By Candice L. Tucker -- During Skepticon III, speaker/biologist/author of Pharyngula, PZ Myers, speaks with a protester handing out Ray Comfort's version of Origin of the Species. Co-founder of Skepticon/campus organizer & high school specialist for Secular Student Alliance, JT Eberhard, speaks with a Christian, attempting to extract from her reasonable evidence for believing in the Bible and god.(via RDnet)
Monday, January 31, 2011
PZ Myers and JT Ehrbert Encounter Christian Protesters Outside Skepticon 3 Conference
Sunday, January 30, 2011
PZ Myers on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies
Biology professor and well-known blogger, PZ Myers, on Science and Atheism: Natural Allies. This lecture was delivered at the Humanist Canada/Atheist Alliance International 2010 Convention in Montreal.(Thanks WS)
Brian Dalton on Mr. Deity Podcasts & the Morality of Atheism
Big Ideas presents Brian Dalton on his Mr. Deity podcasts, the amorality of Christianity and the morality of atheism. This lecture was delivered at the Humanist Canada/Atheist Alliance International 2010 Convention in Montreal.(Thanks WS)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Ken Ham vs. Rev. Barry Lynn Over Tax Funded Bible Theme Park
January 27, 2011 on CNN:
Is Kentucky giving tax breaks to a for profit religious group a violation of the establishment clause in the constitution? Supporters say the life sized ark theme park is for profit and will bring jobs and tourists to the area. Critics say the park has religious conversion in mind and the state should not be giving the group tax incentives.
Ken Ham, the President of Answers in Genesis, Reverend Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Jeff Toobin, CNN legal analyst all weigh in on the controversy.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Ugandan Gay Rights Activist Beaten to Death
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
BBC Horizon - Science Under Attack - 2011
Watch in HD
Aired January 24, 2011 on BBC Four
Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse examines why science appears to be under attack, and why public trust in key scientific theories has been eroded - from the theory that man-made climate change is warming our planet, to the safety of GM food, or that HIV causes AIDS.(Thanks to TreVelocita)
He interviews scientists and campaigners from both sides of the climate change debate, and travels to New York to meet Tony, who has HIV but doesn't believe that that the virus is responsible for AIDS.
This is a passionate defence of the importance of scientific evidence and the power of experiment, and a look at what scientists themselves need to do to earn trust in controversial areas of science in the 21st century.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Woman Hanged, Killed Dog For Chewing Bible
From WYFF4 News:
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. -- A 65-year-old woman is accused of killing her nephew’s dog because it had chewed on her Bible, and she said it was a “devil dog.”
Deputies said that Andy Fowler called them last Tuesday to report that his aunt had hung his dog. Fowler said his aunt, Miriam Smith, admitted hanging his 1-year-old pit bull, Diamond.
Officers found the partially burned body of the dog under a pile of grass with an orange electrical cord around its neck at the home on John Worthy Road in Pacolet.(via DoctorE)
Read more
Monday, January 24, 2011
Q&A with Christopher Hitchens
January 23, 2011 C-SPAN
Christopher Hitchens is the author of over a dozen books including his recent memoir, Hitch-22. Other titles include, God Is Not Great
, The Trial of Henry Kissinger
, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
, and Thomas Jefferson: Author of America
. He is currently a contributing editor for the Atlantic Monthly magazine and a columnist for Vanity Fair magazine, where he has been writing articles about his diagnosis in the summer 2010 of stage four esophageal cancer
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Russell's Teapot
From Wikipedia:
Russell's teapot, sometimes called the Celestial Teapot, Cosmic Teapot or Bertrand's teapot, is an analogy first coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), intended to refute the idea that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon the sceptic to disprove unfalsifiable claims of religions. Russell's teapot is still referred to in discussions concerning the existence of God. The analogy has also been used by sociologists to denote correlations with religion and social conformity. In common usage, Russell's teapot is often considered to be an example of a straw man argument in that it is used to claim that the provability of the hypothetical teapot is equivocal to the provability of an unrelated entity, in this it may also become an argument from ignorance in that it can be used to imply that absence of proof is proof of absence.(Thanks David)
Read more
Is It Always Right to Uphold Your Religious Convictions?
January 23, 2011 on BBC One
See also: Bristol gay couple win Cornwall B&B bed ban case
(via TreVelocita)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Deborah 13: Servant of God
Aired March 2009 on BBC Three
Documentary about 13-year-old Deborah Drapper, who -- unlike other British teens -- has never heard of Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham. She is being been brought up in a deeply Christian family and her parents are trying to make sure she and her ten brothers and sisters have grown up protected from the sins of the outside world.(Thanks to TreVelocita for the re-post)
Deborah is a bright, confident girl who has big ambitions for her life, and the film spends a summer with her as she ventures out into the world to see what life outside her family could be -- as she starts putting her beliefs forward to a wider audience.
Friday, January 21, 2011
CBC Marketplace - Homeopathy: Cure or Con?
Play all videos (2)
Aired January 14, 2011 on CBC
Erica Johnson investigates one of the country's fastest growing alternative health treatments: homeopathy. Ontario homeopaths are about to become the first province in Canada to regulate homeopathy — lending credibility to this unproven practice.(Thanks Mark)
Canada's leading consumer ally takes a long hard look at the theories, and the remedies. For the first time in Canada, we conduct a test of homeopathic medicines, investigating the science behind these so-called medicines. In light of our results, we ask both the Ontario government and Health Canada why they are lending credibility to the homeopathic industry. Johnson also meets up with a rep from the world's leading manufacturer of homeopathic medicines, who admits that even the company says how homeopathty works is a mystery.
Watch, as we witness a Vancouver group of skeptics (CFI) taking part in a group overdose of homeopathic remedies. Perhaps most disturbing we learn that some homeopaths are treating cancer patients with homeopathic remedies. A leading cancer specialist says there is no role for homeopathy in the treatment of cancer, that it is a "scam that is not evidence-based."
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Unreported World - Witches on Trial
Aired November 12, 2010 on Channel 4
The Central African Republic is a country obsessed with black magic, where nearly half the prison population are convicted witches. In villages and the capital witchcraft is used to explain every misfortune and it is such a powerful weapon that it is a feature of almost every family quarrel or village dispute. And, as Reporter Seyi Rhodes and director Julie Noon reveal, it's often the most vulnerable who are singled out.(via TreVelocita)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Inside Story - Pakistan's Blasphemy Law
January 12, 2011 on Al-Jazeera English:
Pakistan's blasphemy laws are in the spotlight once again - following the assassination of Salman Taseer last week. Is this law being misused? And is the conservative religious base taking over in this troubled country?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cindy Jacobs: Birds Are Dying Because of DADT Repeal
From Right Wing Watch:
Over the weekend, Cindy Jacobs of Generals International posted a new video prompted by the fact that, as a prophet, people have been asking her about the meaning behind the recent rash of bird deaths ... to which she replied that it might be due to the fact that America is violating God's prohibition on homosexuality with support for gay marriage and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.(via RichardDawkins.net and Blag Hag)
Supreme Court Rules Religion Cannot Be Used to Refuse to Marry Gay Couples in Canada
January 10, 2011 on CBC News
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thousands Rally in Pakistan Over Blasphemy Law
January 9, 2010 on Al-Jazeera English
Tens of thousands of people have been protesting in Pakistan against moves to soften the country's blasphemy law.(Thanks Andrew)
The show of force in Karachi came days after the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province was killed for his opposition to the existing legislation.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Atheists and Agnostics speak out in Arabic
In solidarity with those who are unable to renounce religion in Islamic Countries(Thanks Hekmat)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Colbert Report: Bill O'Reilly Proves God's Existence - With Neil deGrasse Tyson
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Bill O'Reilly Proves God's Existence - Neil deGrasse Tyson | ||||
| ||||
Bill O'Reilly proves the existence of God, and Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how tides change. (03:59)Viewers in Canada can watch it on The Comedy Network
Viewers in other countries can use Hotspot Shield or Modify Headers if video is blocked
CBS 60 Minutes - Endless Memory
Part 2
It is often said that we are our memories - that web of experiences, relationships, thoughts, and feelings that make us who we are. We don't remember it all of course. That would be impossible. Or would it?(via Derren Brown Blog)
There has been a discovery in the field of memory recently, so new you won't find it in any textbook. It's so hard to fathom, there are some who remain unconvinced.
For the moment, the scientists studying it are simply calling it "superior autobiographical memory." And unless you happen to know one of the handful of people discovered so far who have it, get ready to be amazed.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
UK Autism-Vaccine Study was 'Fraud'
January 6, 2011 on Al-Jazeera English:
Thirteen years ago, Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor, published an article linking the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism.
This caused a drop in the number of children vaccinated, and put many more at risk to measles, mumps and rubella.
Now, after a lengthy investigation, the British Medical Journal says Wakefield's report has been discredited.
He has been stripped of his medical licence and is being called a fraud.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Dave Matthews on God
Embedded clip starts at 29:00
From Q TV
Dave Mathews of The Dave Matthews Band, considered one of the most popular live acts in rock history, sits down for an in-depth interview spanning a new album, religion and ... monkeys.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Doritos Pulls Ad From Super Bowl Contest For Allegedly Being Anti-Christian
January 4, 2011 on Fox News
Deadly Blast Outside Egypt Church
January 2, 2011 on Al-Jazeera English
At least 21 people have died in the Egyptian city of Alexandria when a bomb blew up outside a church.
The targets were Copts, who responded with fury to the overnight attack, marching on a nearby mosque, where they clashed with police.
Monday, January 3, 2011
BBC Hoizon - The Secret You
With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science's greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are? While the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience, they are notoriously difficult to explain. So, in order to find out where they come from, Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments.
He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait. Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anaesthesia. Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self. And in Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain. Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
