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Earlier today, I argued that atheists can vigorously and outspokenly oppose bad faith-based ideas, values, and behaviors, but still love other aspects of the religiosity of their religious friends (and of religious people in general). I argued that religion can be as central to personal identity formation as sexuality is and that to indiscriminately hate [...]
Archive for the ‘Religious Moderates’ Category
What Can An Atheist Love In People's Religiosity?
February 15th, 2011 
Daniel Fincke 
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethical Pluralism, Ethical Pluralism, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, Love, Love, Moral Psychology, Moral Psychology, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Prejudice, Religion, Religion, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Secularism, Virtues, Virtues 
14 Comments »Islamic Apologist, Shabir Ally, Argues Quran And Evolution Are Consistent
February 12th, 2011 Daniel Fincke Of course I disagree, but I’m sure glad he thinks so and hope more Muslims do too. Your Thoughts?
On Defending True Spirituality And Taking The Word Back From Spiritually Bankrupt Fundamentalism
January 6th, 2011 Daniel Fincke So Chris Mooney’s article in Playboy about the spirituality of scientists has sparked some interesting debate in the atheist blogosphere. His new post on the subject explicitly interprets his aims and themes in the piece as essentially saying what I interpreted them to be—to defend the idea that you can have completely sufficient spirituality without [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Rationalism, Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Secularism, Spinoza, Spinoza 
Tags: Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jerry Coyne 9 Comments »Scientists’ Spiritualities As Alternative Models Of Religiosity
January 5th, 2011 Daniel Fincke In my last post, I made clear that I am by no means an “accommodationist” who wants to let religious claims to hegemony over ethics, metaphysics, or epistemology go unchallenged as part of a deal whereby it agrees to either cooperate with or, minimally, not interfere with science education and science-based public policy. In a [...]
Posted in Astronomy, Astronomy, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Biology, Biology, Cosmology, Cosmology, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Featured, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Science, Science, Secularism Tags: Accomodationism, Adam Frank, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Chris Mooney, E. O. Wilson, Elaine Howard Ecklund, James Moore, Peter Doherty, Rudolf Otto, The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate, The Origin of Species, The Voyage of the Beagle 4 Comments »How Belief In “Theistic Evolution” Is Nearly As Much A Denial Of Science As Creationism
December 24th, 2010 Daniel Fincke One often hears the refrain that it’s possible to believe in both God and evolution. And it is in fact true, both psychologically and, more importantly, logically, that one may both believe in God and in evolution. Psychologically we have ample evidence that plenty of people believe in both and logically it is clear that [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Biology, Biology, Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens, Cosmology, Cosmology, Creationism, Creationism, Divine Intervention, Divine Intervention, Evolution, Evolution, Featured, God, God, Intelligent Design, Intelligent Design, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Science, Secularism 12 Comments »Islam And Gays
October 11th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Some perspectives, none good: If you can find some pro-gay statements from Muslims, I’d be delighted to run them. Your Thoughts?
Posted in Fundamentalism, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Islam, LGBTQAA, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates Tags: Dawah, Khalid Yaseen No Comments »True Religion?
August 17th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Many a religious person defending her own religious beliefs will argue that a given politically, morally, or intellectually unflattering interpretation of her faith is simply not a true representation of her faith. While the question of who has the right or the adequate means to decisively determine with any rational clarity which competing interpretation of any [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Bible, Bible, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Featured, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, History, Judaism, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Science, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Pseudoscience, Rationalism, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Science, Science, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats Tags: Literalism, Philosophy of Science, Primitivism, Ronald Dworkin 12 Comments »Towards Atheistic Religions (Or Away From Them, Depending On How You Define “Religions”)
July 13th, 2010 Daniel Fincke In a rare occurrence, I am being taken to task for giving religion too much credit and atheists too little! Here are the offending paragraphs I wrote on Friday: I would say that various practices called religious, if stripped of all their dogmatism, traditionalism, literalism, and authoritarianism, can and do certainly coexist with and complement science [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Authority, Authority, Christianity, Christianity, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethics, Ethics, Featured, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Religion, Religion and Science, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism No Comments »Penn Jillette Again On The Difference Between Muslims And Christians In Taking Criticism
June 29th, 2010 Daniel Fincke I already highlighted Penn Jillette’s Vanity Fair interview in which he praised Christians for being better at taking criticism than Muslims, but this quote from his new Las Vegas Weekly interview, which I found via Boing Boing and Reddit, conveys his feelings as much as his thoughts, and those feelings are both depressing on the one [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheism, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Free Speech, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Islam, Islam, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State Tags: Bullshit, Las Vegas Weekly, Penn and Teller, Penn and Teller's Bullshit, Penn Jillette, Scientology 2 Comments »Contortions Of Catholic Philosophy: Eve Tushnet Argues Gay Sex Is Not OK But Sex Changes Are
June 28th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Tushnet’s moral choice for herself and for other gays is celibacy or gender reassignment. Of course for some people, specifically some of the transgendered, a sex change is entirely appropriate and preferable to gay sex because from a gender(rather than a sex) perspective, those who are pre-op transgendered and are attracted to members of their [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Bio-Medical Ethics, Bio-Medical Ethics, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Ethics, Featured, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Intellectual Vices, Intellectual Vices, LGBTQAA, Morality, Morality, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychology, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Sex, Teleology, Teleology 3 Comments »Bruce Bawer: Multiculturalism, Freedom of Speech and Appeasing Islam
June 20th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Bruce Bawer is a gay liberal and the author of Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom and While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within. And below is a powerful speech. If you don’t have time for the whole thing, at least make time for the first part: The description of the video [...]
The Rise Of Islamo-Erotica
June 15th, 2010 Daniel Fincke (Image: “God Is Great” by Makan Emadi) Betwa Shermer has a really interesting piece about Muslim artists in America who incorporate nudes into their art. Defenses of nudity in art as permissible by Islamic standards: The Lebanese-born artist, who now lives in New York, insists that the taboo stems from a conservative society and not [...]
Posted in Arts, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Islam, Koran, Photography, Religion, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Religious Secularism, Separation of Church and State Tags: "God Is Great" by Makan Emadi, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Betwa Shermer, Columbia University, Erotica, Harper College, Iranians in America, Islamic Art, Islamo-Erotica, Khalid Al Tahmazi, Makam Emadi, Makan Emdai, Marilyn Monroe, Nada Shabout, Normandie's Hejab, Nudes, Paintings, University of North Texas, Zainab Bahrani No Comments »Confronting Conservative Christians With The Consequences Of Their Homophobia
June 15th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Last month there was a day of silence in schools to promote awareness of schools about the dangers gay students experience. In solidarity with their gay peers who are frequently bullied into silence, students were encouraged (by outside activist groups, not by schools themselves) to voluntarily refrain from speaking in school all day. Unsurprisingly, for [...]
Posted in Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Featured, Homophobia, Homosexuality, LGBTQAA, Political Secularism, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Secularism, Separation of Church and State Tags: "Hate The Sin, Bob Dutko, Bullying Of Gay Students, Love The Sinner", Religious Radio Talk Show Hosts, Talk Radio, Teege 17 Comments »Thank God For The New Atheists?
June 8th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Reverend Michael Dowd, author of Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World thinks that the New Atheists are really the new prophets. The Infidel Guy Show interviewed him a couple weeks ago for an hour. In the audio, he argues that God is not [...]
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Don’t Blame Islamic Terrorism on Economic Woes
June 7th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Here is the complete talk from which that clip derives: Ayaan’s books are Infidel, The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam, and, her newest, Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations. Your Thoughts?
Posted in Islam, Politics, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates Tags: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Radical Islam No Comments »Angry Atheist Debate About A Mosque Near Ground Zero
June 7th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Saturday I put together a large post highlighting a spectrum of thoughtful and/or provocative opinions on the recently approved plan to build a mosque a couple of blocks away from the former site of the World Trade Center in New York. That day, for the sake of balance, I wanted to find someone who could [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheist Videos, Atheistic Ethics, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Islam, Law, Law & Politics, New Atheism, News Discussion, Pat Condell, Politics, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Videos, World Affairs Tags: 9/11, Ground Zero, Islamophobia, The Amazing Atheist, World Trade Center 4 Comments »Muhammad’s Worst Enemy
May 26th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Below is an intense and stark video from the usually much more sardonically off the wall DarkMatter2525, as his contribution to last week’s “Everybody Draw Muhammad” protest: Your Thoughts?
Posted in Arts, Atheist Videos, Islam, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism, Videos, World Affairs Tags: "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day", 9/11, DarkMatter2525, Drawing, Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, Mohammed, Muhammad, Muse, Muse (the band), Osama bin Laden, Religious Death Threats, Terrorism No Comments »52% Of Americans Now Judge Gay Relationships Morally Acceptable
May 25th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Not that moral correctness requires popular approval, but moral admirableness of the populace does require morally correct opinions, and so this is a heartening development which sees America finally starting to get it right, with its first ever clear majority (52%) judging gay relationships “morally acceptable”: Andrew Sullivan analyzes the data: A large part of [...]
Posted in Applied Ethics, Ethics, Homosexuality, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, Morality, Philosophical Ethics, Pope Benedict XVI, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Roman Catholic Church Tags: American views on gay relationships, Ethics of Homosexuality, Morality of Homosexuality No Comments »Women’s Ordination: Another Route To Automatic Excommunication
May 21st, 2010 Daniel Fincke Not only does approving an abortion necessary to save a woman’s life in a case where her fetus would die in either case get you automatically excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, but so does seeking ordination while being female. Lifelong Catholic Janine Denomme this week was denied a Roman Catholic burial for having the [...]
Freethinking Islamic Scholars
May 15th, 2010 Daniel Fincke Amira Nowaira laments that well over a thousand years ago, Islamic scholarship had more room for rationalists than it seems to have today: Although many of those thinkers, according to Badawi, did not attempt to disprove the existence of God, they lashed out against the notion of prophethood and argued against the privileged position occupied [...]
Bill Maher Defends Contemporary Western Religion?
May 2nd, 2010 Daniel Fincke Compared to the alternative… Some thoughts of my own on the pros and cons of religious moderates. Your Thoughts?
A Challenge To Christians To Unqualifiedly Condemn Genocide
November 10th, 2009 Daniel Fincke Christians who defend the Old Testament genocides are guilty of either relativistic authoritarianism (anything can be okay as long as God wills it and His will has simply changed from the Old Testament days to the New Testament one) or, possibly worse, theoretical agreement with all the normal justifications of genocide as long as God [...]
Posted in Atheism, Atheist Videos, Atheistic Ethics, Authority, Bible, Christianity, Ethics, Fundamentalism, God, Hypocrisy, Moral Psychology, Morality, New Atheism, Philosophy, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Secularism Tags: Biblical Atrocities, Biblical Genocide, Biblical Violence, genocide, Religious Authoritarianism, Religious Relativism, Religious Violence, ZJemptv 10 Comments »The Belief In God Doesn’t Cause Violence, Only Particular Beliefs About God Do
November 10th, 2009 Daniel Fincke In discussing the response to Nidal Malik Hasan, Alonzo Fyfe draws the distinctions just right when he accuses atheists who leap from the act of one kind of theist to associate theism in general with violence as an instance of “The Bigot’s Fallacy”: Many of the people who embrace the Bigot’s Fallacy in this case [...]
Bishop Spong Releases Manifesto Resolving Not To Legitimize Homophobia By Debating It
October 22nd, 2009 Daniel Fincke Bishop John Shelby Spong holds nothing back in criticizing Christianity’s awful legacy on the treatment of minorities, women, gays, and “heretics”: I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians [...]
Posted in Homophobia, Religion, Religious Moderates, Religious Secularism Tags: Bishop John Shelby Spong No Comments »Gay Marriage = Religious Freedom
October 18th, 2009 Daniel Fincke Another great video from before the inception of Camels With Hammers worth catching up on in case you missed it. This one is from robtish, who has other terrific videos on his youtube channel. It’s not just a cheerleading or general argument video but an in-depth information video with a bunch of important facts refuting some [...]
Posted in Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, News Discussion, Politics, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Religious Secularism, Same Sex Marriage, Separation of Church and State, Theocracy, Theocrats, Videos Tags: Adoption Services, Catholic Charities, Proposition 8, Robtish No Comments »
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