All entries by this author

Another irregular verb

Aug 7th, 2007 2:30 pm | By

Contradict yourself much? Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail –

The big mistake is to see religion and reason as polar opposites. They are not. In fact, reason is intrinsic to the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible provides a picture of a rational Creator and an orderly universe – which, accordingly, provided the template for the exercise of reason and the development of science. Dawkins pours particular scorn on the Biblical miracles which don’t correspond to scientific reality. But religious believers have different ways of regarding those events, with many seeing them as either metaphors or as natural occurrences which were invested with a greater significance. The heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition is the belief in the concept of truth,

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EU Asks Iran Not to Execute Two Journalists *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

RSF hails EU request to Iran not to execute Kurdish journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed Botimar.… Read the rest



Robert Putnam Finds Diversity Bad For Civic Life *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

It can be good for creativity, but it’s bad for social capital.… Read the rest



Steven Shapin on Herbert Spencer *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

Spencer was the greatest of philosophical hedgehogs: his popularity stemmed from one big idea.… Read the rest



Michael Ignatieff on the Catstrophe in Iraq *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

Politicians live by ideas, but they can’t afford the luxury of entertaining ideas that are merely interesting.… Read the rest



Melanie Phillips: Science is the Enemy of Reason *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

‘The Bible provides a picture of a rational Creator and an orderly universe.’ And?… Read the rest



Not So Fast, Christian Soldiers *

Aug 7th, 2007 | Filed by

DOD Inspector General report says generals ‘conferred approval of and support to Christian Embassy.’… Read the rest



New Death Sentence on Journalists in Iran

Aug 7th, 2007 | By Jahanshah Rashidian

The Islamic Republic of Iranian’s execution wave has reached the media in Iran. On 16 July 2007, two Kurdish journalists, Mr. Adnan Hassanpour and Mr.Hiva Boutimar were sentenced to death by an Islamic tribunal in Marivan, a Kurdish city in the north-west Iran. They are supposed to be brought to the scaffold in the coming days. Judiciary spokesman, Mr. Ali Reza Jamshidi, confirmed that these two journalists have been sentenced to death, state media reported Tuesday, 31 0f July.

At a trial behind closed doors, the journalists were found guilty of “activities subverting national security, spying, and interviews for foreign news media including Voice of America”. These “accusations” were cited by the prosecution and, amazingly, confirmed by the journalists’ lawyer, … Read the rest



What’s my motivation in this scene?

Aug 6th, 2007 5:20 pm | By

Have you read Allen’s article on PBS and Einstein’s wife? PBS is extremely irritating. It’s doing a bad thing. It’s ignoring its plain duty and responsibility. It’s not doing its job properly. It’s sneaking around. First it was stalling and delaying and making excuses, and now it’s sneaking around. It’s being bad. It has not only failed to take down the Einstein’s Wife website, despite the advice of its own ombudsman and despite telling Allen ‘We are looking for additional scholarly review to help us know how to proceed in making sure that the web site content is as accurate as possible,’ it has now commissioned Andrea Gabor to rewrite it. That’s like commissioning Michael Behe to rewrite … Read the rest



Ken MacLeod on 21st Century Atheism *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

Humanist philosophers in Britain had become Guardian columnists: Baggini, Blackburn, Grayling.… Read the rest



Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

By Carol Tavris and Elliott Aronson – sounds like a must-read.… Read the rest



Review of Catriona McKinnon’s ‘Toleration’ *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

‘Liberals tend to take for granted that everyone agrees on the value of toleration.’… Read the rest



Ian Birchall Notes: Sartre Was no Nihilist *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

Sartre takes those of us who see no evidence of a creator through the problem of how we should act in this world.… Read the rest



MPs Reading The God Delusion *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

Along with Hague on Wilberforce, and Harry Potter.… Read the rest



Alain Finkielkraut Appalled by Jogging Sarkozy *

Aug 6th, 2007 | Filed by

It is the surrender of the mind to the body that AF cannot stand: mere body management, devoid of spirituality.… Read the rest



Review of ‘The Enemies of Reason’ *

Aug 5th, 2007 | Filed by

The new age caravanserai: astrologers, spirit mediums, faith healers, homeopathic medicine. … Read the rest



Dawkins on ‘The Enemies of Reason’ *

Aug 5th, 2007 | Filed by

Angel therapy, psychic energy, clearing energy blockages in the meridian system, and the like.… Read the rest



Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir Run 2 UK Schools *

Aug 5th, 2007 | Filed by

‘At age 9-10 children should be taught: “There must be one khali-fah”.’… Read the rest



Thy hand, great Anarch, lets the curtain fall

Aug 4th, 2007 5:30 pm | By

Best of luck, Haluk Ertan.

“Turkey is now the headquarters of creationism in the Islamic World. This is no longer only Turkey’s problem, it is now the problem of the whole civilized world,” says Haluk Ertan, a professor of molecular biology at Istanbul University. He’s one of a handful of Turkish scientists who have been working to counter creationism’s spread in the country.

But if you package pseudoscience nicely enough, it will win.

In the past year, BAV has blanketed several European countries and the US with its glossy “Atlas of Creation,” a lavish 768-page tome weighing more than 13 pounds, sending it to scientists, professors, journalists, and schoolteachers…”Every Islamic bookshop I know of stocks Harun Yahya’s material. It

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Islamic Creationist Group Goes Global *

Aug 4th, 2007 | Filed by

A handful of Turkish scientists have been working to counter creationism’s spread in the country. … Read the rest