thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
October 30th, 2011
As I write this, the world’s 7 billionth person is about to be born. The world’s population is growing fast, though (thankfully) not quite as fast as it was a decade or so ago. This graph challenges us all.
October 26th, 2011
Steven and I have been discussing the Richard Dawkins vs William Lane Craig fracas on his blog Think That Through. At one point we referenced the ethical views of Peter Singer, and Steven suggested I do a critique of Peter Singer’s views on infanticide. This is not something I have studied a great deal, but […]
October 23rd, 2011
Atheist vs christian wars seem to be a permanent feature of life, and the internet, these days. The latest instalment is the verbal slanging match between US christian philosopher William Lane Craig and UK atheist biologist Richard Dawkins. It’s not really all that pretty.
October 19th, 2011
I have twice before blogged about high-profile atheist Sam Harris, none too favourably – in Sam Harris – man of reason? and Sam Harris on faith – sensible or silly?. So it is pleasing to report some of Sam’s thinking that I can resonate with. It came in a post, The mystery of consciousness, on […]
October 16th, 2011
On 8 October actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to 90 lashes and one year jail in Iran for her part in the Australian film My Tehran for Sale. I’m a little late in posting this, but its not too late to sign an Amnesty petition to the Iran government opposing flogging. Amnesty: End flogging in […]
October 16th, 2011
It is not uncommon to hear about someone who says they have been miraculously healed by God. We may also look at some ‘faith healers’ and find it easier to believe they are charlatans. Do healing miracles happen? Is there any good evidence for healing miracles? How do we explain them?
October 10th, 2011
One of the most common arguments I’ve seen used by atheists against belief in God is based on one or more of many obvious mythical, unreal or downright silly beings – commonly Santa, Thor, Zeus, fairies, even the cheesy Flying Spaghetti Monster and a hypothetical celestial teapot. The argument is that there is no more […]
October 8th, 2011
This blog is supposed to be about the question Is there a God?, but one of my indulgences is to talk occasionally about another love in my life – music. And it is no secret that one of favourite bands is the now lamented Aussie band, The Middle East.
October 6th, 2011
One of the evidences often quoted for the existence of God is miraculous healings. There are many responses a sceptic might make, but one of them is the argument that since healings are claimed by many different religions, they cannot be used to support the existence of any particular God. My friend Steven at Think […]
October 5th, 2011
In the discussions and arguments between believers and sceptics on the internet, you’ll find a number of arguments and statements recurring. Many of them are presented as if they are telling blows for their proponents, without necessarily ever being argued logically. I have discussed the Carl Sagan claim “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence“, and now […]
A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.