deanpence

Carnival of the Godless #14

Greetings to all godless folk of the world. I am Dean, host of the fourteenth Carnival of the Godless. (My apologies to everyone for the late posting.)

We’ve an interesting collection of posts this time, ranging from completely informal rants to obscure, academic arguments.

The Declaration as Scripture Fallacy

Does the Declaration of Independence have any bearing at all on modern day church-state separation issues, or is it simply a wonderful, historical American document that was written to do one thing[:] declare our independence[?]

As usual, Brent of “Unscrewing the Inscrutable” (one of my favorite blogs) gives us an excellent and (in this case) succinct argument in opposition to the fundamentalist, theocratic trend.

Truth Versus Fact

Nanovirus disects the philosophical differences between theists and non-theists over the teaching of evolution.

I don’t personally agree with this dichotomy of truth and fact, but I agree with the sentiment. Personally, I would say: “Faith is the antithesis of reason.”

The reDiscovery Institute

This doesn’t fit the usual mode for a COTG submission, but of the few pages I’ve read, it’s an excellent analysis of, criticism of, and middle-finger-waving at the hijinks of the promoters of Intelligent Design.

What’s Your World View?

Another abnormal entry but fun nonetheless.

Steve Pavlina at Steve Pavlina’s Blog presents “What’s Your World View?”

I came out as an Existentialist, apparently because my “optimism towards human accomplishment is immense” and “there is no greater power interfering with life and thus it is up to us to make things happen.” What exactly entails “accomplishment” and “things” we should make happen are left to the quiz-taker’s imagination, I guess.

God Exists, But You Won’t Like Him

Discovering that I’m doomed to Hell has got me rattled, I’m telling you. So I’m trying really, really hard to believe in God (or Gods, for that matter) for the sake of my rather ambivalent soul(tm).

Thursday of Polite Company takes up the age-old question of why God is such an asshole.

How Are We to Treat Believers?

In this post, I explore various options for how atheists should respond to theists. I argue that attempting to respect religious beliefs is counterproductive because this approach fails to address the harm caused by faith in religious dogma. I suggest that we emphasize the practical consequences of these beliefs rather than attacking the believers.

vjack of Atheist Revolution gives us an interesting and productive take on how atheists can promote a culture of reason without playing the religious victimhood game.

Bad to the Cone

Phil Plait of the Bad Astronomy Blog recounts his journey into online advertising and takes to task a religious ad that showed up on his blog.

On Lakoff, Religion and Language: The Rising Tone

Coturnix of Science And Politics posts on competing views of God and their corresponding political viewpoints and the nature of the rising-tone intonation in language.

Constantine and the Problem of Evil

Patrick Smith of Tiberius and Gaius Speaking… brings us the problem of evil through the movie “Constantine” (which I enjoyed).

Join the COTG next time at What You Can Get Away With.