Interview: Leo Igwe
The award-winning human rights activist Leo Igwe exposes how witchcraft accusations are used to prey upon societies most vulnerable, often with tragic consequences. He recounts how the study of philosophy emboldened him to speak out against the dangers of superstitious and magical thinking in his home country of Nigeria and some of the challenges of promoting critical thinking and humanism in Africa.
Links:
Articles by Leo Igwe
Foundation Beyond Belief – Pathfinders Project
Listen to this segment, Listen to the entire episode or subscribe to reasonable doubts for free.
God Thinks Like You: The Evil Eye, God & Moral Typecasting
Witch-hunts often begin because of the natural envy felt by members of small communities towards their more successful peers. A related superstition, fear of “the evil eye”, is common in a variety of cultures and might play a role in managing envy among close neighbors. Moral typecasting theory might help explain why the human mind is so prone to seeing supernatural agency both tragic and uplifting events that have strong moral importance.
Links:
Blaming God for Our Pain by Gray and Wegner (2009)
Warding Off the Evil Eye by Van de Ven, Zeelenberg and Pieters
Listen to this segment, Listen to the entire episode or or subscribe to reasonable doubts for free.
Counter-Apologetics: The Fallacy of Understated Evidence
Some of the best arguments for theism begin with general facts of the world that seem more likely if a god were to exist, but as Paul Draper argues, further examination of specific facts complicates the picture, making theism seem less likely. Justin Schieber argues that the fine tuning of the universe and the existence of biological beings capable of agency, are two such facts that on the surface seem more probable on theism, until one digs deeper.
Listen to this segment, Listen to the entire episode or subscribe to reasonable doubts for free.
Religion in the Headlines:
A Catholic Archdiocese objects to the “Ice Bucket Challenge”
Orthodox beliefs complicate organ donation in Israel
Openly religions & non-religious job candidates receive fewer calls.
Battle over whether guru is dead or just meditating
We are proud to offer Reasonable Doubts without advertisements and free of charge. We rely on your generosity. If you enjoyed this episode please consider donating to Reasonable Doubts to help us cover our costs.
Or subscribe and listen in iTunes or any podcast client:
