Contra de Botton: Religions Are NOT To Credit With Universalistic Humanistic Values

March 12, 2012 By 6 Comments

Alain de Botton’s chapter on community in his book Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion is filled with half-baked thinking. After one-sidedly disparaging modern social life from numerous selective (and sometimes specious) angles, he goes on to model really effectively how not to try to learn from religion (Kindle Location 189):

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Maryam Namazie Attacks Shari'a And Defends Muslim Immigrants Against The Far Right

November 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A great lecture and Q&A my estimable Freethought Blogs colleague Maryam Namazie: . An important excerpt from the Q&A: Look, George Bush says he attacked Iraq for women’s rights and I’m a women’s rights campaigner, but I don’t believe him. It’s possible that a politician will say something, that they’ve done something for a reason and, [...]

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Islam, 9/11, and "True Religion" (Or "What Could George W. Bush Mean When Talking About True Islam?")

September 11, 2011 By 8 Comments

What did it mean when George W. Bush talked about Islam really being a “religion of peace” and argued that it was not to blame for the murderous actions of terrorists? Bush was (and is) a true believing Evangelical Christian. How could he argue for a “true” interpretation of Islam when Islam is a falsehood [...]

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What I Think About How To Engage Religious Liberals, Moderates, and Fundamentalists

September 2, 2011 By 7 Comments

In my “What I Think About” series, I am offering readers concise overviews of my views on various important topics. I have already covered objective values, faith and religion, science and faith, and why I call myself a gnostic theist/agnostic adeist. Below I consider in some detail the challenges of supporting liberal and moderate religious people in their struggles [...]

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Dawkins Against Religion’s Claim To Superiority Because It Offers Absolute Morality

February 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

This is one of the most concise, eloquent, and accurate statements on the problem with religious absolutism in morality and the superiority of secular, non-absolutist approaches to morality I have ever heard. And it is certainly Dawkins’s best 2 and a half minutes on the topic of morality I have ever heard: Thanks to Lucy. [...]

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Muslim Cleric Who Led Friday Prayers In Egypt Friday Supports Death For Apostates

February 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s show ash-Shariah wal-Hayat has an audience of 40 million.  He is the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, is a trustee of Oxford University, and is considered a leading Muslim Brotherhood intellectual.  He returned to Egypt from exile after the fall of Hosni Mubarak and led Friday prayers on February 18. [...]

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Islamic Apologist, Shabir Ally, Argues Quran And Evolution Are Consistent

February 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Of course I disagree, but I’m sure glad he thinks so and hope more Muslims do too. Your Thoughts?

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On The Uses And Abuses Of Religion In Art: The Lines Between Expression, Tolerance, Respect, Fear, and Torture

December 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

Gary Bauer thinks Christians aren’t treated as well as Muslims in America because there are greater quantities of art works which use Christian symbols in ways that offend Bauer’s sensibilities than there are ones that use Muslim symbols in ways that would offend Muslim sensibilities: in a variety of contexts, American Muslims are treated better [...]

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How Christian Beliefs And Values Are No More Creditable With America’s Founding Than Islamic Ones

December 29, 2010 By 3 Comments

Gary Bauer displays a hilarious sense of grievance in his article “If Christians Were Treated Like Muslims”. I want to take a few posts to fully dissect all of its self-absorbed, phony, distorted victimhood. The first three sentences merited a full post themselves, so here we go. Bauer starts out with the following falsehood: Few [...]

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