TCSDaily seems to be on a real tear against Christopher Hitchens’ book-length jeremiad against religion: The lastest attack there blasts Hitch for neglecting to grapple with the theological ideas of some of his favorite literary giants. He says not a word, for instance, about Shakespeare’s Iago as a critique of atheism. What’s that you say? […]

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In a recent article at TCSDaily, Atheist Karl Reitz provides a prime example of what Dan Dennett calls “belief in belief.” That is, though his prose style actually seems calculated to undermine any possibility of belief in a merciful deity, Reitz wants to argue it’s a damn good thing people adhere to false religions, not […]

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If you don’t mine choking down a heaping helping of bloombast, there’s an intriguing suggestion at the heart of this Policy Review essay by Mary Ebserstadt: The well-known correlation between religiosity and family size should be interpreted not (just) as evidence that religious belief or participation induces people to have more children, but rather as […]

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The Republican senator from Kansas—one of three participants in the Republican primary debates to avow disbelief in the theory of evolution—takes to the pages of The New York Times to explain his views. He starts off with some reasonable-sounding sallies, rejecting a stark contrast between pure materialism and the view that life on earth was […]

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Think Progress links a new Media Matters report claiming that conservatives are vastly overrepresented as the “face of religion” in media coverage: Religion is often depicted in the news media as a politically divisive force, with two sides roughly paralleling the broader political divide: On one side are cultural conservatives who ground their political values […]

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My friend Todd Seavey, who recently launched his own blog, has a post up rehearsing some oldie-but-goodie atheist arguments, and while they’re all pretty familiar, something stuck me on this read-through about the phrasing, the specific assertion that belief without evidence (faith) is “irrational.” Maybe this sounds less than compelling to lots of people because, […]

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Ross Douthat has a good roundup of the discussion sparked by Christopher Hitchens’ claim that Karl Rove is an atheist who typically characterizes himself (I’ll agree, somewhat condescendingly) as “not fortunate enough to be a person of faith.” I was actually discussing this very issue with a friend over the weekend, and as I said […]

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D’Souza (v.): To make an argument so patently vulgar, obtuse, and offensive that even people generally disposed to agree with you are collectively revulsed. Megan notices that the guy who brought us the insight that Britney Spears caused 9/11 is welcoming the opportunity afforded by the VA Tech shooting to attack… atheists. Atheists? Yep: Notice […]

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Sully quotes a reader’s reaction to his now-epic running debate with Sam Harris. The gist of it is that atheists are awfully uncomfortable with “mystery” and so keep stubbornly demanding good reasons for things which don’t admit to any sort of deductive proof. The limited extent to which I think there’s something to be said […]

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The recent flap over Choco-Jesus is stranger than the usual case of this type, since it seems that the usual outrage professionals have worked themselves into the requisite dudgeon without even having a clear sense of why they’re supposed to be offended. Bill “The Jews Run Hollywood” Donohue blusters: This is one of the worst […]

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