All entries by this author

Vatican Dismisses Editor of Catholic Magazine *

May 10th, 2005 | Filed by

Scholars fear Vatican intends signal: disagreement with church is forbidden.… Read the rest



Look at This Watch

May 10th, 2005 2:18 am | By

Kansas, eh. I have to tell you, I’m having second thoughts about that move to Topeka.

This time, Darwin’s critics insist they are not religiously motivated creationists, but are scientists who believe that certain things in the universe, including human life, are too complex to be explained by natural causes and must be the product of an intelligent creator. They call this theory ”intelligent design,” and while they resist publicly declaring that a Christian God’s hand is at work, they also suggest that proponents of a key tenet of evolutionary theory — that changes over time can result in new species — are atheists or secular humanists.

Atheists or secular humanists – ew ick. Those nasty proponent people wouldn’t just … Read the rest



Irshad Manji *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

No community, no culture, no religion ought to be immune from respecting universality of human rights.… Read the rest



Knowledge in the Dock in Kansas *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

Like handing control of a blood bank over to a cabal of vampires.… Read the rest



Contradictions in Kansas *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

ID is science not religion, but evolution is for atheists and ‘secular humanists.’… Read the rest



Kansas Heads Backward *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

Well into 21st century Kansas earnestly discussing whether schools should teach science.… Read the rest



Scientists Boycott Kansas Evolution ‘Hearings’ *

May 9th, 2005 | Filed by

Boycott of ridiculous carnival led by AAAS and Kansas Citizens for Science.… Read the rest



Wisdom

May 8th, 2005 6:45 pm | By

Let’s pay a nice visit to the pope again. We haven’t dropped in on him in awhile, and he always repays attention. Let’s see what he’s been up to, the dear man. Dylan Evans tells us that religion is beautiful, and a metaphor, so let’s take a look at some beautiful metaphors.

A pope “must constantly bind himself and the Church to the obedience of the word of God in the face of all the attempts to adapt it or water it down,” Pope Benedict told a packed congregation. “That’s what Father John Paul II did when faced by all such attempts which were seemingly benevolent towards man. When faced with erroneous interpretations of freedom, he unequivocally underlined the inviolability

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Necessary to Overcome Hostility to Science *

May 8th, 2005 | Filed by

Because greater public involvement doesn’t always produce greater public sophistication.… Read the rest



WMD in the Uterus! *

May 8th, 2005 | Filed by

The right’s campaign against contraception.… Read the rest



Fairy Tales May Teach Girls to be Submissive *

May 8th, 2005 | Filed by

Cinderella and Rapunzel may not be best characters to identify with.… Read the rest



Pope Talks Nonsense *

May 8th, 2005 | Filed by

About ‘natural death.’ Natural death in hospital with feeding tubes, that is.… Read the rest



New Labour, Education, and Educationalists *

May 7th, 2005 | Filed by

On black under-achievement in school, special needs, the continuing inequities of the state/private divide.… Read the rest



Southall Case and Difficulties With Evidence *

May 7th, 2005 | Filed by

How does one evaluate evidence, expertise, experience, probability, and the like?… Read the rest



John Bayley is not a Cute Old Dodderer *

May 7th, 2005 | Filed by

He’s one of the sharpest, shrewdest, funniest critics around, and he has claws.… Read the rest



‘New Scientist’ Reads Fashionable Dictionary *

May 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Sarcastic? Us? Never!… Read the rest



Galloway Defeats King *

May 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Respect candidate accused government of being part of ‘war on Muslims.’… Read the rest



Election Results *

May 6th, 2005 | Filed by

36, 33, 22.… Read the rest



Labour to Win With Reduced Majority *

May 6th, 2005 | Filed by

Historic third term.… Read the rest



Further Ruseana

May 6th, 2005 2:14 am | By

More Michael Ruse, I promised you. Very well then. I never forget a promise. There is
this review of Dawkins’ A Devil’s Chaplain
from December 2003. I remember being rude about it at the time, though I can’t find the N&C I was rude in. I remember because my colleague was tiresome enough to disagree with something I said, and to say that Ruse had a point in one of the places I disagreed with him. Well I ask you – that can’t be right. Anyway, Ruse does say some odd things in this review.

But how then does Dawkins respond to the obvious retort of the religious, who have always stressed mystery? Some of the fundamental problems of philosophy

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