The Vatican issued its most explicit decree so far against the ordination of women priests on Thursday, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication. The decree was written by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and published in the Vatican newspaper.
BBC News – Row over Indonesia atheist Facebook post Priority is to protect marriage | Herald Sun No Fetus Can Feed Us | Unreasonable Faith Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0 | Video on TED.com
The other day I was discussing the merits of nutrition for the prevention and treatment of cancer, when a good friend of mine accused me of “persecuting Christians”. The comment may have been flippantly fired off without much thought, but it stuck with me for a few days. Do I really persecute Christians? While I’ve…
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The excellent British broadcaster BBC 4 recently aired a fascinating program called “The Medieval Mind” which explores the philosophy, theology, and predominate thinking of the dark ages. The first episode deals with knowledge and revealed numerous intriguing insights into how the medieval mind determined epistemological truths. Monks, priests, and other godly people were in possession…
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Matt Dillhunty (president of the Atheist Community of Austin, co-host of “Non-Prophets Radio“, and “The Atheist Experience”) recently debated Father Hans Jacobse (an Antiochian Orthodox Priest) at The University of Maryland on 16th November. Full video of the event can be found here (although only 6 of the 9 videos have been posted online as…
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I want a god whose ultimate goals which do not necessitate the creation of mysterious suffering and death. I want a god who doesn’t violate causation by causing things to begin to exist from nothing in the absence of time. I want a god who does not give us “free will” then punishes us for…
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“Atheism 2.0” is a 20 minute TED presentation by Alain de Botton in which he proposes a new approach to evangelising atheism. Alain suggests (apparently without evidence) that we have “secularised badly” and we should sift through the rituals, traditions, and behaviours of religion to identify and adopt their efficient mechanisms. “I have come here…
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Atheists are often told by believers to read the Bible and it will all become clear. Trouble is, many of us have tried that and it doesn’t seem to have helped. Take these verses for example: This does not sound like a great night out to me. “But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master…
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