I am a graduate of medicine and theology with a Ph.D in medical ethics. I tutor in medical ethics at the University of Melbourne, am an (occasional) adjunct Lecturer in Ethics at Ridley Melbourne, and a voluntary researcher with Ethos. I am also a Fellow of ISCAST and a past chair of the Melbourne Chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality. I have special interests in professional ethics, sexual ethics and the ethics of virtue.
by Jesse Galef – A bill sponsored by 19 House Republicans (including six from South Carolina, never a good sign,) wants to reaffirm that people can celebrate Christmas and mention God. I’m guessing this is in response to a gross misunderstanding of current legal concerns over displays that are government-sponsored or on government property. Via one of my longtime favorite bloggers, Steve Benen at WashingtonMonthly, I apologize in advance for the text of H. RES. 951: Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC),… Read more
by Jesse Galef – What will it take for nontheists to get political respect in government? At around 15% of the population, we can’t – and shouldn’t – expect to control things, but even so we’re badly underrepresented. Only one congressman is openly nontheistic (although at least 21 others secretly don’t believe in a god). Politicians feel comfortable bashing atheists in public. We all remember the sleazy ad that then-Senator Elizabeth Dole launched against Kay Hagan accusing her of associating… Read more
by Jesse Galef – Funniest reaction to hell-spouter ever. We had our own campus preacher at the University of North Carolina, but I never got to see a counter-demonstration like this one at Yale: Melissa McEwen at ShakespearesSister provides a description:If you can’t view the image, it’s a picture of 25-year-old evangelist street preacher Jesse Morrell, who has been preaching about the “evils of sin” on Yale’s campus, wearing a sandwich-board reading: “REPENT: Fornicators, Homosexuals, Liars, Thieves, Masturbators, Obama Voters,… Read more
by Jesse Galef – I’m usually reticent and reluctant to talk about my personal life, but I feel comfortable sharing some things. It helps that I’ve found you guys to be very supportive, both in comments here and talking to some of you on facebook. It’s a new experience for me to have relative strangers asking me how my job search is going, offering to buy me drinks, and giving kind words. No, I didn’t get the job at Americans… Read more
by Jesse Galef Is atheism a choice? I ask because the issue kept coming up not only in an earlier post’s comment thread, but also independently on my facebook wall. It’s clearly a question that provokes some thought. I’ve been wrestling with the idea of choice for a long time. The word is used in different ways by different people, but a recurring theme seems to be the importance of conscious thought controlling the decision. (One of the reasons I… Read more