Religion and Society - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 6)

Quote of the Day: Anne Fenwick in Religion

This was a pretty spot on quote concerning defining religion in a UK-centric context when discussing whether religiosity has dropped in the UK. There are some difficulties in defining the word "religion" as has been discussed here. Anne clears up a few issues resulting from such conversations. This

atheism

On Defining Religion and Surveys Getting It Wrong. Apparently.

I recently posted a news release from Humanists UK. It talked about the continued recession of religion in the UK: The latest findings of the British Social Attitudes Survey, published today, reveal 71% of 18-24 year olds say they belong to no religion, while just 3% say they are Church

freedom of speech

NZ Lecturer Gets into Trouble for Attacking Religion

An interesting piece of news came out of New Zealand over the last few days. Here is the NZ Herald: A university lecturer is under fire after implying employers should not hire Muslim workers because they stop to pray five times a day. Dr Raymond Richards, who teaches American history

Christianity

Analysing the Muslim Foster Care Scandal: Daily Mail Hypocrisy

There has recently been a scandal in the UK regarding a child from a Christian background being fostered by Muslim foster carers. This has produced quite a lot of media attention due to the fact that the foster carers supposedly encouraged the five-year-old girl to speak Arabic and banned her

atheism

What if Trump Was an Atheist?

This is merely a thought experiment, though it is almost undoubtedly the case anyway, but what if he was outed as an atheist or openly admitted it? There is no way he is genuinely religious. He is unbelievably narcissistic and the only god in his life is the one he

evolution

On Research Showing that Chimp Behaviour Could Be Ritualistic

I missed this when it hit the news last year. Although some of the headlines oversold this in true clickbait fashion ("Scientists may have found evidence that chimps believe in God"), this research is interesting. The work of Dean Hamer is relevant here. Though the "God gene&

atheism

53% of Britons are non-religious, says latest British Social Attitudes Survey

This came from Humanists UK: The 34th annual British Social Attitudes Survey has shown that non-religious people represent a clear majority of British people in 2017, accounting for 53% of the population. This is a new high for the non-religious population, which was previously estimated at 51% in 2014. The

By Milliped (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Catholic Church

Are Catholic Clergy more Likely to Be Paedophiles than the General Public?

This is a question that has been kicking around ever since the child sex abuse scandal involving the Catholic church came to the fore. In around 2010, loads of articles came out, citing some data, that the priesthood was broadly in line with national averages, some people claimed it was

John Loftus

Christianity Is Fundamentally Opposed to Freedom of Speech

I thought I'd resurrect this one from a few years back. In reading Richard Carrier's excellent chapter in John Loftus' superb Christianity is not Great in which I have a chapter myself, there is much to glean concerning matters of democracy and the American Constitution

humanism

First ever legal humanist wedding ceremony takes place in Northern Ireland

This great news comes from Humanists UK: The first ever legal humanist wedding ceremony took place in Northern Ireland yesterday afternoon. After a lengthy legal battle to secure recognition, Laura Lacole and Eunan O’Kane wed in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by friends and family and conducted by Humanists UK

evangelicals

Faith & Politics: Leader of Liberal Democrats Quits in Tension over Christian Life

Tim Farron has been the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third biggest political party in the UK, for the last two years. He recently ran in the election on the pro-EU Remain ticket. During the run-up to the election, Farron was robustly questioned about his views on gay sex

Blasphemy

Fry's Irish blasphemy investigation dropped; New Zealand prompted to repeal its own law

I am a few days behind because we have had inspectors in at work. Gah. Anyway, according to the British Humanist Association: The police service in the Republic of Ireland has decided to drop its investigation into Stephen Fry, over allegations he blasphemed in an interview on Irish channel RTE

Blasphemy

Stephen Fry Being Investigated in Ireland for Blasphemy

It's ridiculous, and blasphemy laws are ridiculous. C'mon Ireland! This is from the BBC: Police in the Republic of Ireland have launched an investigation after a viewer claimed comments made by Stephen Fry on a TV show were blasphemous. Officers are understood to be examining whether

aliens

If the Discovery of Alien Life Is Close, How Might This Affect Religion?

The Guardian recently ran an article that provokes some interesting thought and discussion. If we are close to finding alien life (for the sake of argument, though the number of exoplanets discovered is constantly rising), how would this affect the major religions of the world? Santhosh Mathew writes: The interaction

atheism

Atheist's Truck Vandalised by God-fearing Neighbours

Being open about nonbelief is a really important step in normalising atheism, especially in the US. When atheists get harangued for, well, being atheist, it's pretty annoying. As CBS Minnesota reports: An atheist in northern Minnesota says his truck was vandalized over the Easter weekend with messages telling

Religion and Society

'Religious left' emerging as U.S. political force in Trump era

Demographics of Religion

Countries with a Strong Religious Culture Are Worse at Maths and Science

This comes from the Daily Mail, of all places. Oh, the cognitive dissonance that must have been going on there! The actual headline reads: "Countries with a strong religious culture are WORSE at maths and science, study claims". They love a capitalisation, and the use of "claims&

Religion and Society

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Rescinds His Atheism?

This has been doing the rounds today and has been reported in several places. HuffPo reports: Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has eschewed his atheist beliefs and now asserts that “religion is very important.” Zuckerberg, whose Facebook profile once identified him as an atheist, revealed his change of heart

Religion and Society

The Entire Universe in 60 Minutes: Idle, Cox, Religion and Science

The BBC is showing something tonight that I am very much looking forward to: Eric Idle's The Entire Universe. Quite whether you'll see it in the US at any stage is another question. It is a Christmas musical with a whole bunch of science in it

Demographics of Religion

Stephen Fry promotes humanist ceremonies, now more popular than ever

From the British Humanist Association: Almost 15 million people in Britain (30%) have attended a humanist ceremony and close to seven million (14%) want a humanist funeral for themselves when they die, suggesting that humanist ceremonies are more popular than ever before. These new findings from YouGov come as the

Aaron Adair

My Interview with Dr Aaron Adair on the Star of Bethlehem

Here is an interview from a few years ago with (now) Dr Aaron Adair. The interview was around the time of the release of his book The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2uyD_1SHs

Interviews

Quote of the Day: DoctorPlausible on Rain Dances and God

This comment was something I meant to post ages ago, and was put on a thread for one of my videos, linked below. It concerns the psychology, the function, of religion and thus God: Nice conversation. Pretty much my opinions on that. Sometimes I give the example of the rain

persecution

Quote of the Day: Dirk Niemand on Liberal Bullies of Christians

This corker is, well, a corker. Have a go at what you think is wrong... I'm sure you've heard of the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Obama and his liberal cohorts have been attacking Christianity in the schools, the work place and

Demographics of Religion

Can Religion Be Eradicated?

Can religion be destroyed? I was involved in a little discussion over at Advocatus Atheist some time ago with regard to whether a secular and skeptical approach can spell the end of religion. I found this to be interesting. Even if the evidence (does it not already) overwhelmingly ruled in

Church

How Gypsies have moved from fortune-telling to fervent Christianity

The BBC has an interesting article documenting the movement towards evangelical Christianity in the traveller communities. It seems Catholicism, the traditional home of such communities, is no longer so attractive. At a time when large numbers of people are drifting away from formal religion, one church is bucking the trend.