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Religion

Nearly as many young Americans believe in ET as in God

As for the kids, if the prof's figures are correct, they should have watched more sci-fi dystopias. The good news is that there probably aren’t any space aliens out there so they will only have to live in a dystopia they made themselves, not a different one. Read More ›

Are most “unbelievers” just superstitious and otherwise uncommitted?

One way of looking at it: If you believe vaguely that “there is something out there,” you needn’t do anything about it. You needn’t even avoid superstition. You can even be part of a war on science in good faith. Read More ›

Key Silicon Valley figures hope to beat death the transhumanist way

You, by the way, are doomed: Everything has a history, including Silicon Valley. According to a new media theorist, Douglas Rushkoff, an influential Valley philosophy might underlie the current attitudes, values, and beliefs: “There is a Silicon Valley religion, and it’s one that doesn’t particularly care for people — at least not in our present form. Technologists may pretend to be led by a utilitarian, computational logic devoid of superstition, but make no mistake: There is a prophetic belief system embedded in the technologies and business plans coming out of Google, Uber, Facebook, and Amazon, among others.” Denyse O’Leary, “Silicon Valley’s strange, apocalyptic cult” at Mind Matters News It would explain a lot of crazy. See also: The idol with Read More ›

A serious look at whether we can be good without God

Christian Smith: One of the key problems with atheist arguments for universal benevolence, according to Smith, is the contention that we live in a "naturalistic" universe, in a realm that simply came to be, with no creator. So how can naturalistic atheist thinkers claim any rational basis for the high moral standard they're reaching for? Read More ›

Christian PhD driven out by the raging Woke

The question of whether the raging Woke have the right to do this stuff needs to be considered alongside whether anyone should be expected to fund their behavior through taxes or ponder their (increasingly mostly garbage) output—as conveyed to us through government and media. Read More ›

What is the warrant for the core gospel and linked ethics? (Does this matter?)

The gospel-based Christian synthesis of the heritage of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome — led by the Apostle Paul (Cf. Ac 17, Rom 1, Ac 27) — is a core but often unacknowledged or even resented part of the historical foundation of our civilisation. A civilisation which within living memory was described by Churchill as Christian civilisation. Not too much further back, it was usually referred to as Christendom. But now, we see all around us the fruit of a centuries-long push to discredit and break that vital connexion; which has often been accompanied by a tendency to paint the legacy of Christendom in the most lurid colours, as though all that we have inherited is oppression, discrimination, injustice etc. That Read More ›

Did the Neanderthals have a cult going 130,000 years ago?

About the golden eagle. Okay, “cult” isn’t a designation of praise but it’s way better than how the Neanderthals were thought of in the past. Anyway, we are told that the birds used to snatch Neanderthal children. Maybe it was revenge.? Read More ›

Researchers: Rise in “religious Nones” masks growth in evangelicalism

Atheists have also grown from 1.6% of the adult population to 3%, which is a significant increase. But the smaller the starting number, the easier it is for any increase to be significant. It;s the mushy middle that is shrinking. Read More ›