Last Thursday, the pope called Christians are the most persecuted people in the world, and this immediately elicited derision from my fellow liberals, gay rights activists, and atheists. The pope’s contention may seem absurd at first blush. I mean, Christians enjoy a privileged status in our country. But elsewhere…
Greta Christina discusses why religious believers want the atheist seal of approval.
Millions of people will commemorate the virgin birth of Jesus this weekend. How do Mormons, though, reconcile the virgin birth with their belief that Jesus is the literal son of a corporeal god? My friend Neal supposes that god artificially inseminated Mary.
In another Christmas-related story, a Texas Christian group executes Santa by a firing squad.
Salon magazine names comedian Ricky Gervais the funny new face of atheism.
Elizabeth Edwards passed away after a long struggle with cancer two weeks ago. Her last public goodbye was posted on Facebook, and what was most notable about it was not what she did mention, but what she didn’t—god.
“Disciples”, a short documentary produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, profiles the lives of three openly gay ex-Mormons.
In a surprising gesture, the LDS Church invited prominent gay rights activists, including Dustin Lance Black, to its Christmas concert last weekend.
LTD Jewelers prepares for the Second Coming by offering a 50% off sale. Yes, really.
I recently wrote about the similarities between atheism and Mormonism. Well, I missed one: both are unpopular. A new survey conducted by sociologists David Campbell and Robert Putnam found that Mormons are the third most hated religious group. (That same survey also found that religious people—especially Mormons and black Protestants—make easy targets for scams.)
Five ridiculous things you probably believe about Islam, and five psychological effects which cause people to believe in nonsense.
Coming soon to a theater new you: “Gawd Bless America,” a hilarious and critical documentary about aliens, physics, and the paranormal.
The multiverse theory is often dismissed as a convenient way for atheists to circumvent the cosmological argument for god, but there is new evidence that lends some credence to the theory.
The Obama administration released scientific integrity guidelines to increase transparency and prevent political meddling with scientific research, a problem under the previous administration.
Christopher Hitchens and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach debate the afterlife. Boteach’s Jewish perspective made for an interesting discussion, as he and Hitchens agreed that an emphasis on the afterlife is immoral.
Ironically, ethics books are among the most likely to be stolen.
According to a new Gallup poll, four in 10 Americans believe in strict creationism. That’s the bad news. The good news: belief in strict creationism is at its lowest point since this survey was first done in 1982.
Can you tell whether someone is religious by their face alone? A research team from the University of Toronto claims you can. They even concluded that you can tell Mormons apart from other Christians.
An atheist tries to make sense of the Fall and the crucifixion. I share his confusion.
Google just released a tool, Ngram, that allows you to track word and language trends in millions of books over the hundreds of years. The occurrence of the word ‘god’ has experienced a dramatic decline in literature since 1800.
Kinda funny – in the Gawd Bless America trailer, one of the UFOists believes that Jesus was also artificially inseminated. In the mouth of two or three witnesses…
I remember from one of my religion classes that one of the previous church presidents said that Mary was sealed to God, and not Joseph. The whole getting married & impregnated by your heavenly father while you’re sleeping is kind of creepy though, so the whole artificial insemination is a doctrinal coping method.
Awesome links jon! One thing on the Cosmological argument that i think is a good point is that we don’t really need to posit a multiverse theory to answer the cosmological argument (its actually used more in answering the fine tuning argument from my experience). I think that the first premise that everything that begins to exist has a cause, can be easily answered based on the fact that we have only witnessed one event in the entire history of the universe where something Literally began to exist, every time since has just been a reforming of matter. And since the only example that they could use to uphold the first premise, is actually the same example they are trying to use to prove their conclusion, that the universe had a cause, really makes the entire argument just a blind assertion.
At that point you can pretty much just dismiss that argument as not applicable until we gather enough data on the origins of the universe (which we may never be able to do).
Also even if you grant them that there is a cause, no proof the cause is god. Which is usually the standard response people give, but i think my argument refutes it better.
Actually thinking about it, when do people ever have to posit the multiverse theory to refute the cosmological argument?
Jewish Kabbalah teaches that the Jewish god tried several times to create an inhabitable universe. Most were failed experiments in creation. This universe was somewhat successful. However, when the Jewish god tries to place god’s light (goodness) into that universe, the jars that contain this light of goodness are broken. The shards of the ‘goodness jars’ are scattered throughout creation but are hidden. The Jewish god’s hiddenness is an important ‘knowing’. The job of god’s people is to look for the ‘sparks of goodness’ in every place and time. When they find one and release it to the world they are ‘repairing the world.’
Multiverse. Hiddenness. More importantly, look to repair the world by finding moments of goodness. It’s our job.
On another related post in the bomb; I completely agree with Hitchens and Boteach — excessive focus on the afterlife is immoral. To the conservative Jew, Repairing the World also beautifies the World to Come. This teaching helps a theist remain ethical in this world.