A Tippling Philosopher -

William Lane Craig Has a Pop at Me and Appears to Miss

November 20, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

As many of you might know, one of my most recent books was Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?: Countering William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument (UK here). The book is a refutation of (Craig’s use of) the Kalam Cosmological Argument. In it, I have two guest chapters: one from Dr James East, and another from Counter Apologist. Craig’s latest podcast (“Science and the A-Theory of Time”) takes a pop, not at the book, but of my 2013 posting here of some of… Read more

Left- vs Right-Wing Comedy: Why so Left? Punching up and down

November 18, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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This is the second part in this brace of posts, the first part is here, where I set the scene and looked at Christian comedy. There undoubtedly appears to be a prevalence on TV and in the media in general of left-leaning comedy, and a dearth of right-wing, conservative comedy or even Christian comedy. The question, then, is why this is? The answer, to me, comes in three potential forms, and these may or may not be possible concurrently, working… Read more

Bad News for Secular Education in the UK

November 18, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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I will now post three articles from Humanists UK that show things aren’t progressing in the UK the way secularists might hope. Sometimes it’s one step forward and two steps back. Humanists UK and the National Secular Society are fighting to counteract this – please support them: More religious groups apply to open free schools in England November 13th, 2018 The government has published a list of the latest wave of ‘free schools’ applying to open in England – and 33 of… Read more

A Church-Going Atheist

November 16, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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This is a guest post by commenter Clancy, and it is a fascinating insight into hius life and rationale for attending church: Clancy’s “Non-timony” My name is Clancy, and I’m a church-going atheist. While this is not, in itself, unusual, I came to this situation later in life, in a way which does not seem to be typical. My parents were regular church-goers when they married. My father was a Methodist, my mother was Presbyterian. However, the “church ladies” at my… Read more

Left- vs Right-Wing Comedy: Why so Left? Setting the Scene.

November 16, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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There undoubtedly appears to be a prevalence on TV and in the media in general of left-leaning comedy, and a dearth of right-wing, conservative comedy or even Christian comedy. The question, then, is why this is? The answer, to me, comes in three potential forms, and these may or may not be possible concurrently, working together to bring about this left lean. The media networks are controlling output to bring about a leftist, politically correct platform that shows a mainstream… Read more

CofE Sunday Service Attendance Falls. Again.

November 15, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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This will come as little surprise but Sunday service attendance at Church of England churches has fallen again. There is a slight mix to the numbers because Christmas services attendance rose, as well as a 2017 rise in the numbers in its “worshipping community” (is this spin or a reaction to changing times?). As The Guardian reports: The number of people attending the Church of England’s Sunday services fell again last year, to 722,000 – 18,000 fewer than in 2016… Read more

Smoking Is Beneficial to Society…?

November 14, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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This is something I have thought for a long time, but have not got around to writing about or even checking whether the stats back it up, but it seems pretty reasonable. First of all, in the name of full disclosure, I am a non-smoker who is ostensibly anti-smoking. My parents and my sisters used to smoke for a very long time and I was surrounded by it as a youngster. I guess this worked in an opposite way that it… Read more

Talk on the Isle of Wight Tomorrow Night

November 12, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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Considering how close I live to the Isle of Wight, and that we are only separated by a thin stretch of water, I am surprised I have not spoken there before, though this may be because the humanist group is nascent there (not sure). So I am really happy to get the ferry over tomorrow for my talk “God on Trial”. It is a bit of a test for me professionally and personally as I will be seeing how I do in the… Read more

Nature vs Nurture? So What?

November 12, 2018 By Bert Bigelow

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I ignited a pretty good firestorm here with my article on “The Bell Curve,” a book that tries to prove that differences in the IQ of racial groups (Asians, Whites, Blacks) are primarily due to genetic difference in the races. The amount that has been written on this issue is probably a major cause of global warming, since it is responsible for denuding hundreds of square miles of forest to produce the paper to print all those arguments. On one… Read more

Acclaimed scientist and broadcaster Alice Roberts appointed President of Humanists UK

November 11, 2018 By Jonathan MS Pearce

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This is a great appointment by Humanists UK, who have a habit of appointing great communicators to their posts. Alice Roberts (anatomist, osteoarchaeologist, physical anthropologist, palaeopathologist, television presenter and author!) has made some fab documentaries for the BBC, though American readers might not know who she is. Here are a few, the journey out of Africa ones are really good: I haven’t seen this one, but it looks really interesting! A talk on evolution: From Humanists UK: Acclaimed science writer, broadcaster,… Read more