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The Australian Christian Lobby are lying again. This time they are mischaracterising the Atheist Foundation of Australia’s “No Religion” campaign by stating (emphasis mine): “While the census data is rightly used to assist the government to plan for services and infrastructure, other groups, including some atheists, are seeking to push their agendas by encouraging people [...]
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 [...]
I flagged this video a few days ago, but only watched it this evening. It’s is not often we see ex-muslims speaking out against the “religion of peace”. What these people have done is extraordinary and brave given the fundamentalists attraction to extreme violence.
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 [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Babylon 4,000 years ago, the eponymous hero travels into the gardens of the gods in an attempt to discover the secret of eternal life. His guide, the goddess Siduri, tells him the secret: “There is no secret. This is it. This is all we’re going to get. This life. [...]
Part 2 of my discussion with a pastor can be found here. “I think that what gets creationists hot under the collar is that if you’re going to teach evolution in a classroom then teach creation as well – they both have the same credentials.” From this comment I can conclude you think there is [...]
Tonight I presented at the local “Skeptics in the Pub” meeting on the National Schools Chaplaincy Program (NSCP), and I post it here for your consideration. This article was heavily influenced by the awesome Chrys Stevenson and her blog posts “A Case Against School Chaplaincy – Part One: A Fox in the Hen-House” and “A Case [...]