Burnee links for Thursday

Spirituality: It’s only human! - On Faith - The Washington Post
An older post from Paula Kirby's On Faith column. She's not saying anything new to me, but it nevertheless needs saying, again and again. Maybe, just maybe it will eventually sink in to the religionists that they have no proprietorial exclusivity on morality.

Guerilla Skepticism and Wikipedia
I've often fancied having a go at editing Wikipedia, but I'm aware what a time-sink that endeavour can be. Susan Gerbic has some suggestions for where to start, and why (with a specific — laudable — goal in mind).

Forget What Did: Everything in the garden is rosy.
A cheerful disposition is such a valuable thing to possess...

Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Time | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine
Take time to read this list. Some of the items are surprisingly non-intuitive.

Greta Christina's Blog: The Santa Delusion: Why "Religion Is Useful" Is a Terrible Argument For Religion
Don't be like Slartibartfast: "I'd far rather be happy than right any day."

More on objective morality

Here's the latest video from that scourge of theistic obfuscation, NonStampCollector. What's interesting about his approach here (apart from his unusually minimal wielding of the subtle, awesome power of Microsoft Paint) is that in order to make his point he takes on board almost every assumption and presupposition tacitly proposed by William Lane Craig — and still shows why they lack foundation.

http://youtu.be/zXO26pObTZA


The whole question of morality — objective, absolute or otherwise — is now receiving much-needed scrutiny, and the theistic (particularly Christian) proprietorial claims on it are being shown for what they are — unfounded, vacuous and arbitrary.

(Via Fergus Gallagher.)

Irrelevant exegesis

Darrell Bock, the author of Chapter 29 of Dembski & Licona's Evidence for God, entitled "The Son of Man", was recently a guest on Premier Radio's Unbelievable? programme. On that occasion he was opposite Bart Erhman talking about the latter's book Forged, and the conversation was, for me (as far as I recall), a little technical and mostly irrelevant. That should have been fair warning, for in this chapter — scarcely two pages long — Bock searches for Old and New Testament mentions of the phrase "Son of Man" and attempts to interpret their meanings (which incidentally he maintains are different in different contexts).

Here's an example:

One way is to discuss whether the use of the title comes with a clear use of Daniel 7, an indirect use or no use, since this is the only OT passage that is connected to the title specifically in the NT. Most uses of the title do not make an explicit connection to Daniel 7. In fact, the explicit uses that do come appear in two places: (1) the eschatological discourse where Jesus discusses the return of the Son of Man and (2) at Jesus' examination by the Jewish leadership where he speaks of the Son of Man seated at God's right hand coming on the clouds, a remark that combines Daniel 7 and Psalm 110:1. This means that in most uses in the gospels Jesus used the title but did not give a reference to tie it to as an explanation. Both of the explicit uses come late in Jesus' ministry.

To whom is Bock directing this scrutiny of minutiae? In a book purporting to offer arguments and evidence for God, it seems more than a little premature. Shouldn't we establish the provenance of scripture itself before discussing its apparent subtleties?

Bock's final paragraph is this:

So the Son of Man is a title Jesus used to refer to himself and his authority. He revealed its full import toward the end of his ministry. But the title referred to Jesus as the representative of humanity who also engaged in divine activity. It was a way of saying I am the One sent with divine authority to also be the representative of humanity. In this context, all of Jesus' ministry and work, including his suffering on the cross for sin takes place.

To which I reply, "So what?"

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4truth.net:
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbjesus.aspx?pageid=8589952903

QEDcon — Manchester, 10th & 11th March 2012

Last February's Question.Explore.Discover conference in Manchester was a great success, and Northwest Skeptical Events Ltd are doing the whole thing again next March. The list of speakers so far announced looks impressive. No news on a "break-out room" yet.

Tickets went on sale today. I've got mine, and I'm booked in to a nearby Travelodge (I note that the conference hotel — the Ramada Jarvis Piccadilly — has upped its room rates, such that the Travelodge is now more than just marginally cheaper.)

If the last QEDcon is anything to go by, next year's should be a superb event and lots of fun, beginning with the meet and greet, pre-registration session on Friday in the hotel bar.

Euthyphro and 500

As my blogging activity declines (temporarily, I hope) I will now attempt to justify this as deliberate deceleration for the purposes of emphasising a milestone. This is my 500th Evil Burnee post, and to mark it I will do no more than post a recent take on religious morality:

http://youtu.be/pwf6QD-REMY


This is Plato's Euthyphro dilemma, as discussed with Matt Flannagan on the latest Skepticule Extra (number 13, to be posted shortly).

As for my semi-millenial blogposting and whether the number will increase at the same rate, it's not that I haven't anything to write about — over the past couple of weeks I built up a list of things I wanted (and still want) to cover — my problem is finding time to do the actual writing.

Watch this space.

Burnee links for another Sunday

Still busy, still less blogging, still hopeful for more. Some links 4 U:

GCU Dancer on the Midway - Bad arguments about religion: faith and evidence
Paul Wright with various insights (including David Hume's) into how much "faith" is OK.

Muslim Woman Assaults Photographer, Toronto Police Say It's OK
I really hope this is a rare occurrence.

The Flow of Time | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine
I have always thought that our concept of "time" is flawed, or at least overly simplistic. That's why I have problems suspending disbelief when reading time-travel stories.

A very sad story | Pharyngula
PZ inveighs against religious puritanism. Now there's a surprise.

The strength of Dawkins, and the murk of accommodationism | Pharyngula
It's true. Why hide it? PZ (again) stands beside Richard Dawkins to denounce ignorant folly at the top of the Republican Party.

Evolution threatens Christianity - On Faith - The Washington Post
Paula Kirby on why evolution is so damaging to the beliefs of the religious right. Clear and concise prose that ought to be read by all school governors.

The Philosophy of the Mind — Dr. Clio Bellenis

The audio of Dr. Clio's talk two weeks ago at Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub is now available for your listening and enlightening pleasure:

http://www.skepticule.co.uk/2011/08/skeprec-005-20110811.html

This recording is an example of what's kept me busy recently (and reduced my blogging activities). It involved more than one portable recorder and therefore required careful editing. Despite being hi-tech crystal-controlled digital technology these devices rarely stay in synch for more than a few minutes. I must also find a simple and effective way to record contributions from the audience when there isn't a roving mic.

Technical problems aside, it was a fascinating talk with much that was relevant to what we've been talking about in Skepticule Extra (particularly SkepExtra 010 when our guest was Rosemary Lyndall Wemm).

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Photo by Malcolm Stein