The ‘Atheist Skeptic Dialogue’ Will Fail
Many people are becoming increasingly fed up with what I will call 'the Rift' that has occurred in atheist and skeptic communities. Largely, the Rift is confined to online spaces, but seemed to...
View ArticleThe Criminality of a Schoolgirl’s Silly Tweets
The police and crime commissioner for Kent, Ann Barnes, recently appointed, as she pledged during her campaign, (now) 17 year old Paris Brown to the role of youth PCC so that she can represent younger...
View ArticleI Still Don’t Understand What Skepticism Is
I was recently prompted to think again about the meaning of 'scientific' skepticism after reading Daniel Loxton's recent article about skepticism and atheism (also see fellow SINner Russell Blackford's...
View ArticleSINergy!
Today, I discovered that the bloggers on this network aren’t just intelligent machines that generate text on a page but are actually human people with appearances and voices. How do I know? I checked...
View ArticleI’m an Atheist – Ask Me Anything!
I always really enjoy it when people ask me questions about or challenge my beliefs, no matter how strongly I hold them. So, in the spirit of National Ask an Atheist Day, please feel free to ask me,...
View ArticleWinged Horses and Respect
Yesterday, on the academic symposium Twitter, there was a bit of drama when Richard Dawkins (with his usual commitment to dispassionate inquiry) started questioning our treatment of weird beliefs. I...
View ArticleOn the ‘I Believe In One Fewer God Than You Do’ Meme
My co-SINner Damion has a post up criticising this familiar atheist meme: "I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the...
View ArticleThe Issue of Hate Speech: IV. Waldron’s Argument
Jeremy Waldron in his recent book The Harm in Hate Speech suggests that there are kinds of hate speech that are justifiably regulated. He concentrates his arguments on a particular kind of harm; harm...
View ArticleRegarding Sylvia Browne & Co.
After the happy news that three women missing for about a decade were found alive in Ohio, many noted that 'psychic' Sylvia Browne had told Amanda Berry's mother that her daughter was dead. Tragically,...
View ArticleIf God Wrote my Name in the Stars…
...would I believe He existed? The question of what it would take for me to believe that God exists comes up from time to time, and I think it's good to have an idea of what sort of evidence would be...
View ArticleThe Issue of Hate Speech: V. Regulation as a Tactic (Part 1/3)
Consider two possible societies; one in which members of a minority frequently see themselves as the target of hateful messages1 and one in which they have a much greater sense of dignity. I agree with...
View Article“Shut up and listen!”– a slogan worth repeating?
Right now there’s a bit of drama going on related to a recent conference. I don’t really want to discuss that here, since it seems everything that could be said about it has been said. Nevertheless,...
View ArticleThe Issue of Hate Speech: V. Regulation as a Tactic (Part 2/3)
This post follows on from here. Consider a society in which adultery is legal (most liberal democracies, in fact), and compare this to a society in which it is not. To avoid complicated definitions...
View ArticleThe Issue of Hate Speech: V. Regulation as a Tactic (Part 3/3)
This post follows on from here. Applying this to the question of freedom of expression is a complicated task. Just as with sex, the ability to express ourselves is a fundamental part of what it is...
View ArticleI Support Ron Lindsay
Right now, there’s a campaign to get Ron Lindsay fired from his position because of the welcome talk he gave at Women in Secularism. If, like me, you do not want to see someone removed from their...
View ArticleProject: Evidence for Atheism
Often, when we say that we’re an atheist, what we mean is that we don’t believe in gods. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to respond with “where’s your evidence?”, since it is a negative statement of...
View ArticleCFI’s Statement: Moving Forward
Recently, I wrote a letter to CFI to offer my support for Ron Lindsay. CFI have now responded to all correspondence: The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on...
View ArticleThe Issue of Hate Speech: VI. Conclusion
This post follows on from here. Kateb writes: “The defense of worthless and harmful expression must be at the center of the defense of freedom of expression as a fundamental right.”1. Such a...
View ArticleAtheism and Anti-Discrimination: a Reply to Jacques Rousseau
As my current project is a defence of ‘strong’ (or ‘positive’) atheism, I have been giving a lot of thought the last few weeks about what atheism means, what it entails, and how it might be defended....
View ArticleSye Ten Bruggencate’s ‘Proof That God Exists’ Revisited
After reading about a debate between prominent atheist YouTuber Aron Ra and ‘presuppositional’ Christian apologist Sye Ten Bruggencate, I felt the urge to take another look at Bruggencate’s website,...
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