I always tell my students as they start studying philosophy that it is crucial that they not associate their ideas too closely with themselves. They need to get used to not taking criticism of their ideas personally. I warn them that if they cannot disassociate from their ideas when they fail, they will never be [...]
There are a lot of people who dislike Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, PZ Myers, and other prominent “New Atheists” (or, as some prefer “Gnu Atheists”) so much that they do not want to be called atheists. John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts had a post (and many remarks in the comments section [...]
Alright, before I get into my possibly anal critique of an off-hand remark from the good Dr. Myers of Pharyngula fame, let me preface what follows with the disclaimer that I really love PZ Myers. I think he’s great. There are few bloggers I read who make both my brain happy and butter up my [...]
Yesterday, Eric Steinhart pointed out that “Much entails atheism but atheism entails little”, which inspired F.O. to write to me, Now I just think about how much it took me to really admit to myself that I was an atheist, using that word and not any other alternative, and I found that funny somehow. Why does [...]
Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers recently wrote about being irked by “Dictionary Atheists”. He doesn’t like it when people say that atheism means nothing more than denying God. His post is long, but I just want to focus on the issue of the meaning of atheism: why complain about dictionary atheists? After all, aren’t they [...]
I have no idea whether this parody (which is several years old) is actually against us or is just irreverently for us. I think that’s part of why I like it so much. That, and it’s totally well made, mesmerizingly bizarre, and undeniably hilarious in its visuals: (NSFW) Okay, after writing the above, I did [...]
The first, and most interesting, claim: “Nothing will ever prove that evolution is wrong.” Second, and second most interesting, claim: “Nothing can prove the existence of gods, not one thing.” Third, and third most interesting, claim: that all this entails not closed-mindedness but pragmatism. Fourth, and fourth most interesting, claim: atheism is more than what [...]
PZ Myers has put online the text of an impassioned speech he recently gave against accommodationism. It’s a must-read so read it in full and pass it on to your friends. Here’s the gist: Shouldn’t we move beyond just reacting to every assault by Idiot America on science education, and honestly look at the root [...]
In Engalnd, the pope is trying to terrify people into avoiding atheism by once again blaming Nazism on godlessness. The first simple fact is that even were Hitler an atheist (which he manifestly wasn’t) it would not mean either that atheism was false or that his views on morality were at all necessarily entailed by [...]
Recently a University of Illinois adjunct professor in a course on Catholicism got into unfairly lost his job over expressing his philosophical opposition to homosexuality in an e-mail to his student in what seems to me like a pretty clear violation of academic freedom. As to the substance of his arguments though, PZ Myers does [...]
Michael Antony has an interesting but problematic article in Philosophy Now exploring whether “New Atheism” holds itself to a double standard when it comes to rules of evidence. He argues that New Atheists dismiss religious belief explicitly on “evidentialist” epistemic criteria whereby we must always proportion our belief to evidence, but at the same time, [...]
Greg Mayer, as part of a charming larger piece, relates a back and forth he had with some students a few days ago on whether or to what extent we and alien intelligent life forms would be able to identify each other as intelligent life forms: I mentioned to the students that I’d seen a great [...]
PZ Myers relays an urgent plea to NASA from a courageous prophet. Your Thoughts?
PZ Myers starts off his lecture from the Atheist Alliance International meeting last month with an encapsulation of Intelligent Design thinking. The key word is complex: Your Thoughts?
Funny stuff! And in case you’re out of the loop on the unstated joke at the end, catch up with one of the most famous memes of the evolutionist/creationist debate: Your Thoughts?
PZ Myers fisks Nicholas Wade’s review of Richard Dawkins’s The Greatest Show on Earth, in which Wade gets pedantic about a distinction between facts and theories which only shows his own ignorance about how the two relate to each other. Along the way Wade badly invokes the philosophy of science. First off Myers quotes Stephen [...]
Over the past few days we’ve been discussing creationists Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron’s plan to freely disseminate 50,000 copies of a new version of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species which they are putting out and which contains a deceptive, creationist introduction filled with bad science and false history. RichardDawkins.net and Pharyngula have encouraged people not only to [...]
PZ Myers takes on the latest insufferable nonsense from Stanley Fish, this which advances the thought of regressive religious thinkers who, as religious thinkers have always done, attack curiosity as a threat to their superstitions. Myers’s whole piece is great and worth your time, but for those of you who don’t read it at least [...]
PZ Myers, a prominent “New Atheist” reports on his being designated a prophet: Michael Dowd, the peculiar author of Thank God for Evolution, has a strange podcast up that promotes the New Atheists because they are the new prophets — we’re telling it like it is, and religious folks need more of that. He also urges people [...]
They Might Be Giants have a new DVD, Here Comes Science, which promotes science to kids. PZ Myers got the chance to preview it and is tickled. Here is their cute kiddie video, I Am A Paleontologist: Your Thoughts?
PZ Myers has a fascinating post on the history of geology which traces the first discoveries of evidence for an old earth by regular old tyme religious people during centuries wherein challenging belief in God was very few people’s top priority. The advent of Darwinism did not set in motion a conspiracy of atheists who [...]
WIC writes this reply to recent remarks I made to him. I am only quoting here the portion I specifically address, to read his counter to me in its entirety, click here. The question then becomes whether or not Collins is truly ‘sloppy’ outside the lab in regards to religion. You, Harris, Myers, and other [...]
In reply to this post addressing previous objections that Wandering Internet Commentator made to me, WIC returns volley (sentences in italics are quotes he has taken from my previous post to him): I anticipated creationists figuring in your reply. The problem is, though, I’m not really sure they’re the best example of religion ‘polluting’ the [...]
Prometheus Unbound takes issue with PZ Myers: I certainly understand why people like PZ Myers’s style. It is easy and uncomplex, and impatient with nuance. It’s what makes Fox News so popular. And it may well draw a crowd of young people. Myers is ever on the ready to stir the shit. And he is [...]
In April of last year, Richard Dawkins wrote this letter (which should be read in full) to someone duped by the slander that Darwinian atheism led to Hitler’s ideals and goals: His horrible bidding was done by millions of ordinary German footsoldiers, and the great majority of them were Christians. Many were Lutheran, and many [...]