Check it! http://youtu.be/dJXtCUBwBCI
Category Atheism
Tristan Vick is a blogger and author who I have various dealings with online, not least of which is a co-edited book in the final stages of editing which we will release called Beyond An Absence Of Faith, an anthology of deconversion accounts which has been really fascinating to put together. Tristan has just completed a book on the position of ignosticism which is detailed in the interview.
For those of you who do not know what a Google Hangout is, it is effectively a Skype call with multiple people which is broadcast to the public so that they can watch (though not join in). It can be recorded and posted to You Tube. It’s a great feature with good functionality.
As reported here, the House of Lords recently had what can only be described as a fascinating debate. Whilst some non-UK visitors to this blog may not be able to access the video, thanks to Chris Street at HASSNERS (where you can find the transcript with really useful notes and comments), here is the full transcript from Hansard:
You must must watch this. Hopefully I can embed the video. Watch it from 2.12pm onwards. This is why I love this country. Discussing philosophy fairly and squarely within the confines of our Parliamentary system (even if the House of Lords is our non-elected part).
If I can’t get it to embed, check it out here:
I gave my first talk of this name this week to Dorset Humanists, covering five different arguments (4 against God…
Brilliant. I heartily chortled! http://youtu.be/mUP7NY6US5A
From the Rationalist Association:
A new YouGov survey suggests the decline of religious belief in Britain will continue for some time
New data published this week by the polling organisation YouGov shows that Britain’s youth are continuing to reject religious belief in large numbers.
The Australian Labor Party have ousted their PM ahead of the elections which they will probably lose. This upsets me. I have always admired Gillard. Forthright and a good leader, in my books. And an atheist, too.
When interviewed in 2010, she said:
“I think it would be inconceivable, if I were an American, for me to have turned up at the highest echelon of American politics being an atheist, single, and childless.”
I was listening to a local radio station the other day. It is called Jack FM and is an interesting radio station in that it has a really large playlist compared to other stations and plays more music throughout the day as it only appears to have DJs for the breakfast show. The rest of the time it is just music and adverts.
As I reported the other day, the Girlguides have dropped the pledge to God from their vow. Now it appears that the Scouts are doing similarly, as the Telegraph reports:
The movement has bowed to pressure from atheists and, from later this year, will offer an alternative promise for those joining without a religious faith.
Currently, all Scouts are expected to promise to “do my duty to God” – with alternative wording for Muslims, Hindus and people of other faiths. Those who cannot do so as a matter of conscience are able to join only as associate members.
So I was graciously asked by Randal Rauser on his blog recently to provide a synopsis of a few paragraphs to run in his series “Why I am an atheist” (or not a Christian. The series has been interesting and has elicited testimonies from Justin Schieber, Counter Apologist, Jeff Lowder, Ed Babinski and others.
I have since asked Randal to return the favour and he gladly accepted, furnishing me with a much more lengthy expression of the reasons for his Christian belief. But before I create a post on that (probably tomorrow) I thought I would analyse a little what he said about my testimony. Here is what I provided:
This was an article from The Spectator, a British conservative magazine. Thoughts? I love the remark made by one…
The New Scientist reports:
It’s well known that religious faith can help believers cope with stress and anxiety, by providing them with a sense of meaning and control at times of uncertainty. It now seems that a “belief” in science and a rationalistic outlook might do the same for the non-religious.
A team of psychologists led by Miguel Farias at the University of Oxford asked 52 rowers to fill in a “belief in science” questionnaire just before taking part in a competitive regatta. They gave the same test – in which participants had to score statements such as “science is the most valuable part of human culture” – to a similar number of rowers at a training session. The questionnaire also assessed self-reported stress levels and degree of religious belief.
It’s time to welcome our first guest post here. The Thinker has occasionally dropped a line and commented on various arguments. He runs his own blog called Atheism & The City, being a secular urbanite living in New York. His philosophically minded blog is worth reading here. His formulation of today’s post can be found here. This post concerns the incompatibilism of God given the truth of evolution. Ie evolutionary theism is problematic. Anyway, over to The Thinker:
Russ chimed in on my Why I Am An Atheist post, in response to Randal Rauser’s request for a paragraph or two on my reasons for my worldview.
Johno, does Rauser think he is going to refute all the “Why I Am An Atheist(or not a Christian)” paragraphs that you and the others wrote?
If he thinks he can do that why does he not just produce evidence which supports his claim that his god exists while it also refutes other’s claims, ancient or contemporary, that their god exists?
I have been kindly asked to give a talk to the Dorset Humanists next month, They seemed to enjoy my last few talks so much as to want me to create a talk to deliver. I am gratefully obliging.
I will be looking at arguments for and against God, starting off with the wide deistic arguments from philosophy, and then narrowing down to particular arguments concerning the historicity and probability of the Judeo-Christian God. Here is something I am working on with regards to the ridiculousness of the Exodus account.
Randal Rauser, with whom I have had a radio debate about the Nativity, is running a series on his blog asking atheists why they are atheist (or not Christian). He has asked several atheist bloggers and authors, including myself, to produce a paragraph. Justin Schieber, Counter Apologist and Ed Babinski did a little more than that, so I added a tiny bit extra to mine, but it still remained more concise than theirs! See what you think – it is hard to be super concise:
An atheist state lawmaker tasked with delivering the opening prayer for this afternoon’s session of the House of Representatives asked that people not bow their heads.
Democratic Representative Juan Mendez, of Tempe, instead spoke about his “secular humanist tradition” and even quoted author Carl Sagan.
This is interesting, though the numbers are inaccurate given that the census has become voluntary, and, as such, the completion rate for the census was very low.
OTTAWA – A nation of non-believers?
The new National Household Survey suggests we could be becoming so.