Rational Passional Persuasion

Andrew writes: So atheists don’t have emotions which inform them of the truth of something? And their rhetoric is completely dispassionate to the point where logic and reason are not fully objective? I have addressed the proper ways to consult the emotions in looking for truth in the post, Disambiguating Faith: Heart Over Reason, so for […]

Rate this:

Judge This: No Gay Kissing On Modern Family?

I am a bit late on this story but wanted to offer a contrary viewpoint to the dominant one of the outraged blogosphere. Though I have never seen the show, I was interested in the controversy over the show Modern Family which apparently features a gay couple among its lead characters.  The controversy centers not […]

Rate this:

Some Suspicions About The Superiority Of Liberal Moral Values

Earlier today, I drew attention to Greta Christina’s article formulating some ideas she picked up from Rebecca Newberger Goldstein.  If you have already read either or both of those posts, you can just skip the next two paragraphs meant to catch up new readers. The Goldstein/Greta Christina argument built off of Jonathan Haidt’s theory of […]

Rate this:

Scott Lively, American Who Fomented Ugandan Homophobia

From Box Turtle Bulletin we get this chilling and revealing video of Scott Lively’s presentation to a Ugandan audience that Lively afterward bragged was a “nuclear bomb.” Here’s just a brief quote from the video which illustrates the depths of his sick, hateful vilification of gays: These are men who don’t have anything…they are so […]

Rate this:

Answering Accusations Against Atheists: The Charge We Naively Blame All War On Religion

In this post I want to address Chris’s problems with the tactics and arguments of internet atheists. In two previous posts I have rejected his assumption that not liking the tactics or particular arguments that particular atheists use is somehow a reason to reject the essential atheist position that there are no gods, and then I have […]

Rate this:

Self-Righteous Atheist

Hemant Mehta has an incredibly petty post in which he picks on Serena Williams for losing her temper and cursing at a line judge. He needlessly exploits her human failing to try to score political points against her religion: I don’t think swearing is some horrible sin. But the outburst just shows how a religious […]

Rate this:

New Work On Emotional And Bodily Influence On Perception

Thought-provoking findings: the way we initially think about the emotions of others biases our subsequent perception (and memory) of their facial expressions. So once we interpret an ambiguous or neutral look as angry or happy, we later remember and actually see it as such.    The researchers showed experimental participants still photographs of faces computer-morphed […]

Rate this:

Disambiguating Faith: Can Rationality Overcome It?

Evangelos asks another excellent question in reply to my latest installment of the ongoing “Disambiguating Faith” series: I hope you can do an entry on the practicality of rationality. As you know, human beings are by default not rational beings; as a psychology professor once told me, “our brains have evolved for survival, not calculus”. […]

Rate this:

What Happens When Christians “Let The Holy Spirit Illumine The Bible?”

A former Christian explores psychologically and logically what the Christian is actually describing when referring to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in reading the Bible: In retrospect I find that this “Holy Spirit” that was silently giving me “Knowledge of God” and “evidence” was merely my own understanding and desire for the Gospel to be the […]

Rate this:

Proving The Existence Of Atheists

Iambilly tries to do it to an elderly stranger after helping her out of a jam she didn’t even realize she was about to be in had he not intervened.  Her reply led to his attempt to prove the existence of atheists: She beamed at me and said, “Oh, you are so wonderful.  You are […]

Rate this:

What’s Wrong With Prejudice And Is It Prejudicial To Dislike Someone Over His Bad Thinking?

Over at Unreasonable Faith, guest contributor Custador thinks he is a bigoted atheist: The knowledge that my cousin is a creationist has actually made me dislike him. I wonder now if I’m any better than any other prejudiced person — a racist or a sexist or a homophobe — because I pre-judge a group of […]

Rate this:

Daily Hilarity: “The Good Samaritan”

I just loved this:

Rate this:

On Teleology and Intellectual Virtues and Vices

Below I quote Shane’s reply to part 4 of my series, “Objections to Religious Moderates and Intellectuals” (for further background to this debate, check out parts 1, 2 & 3) and reply to him.  The topic has evolved into questions of teleology and the “point” of life, so little background in previous installments should be […]

Rate this: