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The Problem with AMC’s Sci-Fi Hit Humans

By Andrew Aghapour

…ds, and building the cars that get us to the store. Like any great work of science fiction, Humans draws from our current world to ask big questions about who we are now and what we might become. But although the synth may embody our collective fear of being replaced, the reality is that the android scenario helps obscure the fact that we already share a world with robots that exceed us in a variety of capacities. While we sit on the sofa watching…

Dining with Dawkins in the Humanist Bosom

By Edward J. Larson

…ping for a reasoned presentation of his theories and their impact, such as about his enormously influential concept of the selfish gene, which does so much to explain behavior. But this was not the night for a science lecture. He used his platform to offer advice and encouragement to secular humanists. Dawkins could have spoken for twice as long without wearing out his welcome and, when he finished, scores rushed the rostrum carrying cameras to do…

Off That (Rationalist Anthem)

By Lauri Lebo

…from self-described rap troubadour Baba Brinkman in which he blasts pseudo-science and irrationality. A Chaucer scholar who started out rapping the Canterbury Tales, lately he’s been branching out into the world of science and religion. In 2008, the Vancouver artist developed the utterly brilliant Rap Guide to Evolution. I met him last year while he and I were on a tour in the U.K. in celebration of the 200th Birthday of Charles Darwin. Warning: B…

Can Atheists Simply Ignore Theology?

By Eric Reitan

…, an interpretive worldview has to fit with our experience, including what science teaches us about the world. And not every theistic worldview meets this criterion (Young Earth Creationism comes to mind). But while a specific formulation of theism might have to give way before scientific evidence in just the way that a specific version of Darwinian theory might need to give way to a more nuanced and comprehensive version, the overall theological…

Do Space Aliens Need Baptism? The View From Gliese 581g

By Paul Wallace

…does the belief that there must be someone out there. So every time I read about the discovery of a new Earth-like planet or read about NASA’s upcoming Kepler planet-finding mission or watch a movie like Contact, I grow excited over—and, like Brahe, even a little afraid of—the vast unknown. My mind boggles. What’s really out there?, I wonder. Yet I cannot help but detect a kind of desperation in our quest for extraterrestrial intelligence. I can’t…

How Not To Defend Atheism

By Vlad Chituc

…gests, are complicit in this myth. For the atheist, tying one’s beliefs to science and the Enlightenment is flattering and self-congratulatory. For the believer, it’s easier to treat atheism as an abhorrent fluke or shallow fad if it’s an invention of modernity. Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World Tim Whitmarsh Knopf November 10, 2015 Why wasn’t atheism more prominent, though, If it were present through much of Greek society? Partly, t…

How the Christian Right Can Save America from Donald Trump

By Sarah Posner

…ords about the Bible but, once again, doesn’t appear to actually know much about it—or what evangelicals believe about it. “There’s so many things that you can learn from it (The Bible). Proverbs, the chapter ‘never bend to envy,’” Trump told Brody, who didn’t press him to cite chapter and verse. (Brody does write about the interview, “the subject of envy does come up in the Book of Proverbs a few times. We’re trying to get clarification about wha…

First Roe, Then Contraception: Unless Action is Taken, Supreme Court is About to Strike Down Fundamental Rights of American Women

By Andrew L. Seidel

…amage or do the right thing. Didn’t he try to stop this a little while ago about another case with abortion, something about June and medical services? First, that case was decided before Roberts was outnumbered by conservative justices who want change now. Roberts is an incrementalist, but still deeply conservative. He wants to change things slowly to preserve the legitimacy of the court and its ability to move the country in line with his conser…

As Pat Robertson Retires, Here Are 10 of His Most Cringeworthy Moments

By Chrissy Stroop

…nd absolutely epic by describing it as follows: The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. Thanks for that one, Pat. Go to top Calling non-Christians “termites” who don’t belong in government In his 1991 book The New World Order, Robertson wrote, “When…

Innocent Until Proven Muslim — A Q&A with Dr. Maha Hilal

By Habiba Farh

…ving [civil] rights we otherwise wouldn’t have had. In the book, you write about visiting Guantánamo, which surprised me as a reader. Can you talk more about it? I’ve been part of this group called Witness Against Torture for many years now. In 2015, we went on a delegation to Guantánamo City to get as close to the prison as we could, to call for its closure with the men to be transferred out of it. We couldn’t get very close because we were appro…