Author: Adam Lee

The Problem: Nearly all the world’s religions teach that we should be generous to the poor and needy, and warn that greed and selfishness are destructive sins. “For the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). But this principle is rarely honored, even by the religious leaders who supposedly believe…

The intertubes are exploding with drama this week! I’m still catching up on a backlog of reading material myself, but I thought I’d post about the more notable news items. • First off, I just have to mention this because it’s such delicious schadenfreude: Chris Mooney, atheist-basher extraordinaire, had a commenter earlier this year named…

Although I’ve learned not to expect much from the right-leaning Supreme Court, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some of their recent decisions. First was Holy See v. John Doe, in which the court upheld a ruling that the Vatican isn’t immune from lawsuits over its protection of pedophiles. The second was Christian Legal Society v.…

I don’t know if it’s the warm weather here in New York that’s bringing out the crazies, but these past two weeks, I’ve encountered more than the usual number of street preachers handing out loony religious literature. Because I know you wicked, godless atheists need to hear the word of the Lord, I thought I’d…

Editor’s Note: Considering the date, I can’t think of anything more appropriate to post today. I don’t agree with the religious language added as window dressing, just as most people today would disavow the archaic sexist terminology or the unthinking racism against Native Americans. Still, it remains one of the finest pieces of political rhetoric…

I have a confession to make: I’m one of the New Atheists. You know the type. Our reflexive, unjustified hatred of all religious people is matched only by the venom of our arguments against them. The mere thought of religion of any kind makes us irrationally furious, like waving a red flag at a bull.…

The Case for a Creator, Closing Thoughts It’s been said that one of science’s greatest virtues is that it’s not dictated by a tyranny of the majority or guided by irrational human whims. After all, science is the search for the true nature of reality, and reality isn’t decided by our preferences. No matter how…

In the past two months, the Catholic pedophilia scandal has largely dropped out of the headlines. But it was still simmering, and it looks poised to erupt into public consciousness again after this raid by police in Belgium: The declaration to the police set off four raids in which the authorities seized hundreds of case…

Is it discrimination to not allow discrimination backed by religion?  This is an oversimplification of the question asked in Christian Law Society v. Martinez (PDF), but the Supreme Court ruled on it today in the negative. Here’s a quick and dirty review of the facts: 1) Hastings is a public law school. 2) Hastings implemented…

It’s been a few weeks since any Serious Person told us atheists to shut up, so we’re overdue. Well, Chris Mooney doesn’t disappoint, writing a gushing post on a recent “science/faith dialogue” held by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and funded by the Templeton Foundation. As you’d expect from anything underwritten by…