I asked and received permission to share the following story. I was told that was fine, so long as I withheld the student’s last name, which I am glad to oblige… Dear fellow atheists, I’ve been having an ongoing issue in my Critical Thinking class that I’m taking this semester at college; it’s a private …
Category Archive: critical thinking
Mar 01 2011
“Atheism is a religion too!”
Doubtless you’ve heard this little nugget of inanity from more than one indignant apologist, and it’s usually the sort of thing they resort to when everything else they’ve thrown your way has been flattened. The glib response is usually something along the lines of, “Yeah, like baldness is a hair color!” Then this is followed …
Jan 06 2010
Video games were invented by THE DEVIL!!
Oh look, this is original! Some crazy lady blogging for the Orange County Register, who aptly calls herself “Frumpy Middle-Aged Mom,” thinks that video games are horrible influences on her kids! And she blames Grand Theft Auto for the misgivings that negligent parents had after they allowed their underage kids to play it! (Props to …
May 22 2009
“Stop bashing my religion”
Fairly often, we get e-mails complaining about how we are only out to bash Christianity and will we please just stop. Usually, the author will have a glowing impression of their religion and its impact on the world and we are just misinformed. We do beat up on Christianity. I know I do. I think …
Apr 28 2009
How to Stack a Deck
Last night I watched three episodes of a program called “Paranormal State.” It is billed as “true stories of a team of paranormal researches from the Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society.” One episode was of the variety I find most disturbing. It involved a young autistic boy. I won’t examine that particular episode, but …
Mar 27 2009
When Does Ignorance Become an “Answer”?
As you likely know, Texas recently has become the new Kansas as unabashed YEC and school board member Don McElroy pushes for new education standards in Texas science classrooms. The Austin American-Statesman editorial section has become a really interesting read for any interested atheist. An idea was expressed this morning in the letters to the …
Oct 26 2008
“Anything is Possible”
The last time I was on AE, a woman used this line. I asked her if she understood that what is possible has no bearing on what is real. A friend of mine indicated he would have rather asked the woman if it’s possible she is wrong. I liked his reply better, because it creates …
Sep 28 2008
Show #572: A Missed Opportunity
What does it mean to say “God Exists”? That was what I examined Sunday afternoon on The Atheist Experience. The statement is brief–only two words. It should be simple, but for some reason, it’s always disproportionately hard. What is god? Every theist seems to know. Yet no two theists seem to agree. And no one …
Sep 23 2008
Ebert comes clean
And gives those of us who get a little smug about our critical thinking a refresher on the importance of critical thinking. Go read. And he thanked me by name! You now get to ridicule me mercilessly for going into fanboy squee mode. To be fair, PZ does have some valid criticisms.
Sep 03 2008
Batman Begins, Gotham and Gomorrah: (Shows #556 & 562)
I have gotten repeated requests to provide some sort of summary on this two-part program. I’ve been slow to provide it, because, frankly, it’s a lot of material. But here goes: This show was billed as “How Batman Begins is based on the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.” However, it is fairer to say …
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