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+14 +4
Way of the Mister: Atheist vs. Agnostic
Brian Keith Dalton's (late) response to Neil deGrasse Tyson's 2012 "Big Think" video where Neil comes out as an agnostic.
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+13 +3
Paxton: County clerks may refuse — on religious grounds — to issue same-sex marriage licenses
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican social conservative, offered at least moral support Sunday for county clerks and their employees who feel their religious beliefs dictate that they decline to issue same-sex marriage licenses. In a nonbinding legal opinion, Paxton said religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment “may allow accommodation of their religious objections to issuing same-sex marriage licenses.”
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+20 +2
Distrust of atheists is widespread and pervasive: more evidence
When Luke Galen and colleagues from Grand Valley State University in Michigan asked undergraduates to evaluate videos of regular college kids describing formative experiences, the results they got were quite surprising. The undergraduates didn’t much like the student who described herself as an atheist, rating her as significantly less agreeable and conscientious than the devout Christian. But that’s not the surprising bit.
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+5 +1
The Armor of God, or, The Top One Reason Religion Is Harmful
So what is it about religion — exactly — that’s so harmful? I’ve argued many times that religion is not only mistaken, but does more harm than good. But why do I think that is? Sure, I can make a list of specific harms religion has done, from here to Texas. I’ve done exactly that. But that’s not enough to make my case. I could make long lists of harms done by plenty of human institutions: medicine, education, democracy. That doesn’t make them inherently malevolent.
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+14 +3
Ted Cruz insists “religious liberty” is different from bigotry — but refuses to say how
"Bigotry is wrong," he said, before telling NBC he'd dismantle the Supreme Court over same-sex marriage decision.
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+21 +2
Colorado Court Rules Use of Public Funds for Private Schools Is Unconstitutional
The state’s Supreme Court ruled against the district’s voucher program, which was passed in 2011, saying it violated a plank of the State Constitution that explicitly prevents public money from going to schools “controlled by any church or sectarian denomination whatsoever.”
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+10 +2
The rise of university ‘faith warriors’
After the end of the Soviet Empire, Western neo-conservatives and their Eastern counterparts were looking for new ideologies to rile up the masses. Over the last decades, we have seen the emergence of religious-political movements all around the world, including Christian Fundamentalism, Zionism, Islamism, and Hindu nationalism.
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+9 +2
Is Evidence for Jesus Really as Good as for Caesar?
Bock wants to reject the proposition “the evidence for Caesar’s life is better attested than for Jesus’s.” As worded that looks like a con. Either Bock doesn’t realize this is not the same proposition as “the evidence for Caesar’s life is better than for Jesus’s” or he must think his readers won’t notice the difference.
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+12 +2
Martyrs to Marriage Equality
The thing that really amazes me about much of the conservative reaction to Obergefell v. Hodges, and indeed much of the religion-based complaints over LGBT rights generally, is the sense of personal grievance. I mean, on the one hand you’ve had people who’ve been persecuted, bullied, denied equal rights for ages, finally getting the right to do something the rest of us take for granted, and on the other hand you have people who are offended by them.
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+6 +1
Why the Christian right is going to war (with itself)
The alliance between evangelical and Catholic conservatives is under more strain than ever. Here's why.
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+4 +1
Atheist Debates - Prophecy Part 1
Appeals to prophecy serve as a sort of confidence game in support of other religious claims. Exploiting our desires, fears, ignorance, innumeracy and our general need to find trusted sources, they attempt to build our confidence in the source of prophecies...a feat that they can't actually accomplish. In part 1, we explain this problem and note why we really don't need a part 2 in this series (though we'll continue the series to examine claims of fulfilled prophecy, as well.
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+14 +1
Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America
Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason
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+12 +1
KKK Launches Massive Membership Drive After Charleston Massacre
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) has embarked a massive membership drive after Dylann Storm Roof alarmed America by committing a hate crime, killing nine Charleston residents. Nationwide, cities have reported a host of Klan fliers appearing on the lawns of residents. The fliers, which include contact information for the Klan’s Loyal White Knights, were enclosed in plastic baggies accompanied with Tootsie Rolls and peppermint candy.
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+13 +3
Pope portrait made out of 1,700 condoms scandalises art-loving Catholics
Eggs Benedict, a $25,000 artwork made from multicoloured condoms, has split the Milwaukee community
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+12 +4
Okay, So What about the Historicity of Spartacus?
It’s always something. First it was, “We have better evidence for Jesus than for the contemporary emperor Tiberius.” Matthew Ferguson annihilated that one. Then it was, “We have better evidence for Jesus than for Alexander the Great.”
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+14 +1
4 Simple Things Religious Parents Can Tell Their Kids to Build Tolerance for Nonbelievers
As America becomes more secular — 23 percent of us are Nones, according to the most recent Pew Research figures — it’s becoming increasingly important that religious parents talk to their kids about us. Religious kids need to be introduced to nonreligious concepts, ideas and people so that they, too, can build literacy and tolerance for the nonbelievers in their midst.
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+12 +2
Top 10 Most Common Atheist Arguments—Do They Fail? (4 of 4)
I do my best to take seriously charges against my favorite arguments. The result is better arguments. Let’s take a look at these charges that popular atheist arguments fail.
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+11 +4
Countering the Modal Ontological Argument
Note: What follows below is a transcription of the video Ahh the Ontological Argument, where philosophers try to define god into existence. This is going to be about the modern, Modal Ontological Argument put forward by apologists like Alvin Plantinga and defended by William Lane Craig.
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+36 +4
How the cult of celebrity is destroying American politics
Politicians peddling personal narratives are making a cheap grab for America’s growing cult of celebrity. Often, especially on the right, their political positions are wildly unpopular and even damaging. People like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Mike Huckabee must lean on “compelling” personal stories and appeals to religious tribalism, because their policy prescriptions straight up suck. It’s much easier to offer some folksy nonsense about Jesus than it is to explain away their ugly bigotry...
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+17 +2
Americans are entitled to religious freedom, but there are limits
It used to be that budget cuts were the best way to kill a law you hated but lacked the votes to formally repeal. You know, if you can’t beat ’em, defund ’em. Don’t like same-sex marriage, contraception, HIV testing or even child labor laws? Never you worry: Just say that a higher power has exempted you, even if your exemption means trampling on other people’s rights.
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