richard dawkins

The humanist community assembled many of its leading lights recently to award Richard Dawkins a prize for furthering rational thought. A secular humanist convention is not the witches’ coven that some sheltered theists might expect. I did not see anyone smoking and never heard a profane word. Drinking at the reception was modest by anyone but a teetotaler’s standards, and far less than at the Episcopal fundraiser I’d attended the previous week. Also unlike the Episcopal affair, I did not spot a single same-sex couple. I began to wonder how much fun these people, freed from religion’s rules, were having with their liberty.

Despite these publicly marked divides, the field of religion and science cannot easily be described by sticking a “vs.” between the two words. Rather than an ideological battle in which, as Hawking states, one side of the ring will “win” over the other, for some, the question is about how the two sides might work together.

The department of physics in the University of Oxford is a hodgepodge of buildings, old and new. In a warren of rooms, its scientists pursue interests from quantum computing to theoretical cosmology. The diversity says much. As a tree of knowledge, modern physics has branches that shoot off in…

For those who may not remember, the Doctor actually was involved in the original Big Bang…

The Hungry Earth.

Younger people are surrounded by vivid and accessible myths, like Avatar, that have taken the place of the Bible’s traditional role in providing the framework and role models for our lives.

Nation article delves into the behind-the-scenes world of the controversial philanthropist.

The other day, Terry Sanderson—president of the United Kingdom’s National Secular Society—published a short, scathing indictment of theology in The Guardian, a piece titled “

The debate over cartoons and prophets is not just about freedom of speech; it’s about freedom of religion.

Are believers in God crazy? Are atheists? Philosopher Eric Reitan explains why he finds the ideas of the Dawkins-Hitchens crowd wanting and why readers—atheist or theist—who want to cheer and pump their fists as “their guy” strikes back against the opponent should read something else.