I originally posted this at my blog Martin S Pribble, and it was subsequently picked up as an "Article" at RDFRS, which made me quite happy. It has caused quite a discussion at both sites, so I thought it would be good to share with you lot also.

 Religion is running scared from advances in science, particularly brain science such as neurology. Why? Because the brain is the final frontier in uncovering the reasons for belief in superstitions, religion and a higher…

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I often refer to Jesus as a quasi-historical figure, a statement which drives the Christians I know into fits of apoplexy. Jerry the Evangelical Neighbor likes to fall back on the most tired of all the basic refutations.

 

“There is less proof for the existence of Socrates or Plato than of Jesus.” He once responded to a Facebook post of mine.

 

I don’t know that to necessarily be a fact. I rather doubt he does either. At least I was a philosophy major in college;…

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In my previous post I described the evolution of Judaism over the past 3000 years. In a nutshell- after the destruction of the second temple and jewish exile in 126 AD, the jews lost their ability to practice their religion- which was national and temple based. Finding themselves without nation or temple- the jews reformed their religion- practically re-inventing it in a text…

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I've been on think atheist for quite some site now, and I've noticed that because the vast majority of people here are ex-Christians, naturally the New Testament and Jesus get the most attention.

As an ex-Jew, I've decided to write a post explanation of what Judaism is, as I've found practically no reference to this question here.

So here it goes.



While Christianity believes that God- Yahweh, brought the people of Israel to mount Sinai and gave them the old testament- the… Continue

A question was asked in the Common Misconceptions of Christianity post. "If you think something is myth, fine. It's another matter to show why; to point out mythological development, and demonstrate the literary genre under consideration is mythical." The answer to this challenge is one that will take more time and space than a retort deserves. For those that don't know some of what I'm about to lay out, burying it in a response seems to be a disservice to the information and…

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I recently attended a panel discussion at the University of Cape Town on religion and gender. It was hosted by the Current Affairs Student Society and the people on the panel were:

Charles. A white Christian man.

Sadia. An Indian Muslim woman.

Azila. A White Jewish woman.

All three debators are from the Religious Studies Department at UCT, and Azila is the first and only female Rabbi in South Africa.



Christianity

Charles spoke about the… Continue

I'd like to establish why I have such a username. But more importantly, I want to truly establish myself here since I'm new. :D I want to tell you all who I am and how I became an atheist. :D And also I'll end up telling you how I turned my family onto atheism. I know this is LONG, sorry. Insanely long truly. But in the future my blog posts will probably be a LOT shorter.



I don't believe (and quite frankly have never believed) in Heaven. I've also never believed in God I don't think.… Continue

JERUSALEM (AP) — The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday. Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and…

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