Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Here’s Hemant Mehta, the “Friendly Atheist,” not being very friendly towards accommodationists in his new video, “Can science and religion coexist?” He gives a firm “no”, and I have to hand it to him: he doesn’t pull any punches. Now if you’ve read Faith Versus Fact (and if you haven’t, why not?), you won’t find … Continue reading The Friendly Atheist discusses the incompatibility of science and religion
Reader David Milne, chair of the Greater Manchester Humanists, got the letter below from the “Engagement Manager” of the University of Manchester’s Museum (I use David’s name and position with permission). It announces the creation of a “multifaith space” at the Manchester (University) Museum. Read it and see if there’s any justification for this project. … Continue reading Manchester Museum to add “multifaith” space (presumably largely for Muslims)
According to a survey just published in Public Understanding of Science, acceptance of evolution is increasing in the United States. Click on the screenshot below to read the article (it’s free), or access the pdf here. The survey continued data collected over 35 years, but a lot of the methodology is described in the Supplemental … Continue reading Public acceptance of evolution grows in the U.S.
The article below appears in the liberal magazine American Purpose, and is written by a liberal author (Jonathan Rauch, who is also gay). It deals with a question that many of us have: how can we support transsexuals without having to buy into some of the claims we consider excessive (those involving sports, the claim … Continue reading How to be a good liberal but oppose the excesses of transsexual activism
You already know the answer. But let me blather a bit. I don’t read Patheos much, but an alert reader told me about an article at it’s sub-site Public Theology—a name that would normally make me click away immediately. I’ve read enough theology in my life that my craw is full of it, and I … Continue reading Does science need religion because only faith gives us “meaning and purpose”?
Reader Michael called my attention to a comic-book presentation of accommodationism at the website Nautilus, a site founded and apparently still funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Click on the screenshot if you want to see this heavy-handed presentation: The comic highlights a new venture, Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum (SRES), which is sponsored by the Templeton … Continue reading Templeton-sponsored accommodationist cartoon in Nautilus
Since Yahoo! News reprinted my essay from The Conversation arguing that science and religion are incompatible, I’ve been getting lots of emails, nearly all from people who disagree with me. The accommodationists are, of course, religionists, and don’t like to hear that their faith puts them at odds with science. Many of them, like the … Continue reading Another critic writes in touting the scientific rationality of Islam and decrying the moral failures of atheism
Here we have another science-versus-religion piece—this time by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation—whose take-home message is that there’s no conflict: the two are compatible. Similar to the the last accommodationist piece I discussed, from the Voice of America, it uses me as the starting gate to trot out two scientists who assert that science and religion … Continue reading From Australia: People who choose God over reality
I was a bit queasy when I woke up this morning to see the announcement below. It’s not that I don’t like Jane Goodall, for who doesn’t? She’s a respected primatologist, spent years finding out new stuff about chimps, and is also a conservationist and prolific publicizer of science, as well as founder of her … Continue reading Jane Goodall nabs the Templeton Prize
Several readers sent me a link to this post by Patrick Casey on the Heterodox Academy blogs because I’m mentioned in it (and in good company too!). It’s an example of what historians of religion (who are often religious) write about all the time. Casey, like other accommodationists, most notably Ronald Numbers, maintains that: 1.) … Continue reading What did the Galileo affair say about science vs. religion?
