Category Archives: Religion

Creation Myths

Posted on Thursday 3 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

The TV series Cosmos has gotten some flack from Christian conservatives who think their creationist ideas are being dissed. In a science show! This article at AlterNet details the many creation myths that Cosmos is not covering. The critics complaining … Continue reading →

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Creationists and Flat-Earthers

Posted on Thursday 3 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

If you are a Creationist because Bible, you should also be a Flat-Earther, according to the citations in this article. Creationists endure rough few weeks: Why the flat-earth crowd is in trouble It’s remarkable enough that most of today’s creationists, … Continue reading →

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Gopnik on legitimate forms of knowledge and increasing prosperity

Posted on Wednesday 2 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

In another article in the same issue of The New Yorker, Alan Gopnik reviews several books that provide both histories of atheism and apologetics of religion. What’s notable about the essay is that Gopnik doesn’t seem to have a horse … Continue reading →

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Noah and the Advance of Civilization

Posted on Tuesday 1 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I haven’t seen Noah and am not particularly inclined to, but I was struck by an essay by David Plotz in Slate, Noah’s Environmental Views Are a Disaster. In the film’s worldview, according to Plotz, the corruption mankind brings across … Continue reading →

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Eternal Verities, Not

Posted on Tuesday 25 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Fascinating piece about how evangelical attitudes about abortion have changed dramatically since the 1960s, when Biblical passages were cited to deny that fetuses had souls and therefore abortions weren’t so bad. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/03/hobby_lobby_and_contraception_how_conservative_evangelicals_went_from_not.html What changed? Politics, the article explains, to the … Continue reading →

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Cosmos and Creationism

Posted on Tuesday 25 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A writer at Think Progress says that Cosmos is, indirectly, giving a lot of time to creationist ideas, despite the creationist critics demanding equal time (for nonsense vs sense, apparently). http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2014/03/25/3418425/creationism-is-getting-a-lot-of-time-on-cosmos/ By discussing standard creationist arguments about the impossible perfectibility … Continue reading →

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Religion and Science, Natural or Not

Posted on Tuesday 25 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Connor Wood summarizes the thesis of Robert McCauley’s book Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not. McCauley believes that maturationally natural systems get at the core difference between science and religion – religion relies on them, while science shuns … Continue reading →

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The Cozy Cosmos vs. Growing Up

Posted on Friday 21 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Some religious folks don’t like Cosmos because they prefer a cozy universe with human beings at the very center: nice article by Adam Lee about Why Small-Minded Religious Fundamentalists Are Threatened by Wonders of Universe. For the vast majority of … Continue reading →

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Sophisticated Theology, Proofs of God, Humanism, Religious Persecution, Morality

Posted on Thursday 20 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I got the book! You know, the one with the best arguments for God Jerry Coyne lists books to read before criticizing atheism (just as theists keep issuing books about the ‘best’ arguments for god which they insists atheists must … Continue reading →

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Changing My Mind

Posted on Monday 17 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Here is something I’ve changed my mind about, recently, based on the evidence. I used to think you could appeal to the rationality in any person, present evidence and establish a chain of reasoning, and cause a person to change … Continue reading →

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