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A great lecture and Q&A my estimable Freethought Blogs colleague Maryam Namazie: . An important excerpt from the Q&A: Look, George Bush says he attacked Iraq for women’s rights and I’m a women’s rights campaigner, but I don’t believe him. It’s possible that a politician will say something, that they’ve done something for a reason and, [...]
Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category
Maryam Namazie Attacks Shari’a And Defends Muslim Immigrants Against The Far Right
November 20th, 2011 
Daniel Fincke 
Posted in Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Feminism, Feminism, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, George W. Bush, George W. Bush, Islam, Islam, Koran, Koran, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues 
No Comments »Matt Stone: “Neoatheists Are Setting Atheism Back A Decade”
November 16th, 2011 Daniel Fincke The usually genius co-creators of South Park Matt Stone and Trey Parker are profiled in a post on Esquire.com and they are harsh on Richard Dawkins and all-soft on religion: As they told In Focus magazine a few years ago, “What we’re sick of — and it’s getting even worse — is you either like Michael Moore or [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion, Religion 27 Comments »Emma Goldman’s “The Victims of Morality”
November 14th, 2011 Daniel Fincke In reply to my dialogue which I posted this morning examining what I perceive to be immoralism’s important contributions to moral thinking and its inevitable limits, a reader sent me to investigate Max Stirner and Emma Goldman. I may have something to say about Stirner in the future if time permits. But for now I [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authority, Authority, Autonomy, Autonomy, Christianity, Christianity, Ethics, Ethics, Feminism, Feminism, Historical Ethics, Historical Ethics, Historical Philosophy, Historical Philosophy, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues 7 Comments »Bullying or Debating? Religious Privilege or Freedom of Speech?
November 13th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Jaime: Did you see the Republicans just endorsed the right to bully in schools as long as it’s done in the name of religion. Kelly: They did not. Jaime: Yes. They did. They perversely added to anti-bullying bill the right to bully as long as such bullying was based on “sincerely held religious or moral convictions.” [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Ethical Pluralism, Ethical Pluralism, Ethics, Ethics, Free Speech, Free Speech, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Law, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, News, News Discussion, News Discussion, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Racism, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Same Sex Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats 
Tags: John Rawls, Libertarianism, Tolerance 33 Comments »A Critique of Noble Lies And The “Theologies” They Create
November 10th, 2011 Daniel Fincke In this long post, I begin by explaining Plato’s formulation of the concept of a noble lie for those unfamiliar with it and then I explain in detail numerous problems I see with employing noble lies and with attempts to persuade people through “theological” arguments. I think all theology is either an explicit or an [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethics, Ethics, Historical Ethics, Historical Ethics, Historical Philosophy, History, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Intellectual Vices, Intellectual Vices, Intellectual Virtues, Intellectual Virtues, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, News Discussion, News Discussion, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats, Virtues, Virtues 34 Comments »How Scalia Judges Based On Faith-Based, Religious Metaphysics
November 6th, 2011 Daniel Fincke The blog Doggy Style quotes Justice Antonin Scalia making a disturbing analysis in 2002: “So it is no accident, I think, that the modern view that the death penalty is immoral has centered in the West. That has little to do with the fact that the West has a Christian tradition and everything to do with the [...]
Posted in Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Christianity, Christianity, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religion, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State 13 Comments »Jon Stewart Considers “In God We Trust” Debate Just A Waste of Time Distraction. Is It?
November 6th, 2011 Daniel Fincke The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook After watching that clip from The Daily Show, I think I can finally crystalize what I hear from the average secular progressive voting in Congress, writing for The Daily Show, or watching at home when a [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Comedy, Comedy, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Cutural Criticism, Cutural Criticism, Law & Politics, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Political Satire, Political Satire, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Pop Culture, Pop Culture, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Satire, Satire, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats 13 Comments »Before I Deconverted: Ministers As Powerful Role Models
October 30th, 2011 Daniel Fincke To commemorate my 12th year anniversary of leaving Christianity, I am finally getting around to chronicling my Christian youth and my deconversion from biographical and philosophical perspectives. In my first post I described being a Christian kid and talked a bit about Christian camp. In this post, I explore the powerful influence upon who I [...]
Before I Deconverted: My Christian Childhood
October 30th, 2011 Daniel Fincke 12 years ago today, on October 30, 1999 as a 21 year old college junior majoring in philosophy and minoring in religion at religiously and politically super-conservative Grove City College, I stopped being a Christian. Below the fold, for those interested in these sorts of narratives, is the first installment of a series of posts [...]
Atheist Fundamentalism?
October 28th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Kelly: You are an atheist fundamentalist, Jaime. Jaime: That’s impossible, there can be no such thing. Atheism itself is just “a lack of belief”. There is no holy book or other source of “fundamental” positions any atheist must hold. Not every atheist even needs to be an atheist in the same way. Some can only [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Creationism, Creationism, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Intelligent Design, Intelligent Design, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Rationalism, Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates 38 Comments »Dawkins: “Somebody As Intelligent As Jesus Would Have Been An Atheist”
October 25th, 2011 Daniel Fincke “To the extent that a religious person believes an obvious falsehood like the world is only 6,000 years old, I’m going to have an argument with them,” Dawkins explained. “Your tea-drinking vicar who doesn’t believe that… I mean, of course those people are very different and I would have a very different kind of argument [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheist Videos, Atheist Videos, Jesus, Jesus, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion, Religion Tags: Richard Dawkins 17 Comments »A Debate About The Wisdom of Trying To Deconvert People
October 20th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Jaime: So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how best to debate the existence of God with religious believers… Kelly: Why would you do that? Jaime: Do what? Kelly: Debate the existence of God with religious believers. What’s the point in that? Jaime: What do you mean, “what’s the point?” We live in the [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Arguments Against The Existence of God, Arguments Against The Existence of God, Arguments for the Existence of God, Arguments for the Existence of God, Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authority, Authority, Autonomy, Autonomy, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Intellectual Vices, Intellectual Vices, Intellectual Virtues, Intellectual Virtues, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy Of Religion, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Benedict XVI, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism Tags: Debate With Believers, Deconverting, Why Debate Believers? 14 Comments »My Fundamentalist Preacher Brother, His Kids, And Me (And “What To Do About One’s Religiously Raised Nieces and Nephews”)
October 16th, 2011 Daniel Fincke This post wound up being really two-in-one. My personal story and details of my family’s story with religion make up the first half. If you are not that interested in me and my relationship with my brother, but rather only interested in the second half’s advice for what to say or not say to your [...]
Be Unapologetic, Rigorous, Patient, And Gracious With Religious Believers (Tip 9 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 9th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers: 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. 4. Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs. 5. Help Break The Spell Of Religious Reverence. 6. Don’t Demonize Religious [...]
Both Refute The Best Counter-Arguments YOU Can Think Up And Create Gestalt Shifts (Tip 8 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 9th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. 4. Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs. 5. Help Break The Spell Of Religious Reverence. 6. Don’t Demonize Religious [...]
Take Philosophy Seriously (Tip 7 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 8th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. 4. Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs. 5. Help Break The Spell Of Religious Reverence. 6. Don’t Demonize Religious [...]
Don’t Demonize Religious People’s Motives, Focus On Their Objective Harms (Tip 6 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 7th, 2011 Daniel Fincke 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. 4. Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs. 5. Help Break The Spell Of Religious Reverence. 6. Don’t Demonize Religious People’s Motives, Focus On Their Objective Harms Sometimes religion [...]
Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs (Tip 4 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious People)
October 6th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. 4. Clarify What Kinds of Evidence Warrant What Kinds of Beliefs. Many theists love to argue for the necessity of a generic “source [...]
Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe” (Tip 3 of 10 For Reaching Out To Christians)
October 5th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. 3. Don’t Tell Religious Believers What They “Really Believe”. All beliefs imply other beliefs. Some things religious believers happily assert as true have possible implications which are dark, disturbing, foolish, and/or in [...]
Make Believers Stay On Topic During Debates (Tip 2 of 10 for Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 5th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Top Ten Tips For Reaching Out To Religious Believers: 1. Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid. 2. Make Believers Stay on Topic During Debates. Religious believers debating atheists often have a machine gun style of shooting arguments our way. “How could everything just come from nothing? You really think this is all there is? How can [...]
Don’t Call Religious Believers Stupid (Tip 1 of 10 For Reaching Out To Religious Believers)
October 5th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Back in February, I wrote my Top 10 Tips For Reaching Out To Atheists, designed to help Christians (and other religious people) engage atheists in ways that are respectful to them and honest with them and with themselves, and therefore hopefully fruitful for both sides. In a series of posts (fully listed at the end [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Christianity, Christianity, Faith, Faith, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion, Religion 45 Comments »How Evangelicals Can Be Very Hurtful Without Being Very Hateful
October 2nd, 2011 Daniel Fincke The weekend after George W. Bush’s reelection, I attended a MoveOn.org get together at my friends’ house. The idea of the event was that people would volunteer their homes to host nationally coordinated local strategy discussions. So, it was me, my two friends, and a whole bunch of hard-left Upper West Side Manhattanites all of [...]
Which Should You Trust—The Jigsaw Pieces or the Picture on the Box?
October 1st, 2011 Daniel Fincke Two cute bunny toys try to solve a jigsaw puzzle in this parable about how believing in evidence differs from believing in authorities. (many thanks to Vanessa, a most loyal Camels With Hammers reader, for the tip) Your Thoughts?
Can You Respect A Creationist?
September 29th, 2011 Daniel Fincke The ever-wise Richard Wade responds to a letter from an atheist who is struggling with how to continue to respect someone who he likes a lot and shares a lot of interests with but who has recently been revealed as a creationist. Richard replies:
“The Virgin Daughters”: A Documentary on Purity Balls
September 28th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Emotionally and mentally warping. Domineering. Brainwashing. Unbelievably creepy. Immoral. Click through video for the final three parts of the documentary, they are not just redundant of the material in the first part. via Musical Atheist commenting at Butterflies and Wheels. Ophelia also points us to more pictures and commentary on Purity Balls from Libby Anne. [...]
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