I once subscribed to something called Skeptic Magazine, in hopes that it would enlighten me on what the other side was thinking. I assumed it would be advocacy of an anti-religious viewpoint. There’s certainly no dearth of that around, however, so why, you might wonder, would I be interested in this particular magazine? It was because […]
Read more...Category: Burden of Proof
Coherentism
How do we know anything? On what basis do we form our beliefs? What makes one belief justified, and another not? Welcome to the wacky world of epistemology, the study of knowledge. Not the content of knowledge, but rather the process by which we acquire it. What is Truth Going back to the Greek philosophers, […]
Read more...The Satanic Temple
(Photo Josh Reynolds/Washington Post) You may have heard about this effort to introduce a private after-school program for “Satanic Temple” in public schools. As reported in The Washington Post among many other places, it is a program offered in reaction to after-school Christian clubs. Their serious goal is to provide an atheist alternative. Their not-so-serious […]
Read more...Burdens of Proof
Is there evidence of God? If there is any evidence of God at all, does it make sense to nonetheless conclude there is no God, until it is proven that there is a God? The Real Question The question isn’t just whether there is a God. The question is what comprises all of reality. Is material stuff […]
Read more...Zoom Out
In Inside Baseball we looked at the position of agnostics, and the point was made that agnostics are agnostic because they approach the God question from a position they suppose to be neutral, but which isn’t; and further, the degree of certainty they require for the evidence of God (this one question only) is an […]
Read more...Atheist Passivity
Ultimate Reality When we hear the assertion “God does not exist,” we know this is intended to be equivalent to saying “there is no God.” But “God does not exist” is an interesting formulation of the thought. It is incoherent, read literally, because it seems to be saying that there is a God, but then that the God just […]
Read more...Extraordinary Claims
The Artificial Standard Skeptics often approach a proposition with a screen through which they intend to sift any evidence: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This phrase was popularized by Carl Sagan, and is repeated by skeptics routinely, when encountering any hint that there might be a God. It sounds reasonable superficially, but it’s actually just a way of […]
Read more...Review: God—The Failed Hypothesis, by Victor Stenger
This book is exasperating, because Stenger sets up a meta-analysis that games the entire discussion. Having built for himself the restrictive form in which his reasoning is to be poured, he ends up with exactly the structure he set out to build. The trouble is that it defies reason, not to mention, in many instances, […]
Read more...Review: God is Not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything, by Christopher Hitchens
The late Christopher Hitchens worked the last years of his life as a professional atheist, going from debate to debate to catechize devotees of his brand of fiery, witty godlessness. Hitchens’ belief about the God he denied There’s a curious element to Hitchens’ debate appearances and to his writings on the subject of atheism as […]
Read more...Review: The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins is certainly incendiary, and it’s not just because he makes free use of acerbic anti-Christian language. It’s also because he would advocate prior restraint on free speech (chapter 1); considers religious teaching to children to be child abuse (chapter 9); and lays violence at the feet of religion while excusing the bridle-high materialist […]
Read more...