Tag: Atheism

Sean Carroll’s non-cosmological arguments against God

In a recent internet discussion of fine tuning, I was referred to a 2014 debate between Sean Carroll and William Lane Craig, where Carroll made a number of criticisms of the fine-tuning argument used by Craig. He also included some other statements he regarded as showing that the universe looks like one NOT created by […]

Choosing our religion (4): you are what you eat?

It is clear that, whether we are believer or unbeliever, our choices about our belief in God are not always as rational as we might like to think. If there is no God, we probably cannot choose at all in any meaningful way. Sometimes (some would say always), we cannot choose our beliefs, they are […]

Choosing our religion (3): how people make choices

I reckon most of us like to think we make good decisions about what we believe – that is, ones that are based on good evidence and good reasoning, and which lead to true beliefs. Trouble is, there are people with quite different beliefs about God, morality and politics to what you or I believe, […]

Why your brain needs God

faith is the most important thing a person needs to maintain a neurologically healthy brain Neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman I couldn’t resist …. I am researching my next post on Choosing our religion, which is taking a bit of work, and I came across this quote by two neuroscientists. Here is the quote […]

Choosing our religion (1): do we have free will to choose anything?

Can we choose our beliefs? Can we choose anything, or are we prisoners of the electro-chemistry in our brains? How do we choose? Pondering these questions can change the way we think, and how we understand ourselves and others. I am beginning a series of posts on these questions. This post looks at free will […]

Finding Truth

I had never heard of this book or its author until a friend bought it for me as a present. But it proved to be a really worthwhile read.

Adult converts: who are they and why do they do it?

This post combines two of my interests – the statistics of belief and people’s stories. Are there many adult converts to christianity? Why do they convert? Were they really unbelievers beforehand?

Atheist slogans: one fewer god than you?

I came across it yesterday, not for the first time, but maybe the 21st. Quoted as if it was significant and telling. You have almost certainly seen it too. I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other […]

Did the early christian church grow very fast?

Let’s say at the start that this isn’t the most important question in the world! But I think it is interesting. The background is this. The New Testament (Acts 1:15) records there were 120 disciples in Jerusalem a few weeks after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Three centuries later, historians estimate that there were somewhere between […]

Sam Harris: “science must destroy religion”

It is commonly stated that science and religion are irreconcilably opposed. A recent article by atheist author Sam Harris cranks the argument up a notch by declaring Science Must Destroy Religion. To be fair, I think he means “science will inevitably destroy religion”, not the rather more alarming “science has a moral duty to destroy […]