribes, tantrums. I’m not interested in them.’… Read the rest



Matthew Cobb Reviews Two Books on Evolution *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

The very idea of evolution has been subject to a 150-year long offensive by a vast variety of religious thinkers.… Read the rest



Nigerian Footballer Not Happy in Sudan *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

Stephen Worgu was sentenced to 40 lashes in Sudan for drunk driving, would prefer to be in Europe.… Read the rest



I Once Could See But Now I’m Blind *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

People stared at the sun at Knock; now they have solar retinopathy.… Read the rest



Jesus and Mo Know What God Wants *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

The barmaid knows what Jesus and Mo want.… Read the rest



Priest Apologizes for Swearing at Revenue Officials *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

The priest, a convicted tax evader, called them a ruder and more sexist name than the paper admits.… Read the rest



Prince Charles is Abusing His Status Again *

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

He is lobbying the Government to protect the future of alternative medicine from new EU rules.… Read the rest



A Deal-breaker

Dec 2nd, 2009 | By Ophelia Benson

One compelling reason not to believe the standard-issue God exists is the conspicuous fact that no one knows anything at all about it. That’s a tacit part of the definition of God – a supernatural being that no one knows anything about. The claims that are made about God bear no resemblance to genuine knowledge. This becomes immediately apparent if you try adding details to God’s CV: God is the eternal omnipotent benevolent omniscient creator of the universe, and has blue eyes. You see how it works. Eternal omnipotent benevolent omniscient are all simply ideal characteristics that a God ought to have; blue eyes, on the other hand, are particular, and if you say God has them it suddenly becomes … Read the rest



Why we write

Dec 1st, 2009 6:10 pm | By

I’ve been going back and forth with Josh Rosenau, at his blog and also now via email, and I think we’ve pinned down (for the moment) our basic disagreement – which is about what one writes or talks for. Josh says, perfectly reasonably, that we surely write or talk in order to get some result, however broadly we construe ‘result.’ I say…yes, if we construe ‘result’ really broadly…but I think that may be where the difference is: how broadly we construe it.

At any rate, my goal, if any, when writing is not really to get people to do something. It’s certainly not to avoid disturbing people in any way. My goal is to say what I’m trying to … Read the rest



Hey mister, whatcha reading?

Dec 1st, 2009 4:47 pm | By

I had a funny experience this afternoon. I was at the University bookstore, and I went to take a look at the atheist shelf, just to see if there was anything new – after I looked to see if Does God Hate Women? is still on its shelf (it is, next to Why Truth Matters), and noticing as I picked my way through the maze of shelves what a lot of shelves there were with ‘Spirituality’ as their label, especially compared to the one short shelf that holds the atheist books. So I got to the (tiny) atheist shelf and behold – there was another human being there. Aha, thought I; it is spreading! I snickered inwardly, and looked … Read the rest



The madwoman in the attic

Dec 1st, 2009 4:46 pm | By

I’ve had occasion to notice it before, and I daresay I will again – some people just seem to be unable to disagree with, or even mention, a woman without breaking out the Special Insulting language. That’s especially noticeable when there are men being disagreed with or mentioned too, and they don’t get the Special Insulting language.

Look at Science and Religion Today.

Jerry Coyne is disappointed. Michael Shermer responds. Josh Rosenau jumps in, and sides, and calls. But I – I don’t do anything as quiet and reasonable as that. Well naturally not: I don’t have the balls.

It’s not as if the tone of what I say, or the part of it quoted there, is wildly … Read the rest



Who Is Actually Typing? *

Dec 1st, 2009 | Filed by

Videos show that Houben is often not even looking at the keyboard; this is a red flag.… Read the rest



The Dodginess of Drug Company Trials *

Dec 1st, 2009 | Filed by

Is the conflict of interest unacceptable when drug companies conduct trials on their own drugs? Yes.… Read the rest



The Mighty Power of the Nocebo Effect *

Dec 1st, 2009 | Filed by

If you expect side effects, the side effects turn up. Magic!… Read the rest



John Lynch on Historians and Anti-evolutionism *

Dec 1st, 2009 | Filed by

Creationists are turning to history, and historians should get involved. Steve Fuller responds.… Read the rest