1. Study: Religion is Good for Kids

Comment #34962 by IanErikSmith on April 25, 2007 at 6:11 pm

For those who do not care to read the whole study...

Here is an article from the Los Angeles Times describing the results of the above mentioned study which correlates religiosity and societal dysfunction:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1001-06.htm

2. Study: Religion is Good for Kids

Comment #34960 by IanErikSmith on April 25, 2007 at 6:05 pm

Here is another recent study from 2005 which suggests a correlation between religiosity and societal dysfunction.

http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

Note that the United States does not fare well.

3. The Video: Bill O'Reilly Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #34295 by IanErikSmith on April 23, 2007 at 6:35 pm

While the down sides to such cable news appearances are well known and O'Reilly's interview techniques are less than admirable, there are positive aspects to consider.

We know that atheism tends to correlate well with education levels. From this we can infer that the number of theists who watch O'Reilly is higher than most programs. In addition to being a scientist, Professor Dawkins with this book has taken on the role of an activist which means seeking out people who disagree.

Atheism does not necessarily need a highly rigorous, academic case to be made for it...those books have been written and are available for anyone who wishes to pursue them (Michael Martin & Theodore Drange are amongst my favorites). Professor Dawkins' book makes atheism visible to a larger number of people and is more accessible than reading rigorous philosophy.

The point is that O'Reilly has viewers and by appearing on his show, atheism gains visibility. It may not convert the most zealous of the religious community, those who are totally immune to reason, but it does make those waivering in their faith aware of one place to look that can fuel their doubts.

4. Street Evangelist Saves 300 Souls From Enjoying Park

Comment #33774 by IanErikSmith on April 21, 2007 at 5:46 pm

While such street preachers can be amusing if one is in the mood for the absurd, what is often more fruitful is watching the response of the passerbys.

Zealots of this sort, no less kooky than the satire, are particularly common on university campuses; hotbeds of sin that such places are.

On one such occasion, a preacher had gathered a crowd, and I spoke with a few observers who were particularly upset by the claim that Jews weren't going to Heaven. I asked these individuals, knowing that they were generally secular in their views, if they thought that Jews were going to Heaven. This totally caught them off gaurd and they were speechless given that they did not really believe in Heaven themselves.

I am convinced that one thing that atheists must do is to insist that individuals take religious claims seriously. I think non-religious people often trivialize religious belief so that they can more easily be tolerant of it. Even those claiming to be religious often do not take their own claims seriously.

To take the claims seriously is to reveal how absurd they often are.

5. The Empty Wager

Comment #33576 by IanErikSmith on April 20, 2007 at 3:52 pm

The most clever use of Pascal's Wager that I am aware of is Richard Carrier's article "The End of Pascal's Wager: Only Nontheists Go To Heaven".

You can read it at the following:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/heaven.html