December 2010
12 posts
Outer Brightness » Blog Archive » Ministers and... →
So, basically, clergy can pay as little as 0.7% in taxes to lie to people.
“What a country!” - Y. Smirnov
Four in 10 Americans Believe in Strict Creationism →
Four too many.
Pakistan doctor arrested on suspicion of blasphemy →
A business card. This is just the best.
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion....”
– Harlan Ellison
"Why Religion Breeds Happiness: Friends!!!!!"... →
A recent study by the American Sociological Review explores the social lives of church attendees and makes a shocking conclusion: friends make people happy. But, given the framework of the study, the religious attendance is credited. Is there a connection? Does this study actually do anything more than correlate number of friends with happiness? Here’s some data from the study itself:
19...
“Every one of the world’s “great” religions utterly trivializes...”
– Sam Harris
Guest Voices: Homosexuality in Leviticus - On... →
This is theology at work. If Leviticus is oh, so wrong, how can we still consider the rest of the canon oh, so right?
This is an opportunity to echo a very common question that a theist asks of the atheist: from where do you attain your morality?
If you have the ability to ignore scripture that promotes unpalatable law, and there is much of it in the Old and New Testaments, where does that put...
WatchDan Dennett on dangerous memes | Video on TED.com
Prominent Jerusalem rabbi warns of religion's... →
“Is religion a trip into fantasy?”
Given what we know about the world, and taking into account what the rabbi says, is there any good reason to think otherwise?
That aside, the rabbi’s words seem to be, by most any standard, very wise and completely irreligious. Can we not provide to each other comfort and warmth without adherence to Abrahamic doctrine and special hats?
“Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good...”
– Bertrand Russell