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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 107 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 9938029 |
| Visitors Out: 4286 |
| Total Visitors Out: 29729 |
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| Voices of Disbelief (the book) |
| 2008-11-30 11:44:37 |
Voices of Disbelief will likely be available around August of 2009. The contributors are as follows:1. Peter Adegoke2. Athena Andreadis3. Julian Baggini4. Gregory Benford5. Ophelia Benson6. Russell Blackford7. Susan Blackmore8. Damien Broderick9. Lori Lipman Brown10. Sean M. Carroll11. Thomas W. Clark12. Austi...
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| Christians in Texas Command Hurricane Ike to Stop |
| 2008-09-11 19:41:30 |
A group of Christians from Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, has decided to call upon the Almighty to stop the advancement of Hurricane Ike into Houston. By beseeching the assistance of Jesus, the alleged son of God, they have "power and authority to affect the weather," says one churchgoer upon questioning. When asked how it came to be known that they possessed this extraordinary ability, the answer was simple: faith. While it may seem absurd to claim any knowledge of this power since it has not been borne out by evidence of any kind, faith is all the evidence these believers need. Rev. Caldwell, pastor of the church, says, "It is definitely by faith that we know that we have an impact." Their church recently held a prayer meeting i...
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| Evolutionary Psychology and Political Incorrectness |
| 2008-09-03 14:54:09 |
I found this gem of an article while perusing Psychology Today, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite magazines. I won't reprint the entire thing here, since it is long, but here's the link. Quote:Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature Why most suicide bombers are Muslim, beautiful people have more daughters, humans are naturally polygamous, sexual harassment isn't sexist, and blonds are more attractive.Alan S. Miller Ph.D., Satoshi Kanazawa Ph.D. Quote:The implications of some of the ideas in this article may seem immoral, contrary to our ideals, or offensive. We state them because they are true, supported by documented scientific evidence. Like it or not, human nature is simply not politically correct. Glory hallelujah! Finally, somebody is willing to tell tr...
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| Sapient and Explorologist reach a settlement agreement |
| 2008-08-04 13:31:31 |
Sapient and Explorologist Settle Lawsuit Explorologist Ltd. and an online critic have settled their legal battle over a YouTube video challenging Uri Geller's claims about his mental powers. EFF and Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, LLP, represent Brian Sapient, who uploaded an excerpt from a documentary that critiqued Geller's performances and abilities to YouTube. Explorologist claimed the clip infringed its copyrights. More information about the case is available here. Here is a previous post from Sapient on the court case. The agreement should allow the healthy debate about the existence of 'supernatural powers' to continue without interference. As part of the legal settlement, Explorologist has agreed to license the disputed footage under a non-commercial Creative Commons ...
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| Atheist Nexus Controversy? |
| 2008-08-03 03:00:50 |
I recently read a few blog posts regarding Atheist Nexus, a social site on the Ning platform for atheists. Apparently, not everybody agrees with some of the decisions made by the operators of this group. Sound familiar? It's nice to know that some people have their noses up everybody's asses and not just ours...but I digress. We set up a group there months ago which hasn't been utilized since the main site serves a similar function, but if you are into that format, please feel free to register at rationalresponders.ning.com. If there proves to be enough interest, we would be willing to spend the money necessary to improve the format over there. If you have already registered at Atheist Nexus, you can use the same login info.,Kelly ...
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| No More Abortions in South Dakota? |
| 2008-07-22 16:16:12 |
Hehe...this article from Slate.com encapsulated the insanity that has forever gripped the anti-abortion movement. The double-speak required to pass this recent bit of legislation is beyond Orwellian. According to this recent mandate, abortion "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." Huh? Can you run that by me one more time? An implanted embryo is whole, separate, and unique? Then why does a mere separation of the placenta from the uterine wall inevitably result in death? Whether it happens via mechanical methods or spontaneously, it seems to be a near certainty that until the point of viability, which is somewhere between 20 and 28 weeks, detaching this supposedly whole and separate human being will result in its demise.I agree with the author ...
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| Atheism and Autism--Are They Correlated? |
| 2008-07-21 16:23:06 |
This month's issue of Psychology Today has an interesting piece that reminded me of everybody's dear friend, Vox Day. He asserts in his blog and his book on many occasions that atheists are more likely to suffer from what he terms "social autism"--disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome or mild forms of autism. He bases this on informal internet surveys that questioned people on their personality traits. But is the correlation really there, or is this just another attempt to disparage atheists?
"It's All Geek to Me" by Benjamin Nugent discusses the difference between the systematizing brains of so-called "nerds" and the empathic brains of the more socially inclined. Although nerds, the "intellectually gifted but socially awkward" (p.39), do share some traits of those with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorders) but not to a severe enough degree to be classified as a pathology. In fact, the behavior can be brought on solely by parenting style accor...
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| Serotonin linked to religiosity |
| 2008-07-16 16:51:12 |
In a recent study, researchers have found that people with higher concentrations of serotonin receptors were more likely to be religious or the nebulous "spiritual." This is interesting because it would explain the connection between transcendent experiences and the use of psychotropic drugs and also the inverse correlation between religiosity and depression. Check it out for yourself:Quote:Of Serotonin and Spirituality Scientists see a biological underpinning for religiosity, and it is related to the neurotransmitter serotonin. By: PT StaffSerotonin, the brain chemical crucial to mood and motivation, also shapes personality to make you susceptible to spiritual experiences. A team of Swedish researchers has found that the presence of a receptor that...
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| Wanna See Me Naked? |
| 2008-07-10 12:19:21 |
Well, kind of. In animated form. The SheVibe poster is finished. I guess now I'm an atheist super-hero or something. Like Wonder Woman. Except less clothing. Hmmmm....*having thoughts about what kind of weapon I would have. Like a Reason Ray or something that would suddenly make people logical*Anyway, I anticipate the usual reaction from the prudes and sexually repressed people. May I say in advance that not only do I not care what you think, I find both the "You're hurting women everywhere" and the "Truly rational people would never submit to a base desire such as...sex" complaints equally ludicrous, and I'll only laugh at you, so save your time and the bandwidth needed to tell me what a horrible person I am. After all, I am the Official Spokesperson of Atheists Everyw...
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