Sociology professor Phil Zuckerman has written an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times arguing that children raised in non-religious families are just as moral as their religious counterparts – and perhaps more so. Now, I would certainly agree that many parents without religious beliefs do an excellent job of raising their children. But I have to say that Professor Zuckerman’s attempt to prove that a religious upbringing doesn’t make children any more moral than a secular upbringing is riddled with flawed statistical reasoning. Zuckerman cites the work of Vern Bengston, a USC sociology professor who for the past 45 years has supervised the Longitudinal Study of Generations, the largest multi-generational study of religion and family life ever conducted in the Read More ›

Here. HT: BA77

Here’s a thought experiment for our materialist friends. Suppose you have a table, and on that table you place three cylinders, one each of oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Beside these cylinders you place a lump of carbon, a lump of calcium, and a jar of phosphorus. These chemicals make up over 98% of the human body by mass. Suppose further that you place on the table containers of each of the trace chemicals found in the human body so that at the end you have on your table all of the chemicals found in the human body in the same amount by mass and in the same proportion as those chemicals occur in the human body. Now ask yourself some Read More ›

According to Wikipedia “Scientism” is belief in the universal applicability of the scientific method and approach, and the view that empirical science constitutes the most authoritative worldview or most valuable part of human learning to the exclusion of other viewpoints. In other words, science has all of the answers, or at least all of the answers worth having. Let’s put this to a test: Consider the minimum wage. There is almost universal agreement among “scientists” (i.e., economists) that minimum wage laws price lower end workers out of the job market and lead to higher unemployment in that group. But minimum wage laws are not all bad news. There are certain “goods” at stake as well, which must be evaluated in Read More ›

Over at Vox they are covering a story about a tenured mediocrity at Berkeley named M. Steven Fish.  File this one under “some things are just so stupid, it takes a lot of education to believe them.”  Fish’s thesis is that contrary to conventional wisdom, Muslim’s are less violent than other religious adherents.  *Sigh* At The Federalist David Harsanyi demolishes Fish’s thesis with a smattering of common sense.  The last paragraph caught my eye especially: But if you truly believe all the world’s great religions are equally violent (“intrinsically” speaking) there is social experiment one could undertake to find out. A Vox reporter could walk around Washington DC or Dallas or Atlanta holding a sign that says “Jesus is a myth” Read More ›

Sometimes, we see a classic comment by objectors that reveals much about what we face. Accordingly, it is appropriate to headline the remark and a response (which I will use original post powers to augment slightly): Here is AS: Rebuttals of what? The simple fact is that religious dogmas are made up. They have no existence in reality beyond human imagination. The boot is one the other foot. If you have evidence of the objective reality of some religious concept, then, bring it on. Here is my response: _______________ >> AS: I saw Timaeus commenting [–> cf. here, especially], who is always worth a read. In your exchange with him you tossed this atheistical talking point, which drips with contempt Read More ›

Here. The Science Fictions series at your fingertips (cosmology).