I'm a lifelong atheist and a molecular biologist with a passion for science and a passionate opposition to its enemies.
Sometimes an ethical question can strike you when you least expect it. A few days ago I found myself wandering idly through the book section of a charity shop, lazily looking for something requested by a friend for her three-year-old son. I picked out a thin book at random, and stopped dead when I realized what I was looking at. The book, titled The Creation Series Book 6, Animals, is part of a Creationist book series oriented towards children ages… Read more
Fellow Patheos blogger Marc Barnes over at Bad Catholic has realized why the Catholic mandate against contraception enjoys such pitiful support amongst American women. It’s not because it’s an archaic, unrealistic standard that turns couples — and particularly women — into slaves of their own biology despite the existence of readily available alternatives. The actual problem is that it hasn’t been sold in a sufficiently attractive package. Enter the new website 1Flesh, which seeks to sell 19th century ideas (12th?… Read more
We can start from an indisputable fact: there is a gender disparity in the sciences. There are simply more men than women in science and this difference becomes even more pronounced in fields like mathematics, physics and engineering. Just about the only thing that is agreed on about the cause of this disparity is that it is a complex problem with many contributing factors. There are also many different ideas for solutions. Some advocate specific programs addressing the matter from… Read more
AronRa is well known in the YouTube atheist community for his epic anti-Creationist take-downs. Lately, however, he’s decided to go to the root of the problem: faith, or the belief in things without evidence. Ultimately, he says, if we are to succeed as skeptics, and not simply replace religion with hippy-dippy homeopathic “spiritual” gobbledygook, it is faith that is the ultimate opponent. Aron makes the case in this great talk to Eastern Illinois University. The first half is Aron’s talk,… Read more
It’s not unusual to support an organization with which you don’t always agree. It is entirely normal to pick the party that most closely aligns with your views and tolerate the other positions they hold. However there is something downright strange about supporting a party that expresses deep antipathy towards who you are. Such is the plight of atheist Republicans. Mind you, I’m not saying there’s anything strange about being an atheist conservative, or at least an atheist fiscal conservative…. Read more
