Sometimes people wonder why atheists, homosexual or not, take an interest in the equal marriage debate. The response is simple: the opposition to equal marriage frequently originates from religious beliefs. The argument which presently seems to dominate the debate is over who has the right to define marriage. This word ‘define’ is not one we [...]
Recently there was another religion-based debate on The Big Questions which discussed one question: whether fundamentalism undermines faith. The show itself was thoroughly interesting, as it often is, even if this episode was an exercise in how many mad people you can get into one room; it was more interesting to simply marvel at the ridiculousness of [...]
The more one delves into the discussions around religion, the more one gets used to certain items of terminology being thrown around. Over time, all words take on a very specific, and often subtle meaning, depending on who uses them and how. This seems to be the case for the word “belief”, which since the [...]
Clearly in order to answer this question we’re going to need to define extremism. Extremism is a relative description. One thing is extremist with respect to another. To label something extremist is to state that it is very different compared to the average. One could suggest that it is as different as something could possibly [...]
Generalisation is a method used a lot in logic. The easiest to understand definition is when a concept is applied to a broader range of situations. We hear the principle of generalisation in debates most often with regards to extremism. One person might suggest that the views of the extremist reveal a flaw present in [...]
This question may seem, on first inspection, to be simple, but it’s not. We will see that this question is phenomenally complex. Indeed this seems to be a pattern of many questions on religious topics. Once more, the complicated nature of the question is revealed through the definitions used to express it. We need to [...]
No. Here’s why. The first thing we must do is define respect. This is quite tricky; it’s common usage gives it quite a loose definition. Generally people would say that it is to not arbitrarily criticise or insult someone, or to be unjustifiably condescending. One might also consider respect to be conversational equality. Clearly it [...]
If you’ve watched more than one debate with this man then you’ll start to notice a pattern. He will always start his argument by defining atheism, rather than letting the atheist define themselves. It is in this definition that he tries to win over the audience and make himself seem terribly clever. He always defines [...]
This question partially depends on one’s definition of a god, but is more effected by other beliefs and doctrine that one holds. Let’s consider a single god, who is simply a god of the gaps, whose purpose is to create the universe and possibly have some interaction with it as well. With this definition, the [...]
One of the foundations of the thinking required to produce atheism, is the distinction between positive and negative assertions. In order to properly understand these concepts, we’re need to define them. To get our foot in the door, let’s take the typical examples of positive assertions within the subject matter. “I believe that there is [...]