Clarence Thomas, how about an apology? *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

Another witness steps forward. “He has manufactured a different reality over time. That’s the problem that he has.”… Read the rest



“Hang them”: Uganda tabloid names gays *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

A list of Uganda’s 100 “top” homosexuals, with a yellow banner athat read: “Hang Them.” Alongside their photos were the men’s names and addresses.… Read the rest



Publicly funded Waldorf education *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

As Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education observed: If schools follow Steiner’s views on science, education will suffer.… Read the rest



Larry Moran takes a creationist quiz for atheists *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

What do gnu atheists actually believe? That the answer to 1-8 is not “God.”… Read the rest



Rust Belt Philosophy also bemused by Haught *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

That’s really Haught’s argument? Yes, that’s really his argument.… Read the rest



The pope’s visit was such a joy *

Oct 23rd, 2010 | Filed by

Everybody found out he’s not an authoritarian but “a little shy”…isn’t that just sweet?… Read the rest



Anti-gay zeal in Uganda linked to US evangelicals *

Oct 22nd, 2010 | Filed by

A tabloid published the names and photographs of “Uganda’s 100 top” gays and lesbians alongside a yellow banner that read “Hang Them.”… Read the rest



Why?

Oct 22nd, 2010 10:44 am | By

I was listening to the introduction to that panel where Dan Dennett set John Haught straight about “scientism”, and David Kelly, president of the CUNY graduate center, said that Haught had been given a “Friend of Darwin” award by the NCSE. He broke off to remark on what a nice award that would be, and everyone smirked or smiled politely, as appropriate. “What?!?” I squawked. I googled. I found it to be so.

NCSE’s Friend of Darwin award is conferred annually to people (and occasionally organizations) whose efforts to support NCSE and advance its goals have been truly outstanding.

Scroll down, and it is even as Kelly said. It’s alphabetical – he’s below Forrest and above Kitcher and … Read the rest



Steiner Waldorf uses bait and switch to get state funding *

Oct 22nd, 2010 | Filed by

It has been accepted that because the pedagogy is ‘spiritual’ it must be good.… Read the rest



Godless bus ads make atheism more familiar *

Oct 22nd, 2010 | Filed by

This increases public tolerance of dissenting views and gives more people permission to be open about their unbelief.… Read the rest



Vatican: Homer and Bart Simpson are Catholics *

Oct 22nd, 2010 | Filed by

Executive producer says they are Presbylutherans.… Read the rest



Hello Freethought Kampala!

Oct 21st, 2010 6:22 pm | By

This is exciting – an atheist blog in Uganda. H/t to PZ for the link. Excellent. I want more allies in Africa.

James Onen has an excellent post on “scientism” including a video with Dan Dennett and I believe the man said Dr Haught – I’m pretty sure the man to the right of Dennett talking bollocks about literalism and “scientism” is our Friend of the Week John “carried away” Haught. He doesn’t look very contented while Dennett replies.… Read the rest



Freethought Kampala on “scientism” *

Oct 21st, 2010 | Filed by

The invocation of the pejorative term ‘scientism’ is nothing more than a theist’s ploy to derail the debate.… Read the rest



BBC on women and the economic trainwreck *

Oct 21st, 2010 | Filed by

One big advocate for women’s education is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Managing Director of the World Bank.… Read the rest



Secular or atheist?

Oct 21st, 2010 12:20 pm | By

The New Humanist asks if it would be a good idea to set up avowedly atheist or humanist schools. I think it would be a terrible idea. I think all schools should be secular, and no schools should be doctrinaire. A secular school would have all the atheism that is necessary for education.

It’s not that I think atheism is inherently doctrinaire, of course, but in a context where religion is pervasive and granted lots of respect and deference and special privileges (tax exemptions, seats in the House of Lords, access to major media), it is contingently doctrinaire. It’s political. It differs from a status quo. Schools that take positions in that way are automatically excluding some students; that … Read the rest



Archbishop Dolan on the New York Times *

Oct 21st, 2010 | Filed by

It “offends Catholic sensitivity, something they [sic] would never think of doing — rightly so — to the Jewish, Black, Islamic, or gay communities.”… Read the rest



Life with al-Shabaab *

Oct 21st, 2010 | Filed by

“This time, the surgical tool was a plumber’s saw. As before, there were no painkillers.”… Read the rest



Would atheist schools be a good idea? *

Oct 21st, 2010 | Filed by

The New Humanist asks.… Read the rest



More Haughtiness

Oct 20th, 2010 5:04 pm | By

Just a little more John Haught. If it’s good enough for Jesus and Mo, it’s good enough for me.

He really does have a little bondage thing going here – one feels tempted sometimes to close the door hurriedly and pretend not to have seen.

And we can trust our search for right understanding ultimately because our minds have already been taken captive by a truthfulness that inheres in things, a truthfulness that we cannot possess but which possesses us. [p 75]

Jeez, get a room.

But more to the point – that’s typical of the way he goes on, and it’s like an incantation but not at all like an argument. What he says is not tethered to … Read the rest



Writers can’t just write anything

Oct 20th, 2010 4:33 pm | By

Shiv Sena complains to Bombay University about Rohinton Mistry’s novel Such a Long Journey, which is on a university reading list. Bombay University says “oh I do beg your pardon” and cuts Mistry’s novel from the list. Shiv Sena hugs itself in glee at this easy victory.

Mistry is not so chuffed. Mistry says a few words.

“The Shiv Sena has followed its depressingly familiar script of threats and intimidation that Mumbai has endured since the organisation’s founding in 1966,” the author said. “More bobbing, weaving, and slippery behaviour is no doubt in the offing. But one thing remains: a political party demanded an immediate change in syllabus, and Mumbai University [made] the book disappear the very next day.”

Read the rest