Tuesday 3 November 2009

Burnee links for Tuesday

Keep the home fires burning...Review: Unscientific America : The Uncredible Hallq
If you thought the reviews so far were bad....

Letters to the Earth — The First Question
Why is there something rather than nothing?

Can We Talk About Religion, Please? - The Moral of the Story Blog - NYTimes.com
Yes we can, but it's still likely to raise disproportionate ire among religionists who think they have immunity from criticism.

'Give us your misogynists and bigots' by Richard Dawkins - The Washington Post - RichardDawkins.net
Linked from RD.net rather than the Washington post, to give the piece some context.

U.S. resists anti-defamation resolution - World Faith- msnbc.com
At last the US speaks out against the OIC's insidious UN resolution.
(Via Pharyngula)

Science and free speech go hand-in-hand — British Humanist Association
How inconvenient and irresponsible of Professor David Nutt to point out that scientific evidence isn't something that is subject to a vote.

The internet has done for Scientology. Could it rumble the Christians, too? | Marina Hyde | Comment is free | The Guardian
We can only hope....

Decomposing Humanism: Why Replace Religion? | Religion & Theology | ReligionDispatches
Austin Dacey makes the point that it's not necessary for Humanism (with a capital H) to replace religion.

Guest Voices: The secularist case against "Atheism 3.0" - On Faith at washingtonpost.com
Here's Austin Dacey again, hoping (probably in vain) that we can focus less on the "atheism vs religion" arguments and more on things that really matter. (Plus there's a book to promote.)

Are the "New Atheists" As Bad as Christian Fundamentalists? | Belief | AlterNet
Frank Schaeffer delivers a diatribe against Dawkins and Hitchens (but Dennet is a nice chap, apparently). But wait! Didn't he forget Harris?

Ray Comfort Replies to Eugenie Scott : Pharyngula
So that misguided people don't simply shut their ears to reasoned criticism one should give them the benefit of the doubt. Some people, however, are willfully, obstinately ignorant and deserve to be ridiculed without mercy.