Category: Myths

October 27, 2005

In the discussion that followed the film and continued on our member’s e-mail list, it was suggested that Flemming and many non-believers go too far in “attacking” people with religious beliefs. It was said that we need to acknowledge that religion plays an important role in most believers lives and by “attacking” their beliefs we have crossed the line of decency.

As expected the charge was made that we non-believers who “attack” religious beliefs are hostile to religion and the religious and how this hostility undermines our credibility as a group to better the human condition. The assumption is made that we must not question people’s deeply held beliefs lest we hurt their feelings.

October 18, 2005

I really didn’t want to post this entry today but feel that I must.

The focus of this blog is to “expose the myths about secularism” that dominate the culture. Most of the time this takes the form of responding to some article I read where the writer is totally wrong about secular people. Usually the writer is a theist.

Today I have to call out one of my own for perpetrating a myth about being secular.

October 16, 2005

If you have listened to people like Parsley, or James Dobson, or Jerry Falwell, or Bishop Sheen and on and on it would seem that this country’s morals have been in decline for decades yet religious conservatives control the White House, the Congress, many state legislatures and state offices, as well as have friendly city and county councils, and school boards – all pushing their agenda. What is left to “reform” or “reclaim”?

October 14, 2005

Evolution is the scientific concept describing adaptation of organisms and how that leads to changes. Those organisms that don’t adapt or adapt incorrectly go extinct. It really says nothing about “how life begins”. That charge is simply a strawman created by religionists. The changes that evolution describes is backed up with evidence and hundreds of years of research. ID is not being kept from the table, it just hasn’t presented itself properly.

October 6, 2005

The most interesting bit from Barbara Forrest’s time on the stand was the introduction of an early draft of the text book “Of Pandas and People” that the Dover district included as a reference in their disclaimer about Evolution. The early drafts show that all the publisher did was replace all instances of the word “creationism” with the phrase “Intelligent Design”.

October 5, 2005

“Mind Siege” is at the root a political book. It creates a bogey man (Humanism) and tries to scare the reader. The timing of the book (in 2000, an election year) and some nasty words about the just past administration of former President Clinton, make the intention clear.