Does religion cause terrorism?
It is often said that religion causes terrorism. Until recently the facts said otherwise. But now it appears to be true, in five countries at any rate.
Tag: World
Christianity – the good and the bad?
The good and harm done by christianity is a topic of much discussion and argument, and I have written on it many times (e.g. Does religion poison everything? and Do religious believers have better health and wellbeing, like, really?). Keith Parsons is a US philosopher and atheist who writes about the philosophy of religion, and […]
Prayer for healing seems to work
I have long had an interest in the effectiveness of prayer for healing. My initial reaction to healing claims tends to be mild scepticism (I believe healing can occur but I don’t believe all claims of divine healing are credible), but I try to find cases where there is good evidence. So I am interested […]
Indigenous Australians, climate change and the New Testament gospels
How could indigenous Australians, climate change and the New Testament gospels possibly be connected? But there really is a connection. So please read on!
“The sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist”
I’ve been away on a short holiday for the last week, at a beautiful spot on the NSW coast. Our holiday unit is right on the beachfront, with views over the Pacific Ocean. We sleep just inside large glass doors, so we hear the sounds of the surf during the night, and wake as the […]
Is there anybody out there? Or are we alone?
I suppose most of us have looked up at the night sky and wondered at some time – is there any other life out there? Another way of framing the question is to ask – is the earth unusual in supporting (supposedly) intelligent life? I have investigated this question in the past (see A rare […]
Does religious belief make you more moral: a case study in misusing data?
Initial note This is unfortunately a sometimes negative post, and slightly longer than usual. I’m sorry about that. I have tried to be fair and positive, but I think it was important to address this issue. Both christians and non-believers seem to want to prove that their belief makes for a better society and the […]
Religion and war: evidence and misinformation
It’s a common theme of atheist critiques of religion: religion causes war and mass killing. And yet the historical evidence shows something different.
Is religion dying out? Is this inevitable in the modern world?
I’ve seen it many times. A confident statement by a committed atheist that religion is dying out. It is inevitable. Modernisation, especially science, has made it impossible for the virus of faith to survive much longer. Scandinavia is a peaceful paradise and almost godless, and shows that once society rides itself of God, prosperity and […]
A brief addendum on climate science
Further to my rave on climate science yesterday, here is a website where a geochemist reports he reviewed thousands of peer reviewed articles on climate science, dated November 2012 to December 2013. Of 2258 papers, with a total of 9136 authors, he found only one paper and one author who denied that human-caused global warming […]