No need to pray, for nothing is going to hear me anyway. A quiet few moments in the car, driving down the road, listening to classical music before I arrive at work, is a great way to start my day. Also, while I'm at it...just looking around at nature, the sky, the beauty that is all around us, and the wonder of our world all around us. It is amazing that all this developed over such a long period of time, and that all the creatures that surrounds us all descended over billions of years from…

The Bible is not a book of science, though the first Chapter of Genesis, as the nineteenth-century sociologist Max Weber points out, is the necessary prelude to science. It represents the first time people saw the universe as the product of a single creative will, and therefore as intelligible rather than capricious and mysterious.

Nature has no divinity. Indeed, in the Hebrew Bible, it became “undeified” as G. W. F. Hegel put it. Hegel observed (in lectures notes his students…

I brewed a pot of jasmine tea to begin with. I spooned it three teaspoonfuls of leaf into the pot of hot water, making sure it didn’t boil to avoid unnecessary bitterness. After a minute and a half of steeping I removed the leaves and went outside.

I had been looking forward to this all day. So I was rather nervous that the album I had planned to experience wouldn’t live up to my hopes. The sky above was overcast, the wind slight and cool. It was not cold enough to be…

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Think Inc conference in Melbourne Australia, the inaugural event, and one that showed much promise with a line-up of speakers which included Professor Tim Flannery, YouTube sensation Christina Rad, activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali (appearing via Skype), poet Shane Koyczan, Professor Neil Degrasse Tyseon, Professor Michael Shermer and political commentator Christopher Hitchens (also intended to appear via Skype).

Unfortunately Christopher Hitchens…

I've had a few people ask me lately "Why don't you pick on other religions apart from Christianity and Islam? After all, there are thousands you could choose from." Well the answer is pretty simple, but threefold.



Firstly, I live in Australia, which is a predominantly Christian nation. Upwards of 60% of Australians identify themselves as Christians (according to the 2006 census). Most of the first westerners to arrive here were Christian, and that tradition has been carried on…

 Previously, I discussed the idea that we can now definitively show that there was no single couple from which all of humanity descended, and discussed a few points made by ProfMTH, namely that Paul references Adam in same way he references Jesus. To me, this seemed a clear and inescapable contradiction to a foundational principle of Christianity, since Paul is obviously wrong in referencing Adam. Now this assertion faced…

I've been pretty interested in perception lately, and how our brains decipher the world around us. I've written on Pareidolia (Part 1, Part 2,…

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…

"In what has become one of the greatest deceptions of our day, radical environmentalism…

"Hi Martin Did anyone ever tell you that Jesus loves YOU!"

"You knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13"…

from Martin Pribble (March 19 2011)



A strange optimism has overcome me today. With all the disasters and unrest around the world right now, you might call me crazy, but hear me out and you may agree with me.



We tend to be a very self-centred and self-interested lot, us humans, and we will always try to look after our own immediate family and community, forsaking the rest of the world in favour of our own…

"Atheism is a natural conclusion of rational and scientific thinking."