Rebecca Bradley Joins Skeptic Blogs

Who is Rebecca Bradley? She has a PhD in Archaeology from Cambridge, UK, and maintains a strong interest in examining pseudo-archaeological claims. Read her first post and welcome her.

Some Mistakes of Moses, by Robert Ingersoll, Part Two

It is not easy to account for an infinite God making people so low in the scale of intellect as to require a revelation. Neither is it easy to perceive why, if a revelation was necessary for all, it was made only to a few.

Below you'll read extracts from an 84 page paper written in 1879 that my friend Julian Haydon sent me. There were some Christians and even ministers who were beginning to reject a talking serpent in favor of allegorical explanations; but there were millions who regarded every word in the Bible as holy fact. Ingersoll was contending with the latter and defending the rights of the former, pushing them even farther and farther away from the Bible. Part one can be seen here. A bit of his language is antiquated but it is a great defense of freethought.

Justin Vacula Joins Skeptic Blogs

Who is he? See this. We keep getting better and better. More will be joining us. Be sure to subscribe by email.

Staks Rosch: Are Religious Believers Stupid?

Religious believers ask me all the time if I think all religious believers are stupid. My answer to this question is almost always the same. “Of course not; smart people can believe really stupid things too.” There is no doubt that the belief in the all-powerful god as described in the Torah/Bible/Koran based off of no valid evidence is stupid. Depending on how serious this belief is taken, it can even be ridiculously stupid. It would be like me telling people that Voldemort is real based off of my reading of the Harry Potter books. Link.

William Lane Craig vs Victor Stenger: Does God Exist?

Local Atheist Billboards Attack Christian, Mormon Religions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two controversial billboards dot the Charlotte skyline just in time for the Democratic National Convention. The two signs appear to attack the Christian and Mormon religions .

What if Satan Is the Good Guy?

Christians concoct wildly implausible scenarios in order to defend their faith, most notably Alvin Plantinga, who supposes Satan causes all natural evils, and Peter Van Inwagen, who supposes that before the fall in Eden there was no suffering even though carnivores and human beings both co-existed on the earth before then. But what if Satan is the good guy? What if he rebelled against God because he was aware of God's evil plan to create this kind of world and with it condemn human beings to hell forever? What if Satan told Adam the truth in the garden and wanted him to have a true knowledge about God that was forbidden him? What if God was the one who revealed a lie, that Satan was the bad guy even though he isn't? What if God also had some innocent sap be crucified and subsequently claimed it represented his love for us? What if God laughs that so many people believes what he revealed? What if God is the bad guy? What if this so-called cosmic war is being won by the wrong guy? What if in response Satan is sending prophets (i.e. intellectuals), to tell believers the truth, that God is a liar, an evil egomaniac, a moral monster? What evidence is there to deny my scenario? Evidence. That's what I'm asking for in any scenario. Probabilities are all that matter. For if any of these scenarios are to be taken seriously then people are within their epistemic rights to believe the Scientology tale too.

Skeptic Blogs Now Has a Facebook Page

Skeptic Blogs (SBs) now has a Facebook page. Like us and you'll be notified of any new posts.

Who goes to heaven? Who goes to hell?

If Christianity is true, then reaching the correct belief (about Jesus) is necessary to avoid damnation.  Here is a brief video highlighting one of the more unpleasant implications of Christian theology. Admittedly it is not a logical argument, however since most believers tend to believe for emotional reasons, bringing up issues like this can be very effective at "putting cracks in the shell" of faith.

My Seven Most Important Living Atheist Authors

By this I mean the five, no six, no seven living atheist authors from whom I have learned the most. This is a personal statement of mine and not to be representative of the most influential atheist authors, for that ranking would surely be different to some degree. There are atheist authors I've read who have said some really important things, but this is about the ones I've learned the most from. And I have not read everything. So, here they are in alphabetical order by last name:

Some Mistakes of Moses by Robert Ingersoll

A Note: These are extracts from an 84 page paper written in 1879 that my friend Julian Haydon sent me. There were some Christians and even ministers who were beginning to reject a talking serpent in favor of allegorical explanations; but there were millions who regarded every word in the Bible as holy fact. Ingersoll was contending with the latter and defending the rights of the former, pushing them even farther and farther away from the Bible. This is a great defense of freethought.

Robert Ingersoll On Being Accused of Lecturing for the Money

The arguments I advance are either good or bad. If they are bad, they can easily be answered by argument. If they are not, they cannot be answered by personalities or ascribing to me selfish motives. It is not a personal matter. It is a matter of logic–not a matter of slander, vituperation or hatred. I presume I am about as bad as most folks, and as good as some, but my goodness or badness has nothing to do with the question. I may have committed every crime in the world, yet that does not make the story of the flood reasonable, nor does it tend to show that the three gentlemen in the furnace were not scorched. I may be the best man in the world, yet that does not go to prove that Jonah was swallowed by the whale.

A New Skeptical Network Blog Has Launched!

I am very happy to announce that a new kid is on the block:

Skeptic Blogs

Skeptic Blogs already boasts an impressive, if small, group of talented bloggers and we expect to expand considerably. I am there. Click around to see the others. If you want to read our mission statement and posting policy see this. As you can tell I'm excited about it. Please, everyone, let others know. Tell them via your own blogs, facebook, twitter, by email, by horseback, train, space flight, and so on. We need the word to get out. We aim to do this right. Don't forget to subscribe by email. (Oh, and don't neglect to help us with our start-up costs by using the Chip-in Widget).

Jerry Coyne Recommends My Book

[L]et me put in an unsolicited plug for John’s new book, Why I Became an Atheist. Despite its unfortunate title, which implies that it’s a personal story of John’s journey from faith to unbelief, it’s really a thoroughly-reasoned and well documented account of the follies of faith. It belongs on your shelf beside the books of Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, Stenger, and Dawkins, and I recommend it highly. Link.

Professor Coyne has recommended it before.

Religiosity Plummets In Ireland And Declines Worldwide; Atheism On The Rise

This Huffington Post article shows the continuing trend away from religion across the world, with new figures illustrating that Catholic Ireland may no longer warrant that description:

Rocked in recent years by sex-abuse scandals and crises in leadership, the Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland has been struggling to keep its members close.
But this week, a new global survey on faith and atheism has revealed that the crisis of faith inIreland may be much worse than previously thought.

WL Craig’s Use of Michael Murray’s Thesis on Pain Exploded: Insects Reconsidered

"The effect of organophosphates was discovered in the 1930's during World War II. They were used in the creation of nerve gas, which was used in chemical warfare. When used in lethal dosages for humans, organophosphates cause extreme excitability, convulsions, paralysis and in most cases, death.

The Good and the Bad News About Blogging

First the bad news. What annoys me about Blogging is that there are ignoramuses whose names aren't made public who get to act like equals with scholars and credentialed intellectuals. Imagine a written discussion before the rise of the internet. It took place in books, magazine articles, Op-Ed's, journals, and even in the Letters to Editor section of national and local newspapers. The discussion was monitored by editors, so not just anyone could engage in it, or if they did, what they wrote was considered worthy by an editor or peer reviewers to be printed. Discussions of these written works took place in the universities under the supervision of credentialed professors who chose which texts were important to discuss. There were also a lot of discussions in the halls of these universities and in the pubs and coffee shops of the world based on what these editors/reviewers/professors thought worthy for publication and discussion. The rise of Blogging has somehow changed this.

On Animal Pain and Pleasure

Jeffery Lowder Speaks Out Against the American Atheists Billboard

You can see the Billboard below, along with my comments. Lowder writes this about President David Silverman:

Silverman seems to have fallen into the trap, typical among so many leaders of organized atheism, of thinking that the United States is a post-theistic society. It's not and it's delusional to think otherwise.

Since the U.S. is not a post-theistic society, what is the point of the ad? It's not like the attendees at the Democratic National Convention are going to say, "Wow, I was going to vote to nominate Obama, but after seeing that American Atheists ad, I guess I had better nominate an atheist instead." Likewise, I don't think this ad is going to have any impact on how nonreligious voters will vote. I think many pragmatic atheists believe that nonreligious voters do not have the luxury of choosing a viable nonreligious candidate for President: most will vote for Romney or Obama.

From a marketing or public relations perspective, it's hard to see how these ads accomplish anything positive for atheism. As far as I can tell, all they do is create the impression that atheists are rude. Link

We Should Think Exclusively in Terms of Probabilities

What's the probability that my short-term memory is correct and that I agreed yesterday to meet with someone today? Pretty high actually, really high, extremely high, or perhaps even close to being virtually certain. I live my life based on short term memories. If I doubt them and fail to make that appointment, or any agreed upon appointment, I would fail through life in a haphazard dream world of random choices. I would be an unreliable person. Life demands that I trust my short term memories and that I am not now dreaming of thinking I made an appointment I didn't make. Faith has nothing to do with this reasoning process. Probabilities here are all that matter. Faith is superfluous, utterly irrelevant, completely unnecessary, and even irrational. We should think exclusively in terms of probabilities.

Bill Craig's Use of Michael Murray's Book On Animal Pain

I have Murray's book, Nature Red in Tooth and Claw, the one Bill Craig uses to defend the lack of animal pain. I have been planning on posting something about it but so far haven't. Hint: Murray doesn't conclude what Dr. Craig does. In the meantime, I found this story by Harry McCall interesting when commenting on Craig's debate with Dr. Law:

Just Released, the William Lane Craig vs Stephen Law Debate

The topic was "Does God Exist." The debate took place in front of an audience of 2,000 (largely, though not entirely Christian) at the Westminster Central Hall, London, October 2011. Enjoy.

Why Is Everyone on the Internet So Angry?

This internet problem is highlighted by a Scientific American article where the authors write:

These days, online comments “are extraordinarily aggressive, without resolving anything,” said Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. “At the end of it you can’t possibly feel like anybody heard you. Having a strong emotional experience that doesn’t resolve itself in any healthy way can’t be a good thing.”

Robert Ingersoll—The Most Remarkable American Most People Never Heard Of

Today CFI-Indiana commemorates the birth of Robert Ingersoll (August 11, 1833) whom the Washington Post described as the Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins of his day. In 1876, Robert Green Ingersoll delivered one of his most famous speeches to Civil War veterans on the circle in downtown Indianapolis. This speech included what has become known as "The Vision of War" which is considered by some to be second only to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Civil War oratory.

CFI-Indiana is commemorating Ingersoll's birthday tonight at 7 PM with readings from his speeches in the place where he made his famous Civil War Speech in 1876--the circle in downtown Indianapolis. Tom Flynn, Executive Director of Council for Secular Humanism, Editor of Free Inquiry Magazine, and Director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum, is their special guest and participant. He will read Ingersoll's Vision of War in the very place Ingersoll spoke it. To help commemorate Ingersoll, Julian Haydon, a friend of mine, will be sending me excerpts of several of his speeches that I'll publish once a week. Here's the first one:

An Update On Two Forthcoming Books of Mine

For anyone wanting new information about my two forthcoming books, no matter how meager, here it is. Dr. Randal Rauser and I just finished the galleys for our co-written book God or Godless. We've also been informed Baker Books is making it into an audiobook with Pee-wee Herman as Randal's voice. (Just joking!) It's a really good exchange and I'm happy to have been a part of it. Then too, I've learned Prometheus Books has subtitled my book, The Outsider Test for Faith, with this: How to Decide Which Religion is True. I wanted them to use a different one instead: How to Decide Which Religion is True (If There is One), but they didn't go with it. Their decision was based on marketing I suppose. That's all I've got for now. Both books will be published early next year. Skeptics and Christians will be able to give them to each other for a great discussion. They would also be great as college textbooks in some classes.