Certain schools of nonsense – perhaps all of them – have “sophisticated” advocates their critics are told must be countered for said criticisms to count for anything. Religion is a classic example of this at the time of writing. “Sophisticated theologians”, we are told, are the ones we must refute. One point I think needs [...]
One thing I don’t recall hearing critics of religion ever saying, but which I think should be said, is that the effort by scientifically literate theists, including religious scientists, to render their religious views compatible with science often requires them to adopt views at least as empirically ridiculous as their religious views. (I will in [...]
I’m a new writer here, and I’m a physicist, and we scientists always react to theists trying to use the findings of our field to argue for a god by noticing their arguments get the science wrong. One of the most popular attempts of that sort nowadays concerns the “fine tuning” of physics, so my [...]
Malaysia’s civil court has denied a woman permission to leave Islam. Kamariah Ali says she should not be tried under Islamic law because she is no longer a Muslim and asked the civil courts to declare her freedom to worship, as guaranteed by the constitution. But judges ruled that only Malaysia’s Islamic courts could decide [...]