Sunday 16 January 2011

Burnee links for Sunday

Science, Reason and Critical Thinking: The Turin Bicycle
Science? Pfft! I still believe it's the original artefact.

Faith and Science « Choice in Dying
Oh my, what a sorry mess of bedraggled shreds is the Biologos "statement of faith" once Eric MacDonald has ripped through it.

God was behind Big Bang, pope says - Technology & science - Science - msnbc.com
God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said Thursday
Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?
"The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day the Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star.

"Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God," he said in a sermon to some 10,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica on the feast day.
Just saying something doesn't make it true. Is unsubstantiated assertion all the religionists have left?

Much-loved millionaire in long-term stable relationship has child: cause for concern says Bishop Nazir-Ali | HumanistLife
The bish claims to be concerned for the child. Whatever you think of this particular family, you have to wonder if he isn't actually more concerned that the child's legal parents are a same-sex couple.

For the love of God – or good – support World Interfaith Harmony Week | Tony Blair and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad | Comment is free | The Guardian
So some 2,000 years or so after a man was nailed to a tree for suggesting people should be nice to each other, Tony Blair says it's time to do just that. But it can't work. People of moderate faith may rally round his initiative, but it's not the moderates who are the problem. Those who take their faith seriously are the ones who stick to rigid dogma — precisely the ones who refuse to budge when their doctrine is found to be incompatible with other faiths.

Is “biblical Christianity” the only rational worldview? (And is atheism wicked?)
In the past I've railed in exasperation at some of the postings of Randal Rauser (The Tentative Apologist), but I must give him credit for his stand against a set of intransigent Christians at a site called Triablogue. (The link goes to the first of a series of posts about his encounter.)

The dangerous fight for the 'child witches' of Nigeria | Science | guardian.co.uk
Leo Igwe of the International Humanist and Ethical Union was arrested, beaten and imprisoned after rescuing one of these 'child witches', and his report is here:
My Arrest in Uyo - Butterflies and Wheels

Up Close and Personal « Choice in Dying
Here is the truth.

Confessions of a Catholic Atheist: The Antitheist
A demonstration of how one can clarify one's thoughts simply by explaining them.