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A collection of 264 posts

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It's that Nativity time again!

As I have said before, Holidays are coming, holidays are coming... It's that  time of year, you know, the interminable run-up to Christmas when big corporations vie for your hard-earned cash in an attempt to exploit the seasonal goodwill brought on by the imaginary birth of a godmanspirit.

atheism

Catholic Encyclopedia critiqued: The Nature and Attributes of God (Pt 1)

Here is a broad selection of claims and quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia article "The Nature and Attributes of God" compiled by my friend Julian Haydon: God is infinitely perfect He is infinitely good, intelligent, wise, just, holy, etc no Theist of average intelligence ever thinks of unde

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Throwing things away and losing memories

In moving house I had to clear a lot of stuff up, throw a lot away and generally reassess what is important to me, and what I need to keep hold of. In my loft was a few boxes of memorabilia: letters (remember them?) sent to me from girls (I was at boarding school) throughout my adolescence; gig t

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Is there trouble with Islam?

Before I get stuck in, I want to emphasise how I am a liberal commentator and am happy to be shown where I am wrong; I do not want to level accusations at Islam which are wrong and which have developed out of a biased media caricature of what Islam is. It is easy to fire from the emotional hip and

climate change

US elections: the worst news

From i09: All together now: Fucking fuck. Senator Inhofe, who is poised to become the most powerful senator on the environment, is the same man who has compared the scientific consensus over manmade global warming to Adolf Hitler's conception of the Jewish conspiracy.

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British public: no link between morality and religion

From the BHA: A new survey published today has revealed that most of the British public does not think that being religious makes an individual more likely to be moral – with most thinking it makes no difference, and actually more thinking that atheists are more moral than the religious than

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Secular Humanism is a religion, legally speaking

From Think Progress: Atheists Score Major Win In Federal Court A federal district court in Oregon has declared Secular Humanism a religion, paving the way for the non-theistic community to obtain the same legal rights as groups such as Christianity. On Thursday, October 30, Senior District Judge Ancer Haggerty issued

daniel dennett

Philosophy 101: Qualia

As part of my introductory series which has looked at different philosophers and the philosophical questions from the 2009 philpapers survey, I am going to look at qualia, as asked by a friend on facebook.

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Christianity Is Not Great... is great!

Or a least, so it looks in my hands. I have a chapter in John Loftus' voluminous anthology which looks like a fantastic and comprehensive account of the harms that Christianity has inflicted and continues to inflict on the world. My chapter features towards the end by looking at

consequentialism

The moral value of an alien 'forqwiblexing' me

Last night, an alien came down to Earth and forqwibexed me. I mean, he really did. Who knew! This short post will be concerned with the idea that moral value systems such as Divine Command Theories or intrinsic value theories such as deonotological theories are problematic.

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Infinity, God, Vic Stenger and James A. Lindsay

The Malcontent's Gambit podcast has recently hosted an interview of author James A. Lindsay who authored God, God, God: Infinity Plus God Equals Folly (a book which I myself edited). The late Vic Stenger kindly wrote the foreword, and James talks much about infinity, God, and Voc Stenger too in this

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Russell Blackford - we have the extraordinary evidence!

Check out fellow SINner Russell Blackford's talk from TAM 2013:     Just watching it now, but if it is anything like his writing it'll be cracking.

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The Nativity: A Critical Examination

Holidays are coming, holidays are coming... It's that time of year, you know, the interminable run-up to Christmas when big corporations vie for your hard-earned cash in an attempt to exploit the seasonal goodwill brought on by the imaginary birth of a godmanspirit.

atheism

Are Liberal Democrats the best party for committed humanists?

With the conference season now over and done with, the British Humanist Association has declared it a successful season with good showing at all three major party conferences. However, perhaps the scariest prospect is the dominance of UKIP in recent political discourse. We know they are pretty much very right-wing

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Moral Panics: Thoughts on Immigration

There are many posts presently here at SIN written, or in the pipeline, on our series concerning moral panic, and nothing promotes moral panic quite as much as immigration. Immigration is a hot topic, particularly in the UK, where I live, but also within the wider context of Europe (and pretty much

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The History of Philosophy

This infographic was created by Roslyn Willson and can be seen here. Check it out - that's quite some work has gone into this! It's cracking. Thanks to her for emailing this to me. If anyone else has good content to share, don't be

Big Bang

Before the Big Bang 3: String inspired cosmology

Skydive Phil has produced, with his partner, some tremendous videos. In fact, I have interviewed them here at SIN. They take special care in dismantling claims made by William Lane Craig, particularly on pain (think the problem of evil) and cosmology. In their latest instalment, they go to town with

Economics

Racism and xenophobia in economic downturns

My previous post talked about the rise of the right-wing UKIP in recent polls and elections in the UK. Part of this phenomena, which is predicated upon the blaming of immigrants and immigration for many social woes, is as a result of the recent economic downturn.

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The UK on brink of sliding into right-wing chaos

The political landscape in the UK is changing, that much is pretty obvious to any onlooker. The rise of UKIP (the UK Independence Party), as I have discussed elsewhere, is incredible in its rapidity (though not so much when it originally formed) in recent years. And now it is the

Evidential Problem of evil

Why Skeptical Theism Fails

The Problem of Evil is a powerful argument which takes its form in various ways, both the logical and evidential format. I was watching a video debate on the problem of evil and animal suffering between Michael Murry and Daniel Breyer. I really enjoyed it. I don't buy the skeptical theistic approach

Cosmology

Counter Apologist's riposte to William Lane Craig on the Kalam

Counter Apologist has produced an awesome series detailing issues with William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Argument, which is a pet obsession of mine. This must have succeeded enough, since it warranted a response from Craig himself. Here is Counter's response to Craig.

atheism

Don't (Moral) Panic!!!

The world is NOT going to hell in a handcart, as I have discussed elsewhere. But people like to think it is. People are, indeed, susceptible to panicking, to over-egging the sense of danger that there is, and probably for good evolutionary reason. After all, it is better to overstate

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Christianity Is not Great is imminent

I am pretty excited about the upcoming Christianity Is not Great, John Loftus' latest anthology which comprises a plethora of fantastic authors and chapters, it seems (I have not read the chapters, though cannot wait). This is really shaping up to be a corker. Get it pre-ordered!

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Great review for 13 Reasons To Doubt

Kaveh Mousavi over at On the Margin of Error has given a cracking review of our recent 13 Reasons To Doubt. Here is an excerpt:

conceptual nominalism

Scottish Independence - my thoughts

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel and flag-waving the first action of a warmonger. yes-no2 I am British, English, and live on the south coast of the UK. That said, the coming Thursday referendum affects me as much as most people in the country. I will set out what is, for me and m