Author Archives: Dwight

Death of the Caliphate

His life ended with the kind of brief episode of terror he had schemed for thousands of others. To call up a Biblical phrase he might have appreciated, you reap what you sow. He sowed terrorism, but what Osama bin … Continue reading

Posted in Bush Wars, Iraq, Islam, Islaminsanity, State & Church | Comments Off on Death of the Caliphate

Fixing Classical Arguments

In my last post, I wrote about how the premises of classical deductive arguments could be construed as either statements of logical definition or of observed fact. I argued that philosophers often confound the two and, as a result, either … Continue reading

Posted in Faith & Reason, Meaning & Value, Naturalism | Comments Off on Fixing Classical Arguments

God and Other Minds

Theists like to point out that we can never prove that others (besides ourselves) have minds. The person sitting in the chair next to me may be carrying on quite a lively conversation—but how can I be sure there’s really … Continue reading

Posted in Faith & Reason, Naturalism, Theologians | 3 Comments

Atheism and Common Sense

Theists often think of atheists—especially new atheists—as people who take an extreme position by closing their eyes to the obvious existence of God. In fact, atheism is eyes wide open. The atheist turns off the tv show, stops the movie, … Continue reading

Posted in Naturalism, Non-Existence Arguments | 10 Comments

Hector Avalos – Six Anti-Secularist Themes

There’s a great article by Hector Avalos over at debunkingchristianity which I heartily recommend. Dr. Avalos is a professor of Biblical Studies at Iowa State University and the targets of his post are six rhetorical devices commonly used by “religionist” … Continue reading

Posted in Debates, The Bible | Comments Off on Hector Avalos – Six Anti-Secularist Themes

Do Test Tube Babies Have Souls?

Last month God and China got pissed off at the committee that awards the Nobel Prize. China because the Peace Prize went to someone they threw in prison for advocating democracy. And God?  Well, Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize … Continue reading

Posted in Afterlife & Immortality, Christianity | 42 Comments

The Argument from Perfection

Either God is imperfect, God does not exist, or God did not create the physical world. Such is the conclusion to which we are driven by one of the most compelling atheist arguments. The argument from perfection is closely related … Continue reading

Posted in Articles Highlighted, Atheology, Non-Existence Arguments | 14 Comments

Antony Flew is Dead

When I was a young atheist, the well-known British philosopher Antony Flew was perhaps the world’s most prominent advocate of atheism. The legendary Bertrand Russell was already dead and gone. Another atheist, Carl Sagan was better-known than Flew, but not … Continue reading

Posted in Atheologians, Debates | 7 Comments

Spiritual or Religious?

“Do you consider yourself a spiritual man or a religious man?” “Well, I don’t like that dichotomy of matter and spirit very much, so you can say I consider myself a religious man.” [Interview with Wendell Berry by Thomas P. … Continue reading

Posted in Atheist Culture | Comments Off on Spiritual or Religious?

Let’s Make a Deal

I’m a fan of Michael Shermer, a prominent atheist and skeptic who writes a column on skepticism for Scientific American. But in an article entitled “How Randomness Rules Our World and Why We Cannot See It” he has fallen for … Continue reading

Posted in Naturalism | Comments Off on Let’s Make a Deal