Atheism, Secularism, Critical Thinking, etc

General

• “The Four Horseman – Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennet, Harris [2007]” (YouTube; 2012.07.23) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7IHU28aR2E
• “Christopher Hitchens & Richard Dawkins – We’d be better off without religion” (YouTube; 2013.08.30) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWOZi_OUQL8

Richard Dawkins

• http://www.richarddawkins.net/
• The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science – http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org/
• “Dr. Richard Dawkins On Education, ‘Innocence of Muslims,’ and Rep. Paul Broun” (SlashDot interview; 2012.10.25):
  • Part 1 – http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/24/2357245/dr-richard-dawkins-on-education-innocence-of-muslims-and-rep-paul-broun?sdsrc=popbyskid
  • Part 2 – http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/26/0230247/dr-richard-dawkins-on-why-disagreeing-with-religion-isnt-insulting?sdsrc=popbyskid
• Richard Dawkins: Militant atheism (TEDTalk 2002.02) – http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html
• “Mystical comfort from Richard Dawkins” by Derek K Miller (Pennmachine; 2007.01.12) – http://penmachine-bu.appspot.com/2007/01/mystical-comfort-from-richard-dawkins.html
• “Why There Almost Certainly Is No God” (the Huffington Post; ) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-dawkins/why-there-almost-certainl_b_32164.html
• Richard Dawkins (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

Daniel Dennett

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett
• Daniel Dennett:
  • Dan Dennett’s response to Rick Warren (TED talks; 2006) – http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_s_response_to_rick_warren.html
    Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion — all religion — to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution.
• Daniel Dennett at Edge (http://www.edge.org/):
  • “THE NORMAL WELL-TEMPERED MIND” – a conversation with Daniel C. Dennett (2013.01.08) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/normal-well-tempered-mind
  • “Darwin and the Evolution of Reasons” – a talk by Daniel C. Dennett (2009.09.30) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/darwin-and-the-evolution-of-reasons
  • “THANK GOODNESS!” (2006.11.02) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/thank-goodness
  • “SHOW ME THE SCIENCE” (2005.08.28) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/show-me-the-science
  • “The Bright Stuff ” (2003.07.22) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/the-bright-stuff
  • “THE COMPUTATIONAL PERSPECTIVE” – a talk with Daniel C. Dennett (2001.11.17) – http://www.edge.org/conversation/the-computational-perspective
  • “DENNETT’S DEAL” – http://www.edge.org/conversation/dennetts-deal
  • “The Evolution of Culture” – http://www.edge.org/conversation/the-evolution-of-culture
  • “Chapter 10 ”INTUITION PUMPS”” – http://www.edge.org/conversation/intuition-pumps

Christopher Hitchens

• The Christopher Hitchens Web – http://www.hitchensweb.com/
• Christopher Hitchens home page – http://www.buildupthatwall.com/
• Christopher Hitchens (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
• Christopher Hitchens on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/fdafdafdafadfddfffwe
• “Those damned angry atheists” by Derek K. Miller (at his blog Penmachine; 2009.06.02) –
• articles by Christopher Hitchens (at Mirror.co.uk) – http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/hitchens/
• articles by Christopher Hitchens (at The Atlantic) – http://www.theatlantic.com/christopher-hitchens
• articles by Christopher Hitchens (at Slate) – http://www.slate.com/?id=3944&qp=28709
• articles on Christopher Hitchens (at Vannity Fair) – http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/christopher-hitchens
  • “Christopher Hitchens Still Doesn’t Believe in the Afterlife” by Walter Owen (Vannity Fair; 2010.09.17) – http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/09/christopher-hitchens-still-doesnt-believe-in-the-afterlife.html
  • “Thou Shalt Watch this Video” – http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/04/hitchens-commandments-video-201004
    Three millennia or so after God dictated the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, Christopher Hitchens believes it’s high time for an update. Luckily for Hitchens, broadcast technology has advanced a bit in the meantime—instead of unwieldy stone tablets, the resolute atheist delivers his own Decalogue on streaming video.

Various

• blog “The Gospel According to the Romans – a non-believer’s view” – http://robinhl.com/
• “Science and religion: God didn’t make man; man made gods” by J. Anderson Thomson and Clare Aukofer (The Los Angeles Time; 2011.07.18) – http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/18/opinion/la-oe-thompson-atheism-20110718
  Among the psychological adaptations related to religion are our need for reciprocity, our tendency to attribute unknown events to human agency, our capacity for romantic love, our fierce “out-group” hatreds and just as fierce loyalties to the in groups of kin and allies. Religion hijacks these traits. The rivalry between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, for example, or the doctrinal battles between Protestant and Catholic reflect our “groupish” tendencies.
• List of notable atheists (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists
• Atheism – http://atheism.weebly.com/ – a free online book on religion(s) and atheism
• The Agnostic & Atheism section of the About.com web site: http://atheism.about.com/ – has a good collection of articles and links on and about atheism, good advocacy talking points etc. Some good pages are:
  • Atheism for Beginners (What Atheism Is and Is Not) – http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutatheism/a/BeginnersBasics.htm
  • “Atheism & Foxholes: There Are No Atheists in Foxholes (Danger Causes Atheists to Cry Out to God, Find Jesus)” by Austin Cline e – http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismmyths/a/AtheistsFoxhole.htm
• Council for Secular Humanism: secularhumanism.org
  • Free Inquiry journal: http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=fi&page=index
• Center for Inquiry: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/
  • Point of Inquiry podcast: http://www.pointofinquiry.org/
• CSI (A Center for Inquiry Affiliate): http://www.csicop.org/
• Free Inquiry: freeinquiry.com – The Humanist and Skeptic Website of Steven Schafersman
• The New England Skeptical Society: http://www.theness.com/ | The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe (podcast) – http://www.theskepticsguide.org/ | Forum – http://sguforums.com/ | SGU 5×5 (The Skeptics’ Guide 5X5) podcast – http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcast.aspx?mid=2
• NeuroLogicaBlog daily blog: http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/
• The Rogues Gallery group blog: http://www.theskepticsguide.org/sgublog/
• Science-Based Medicine blog: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/
• FIG (Free Inquiry Group): http://www.gofigger.org/
• Freedom from Religion Foundation – http://www.ffrf.org/
• Friendly Atheist blog – http://friendlyatheist.com/
• Dogma Free America podcast: http://dogmafreeamerica.libsyn.com/
• The Brights: http://www.the-brights.net/
• The Secular Web: http://www.infidels.org/
• Scott Klarr’s collections of links: http://www.scottklarr.com/tag/atheism/
• Humanist chaplaincy at Harvard: http://harvardhumanist.org/
• IAmAnAtheist blog – http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/
• http://lolgod.blogspot.com/
• Proud Atheists blog – http://proudatheists.wordpress.com/
• Reddit: Atheism – http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/
• “Possitive Atheism” – positiveatheism.org
• Secular Wiki – colbadhombre.net/SecularWiki – an online reference and information site for the godless, a group of people that includes Humanists, Agnostics, Atheists, Free Thinkers, Ethical Culturists, Objectivists, naturalists, rationalists, non-theists, doubters, skeptics and many others, defined and undefined.
• FreeThoughtFilter Wiki –
  freethoughtfilter.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
• Council for Secular Humanism – secularhumanism.org
• the Secular web – infidels.org
• Quackwatch – quackwatch.org – Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions; Operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D.
• The Skeptic Society – skeptic.com
• The Skeptic blog – skepticblog.org (… SkepticBlog is a collaboration among some of the most recognized names in promoting science, critical thinking, and skepticism. It also features the cast and producers of The Skeptologists, a pilot skeptical reality show. …)
• http://www.skeptologists.com/
• atheistalliance.org
• prometheusbooks.com
• michigan.camp-quest.com
• msu.edu/~msufa
• http://skeptoid.com/
• James Randi Education Foundation – http://www.randi.org/site/ (… the foundation’s aim is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today. … )
• Great Lakes Humanist Society – glhumanist.org
• CSICOP – Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal – csicop.org
• American Atheists – atheists.org
• American Humanist Association – americanhumanist.org
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State – http://www.au.org/site/PageServer
• Council for Secular Humanism – http://www.secularhumanism.org/default.htm
• People for the American Way – pfaw.org/pfaw/general
• ffrf.org
• National Center for Science Education – natcenscied.org
• Mitchigan Citizens for Science – http://www.michigancitizensforscience.org/pn/index.php
• Michigan Scientific Evolution Education Initiative – web.grcc.cc.mi.us/mseei
• ACLU Michigan – www.aclumich.org
• The North Texas Skeptics – www.ntskeptics.org
• Universism – universist.org
• MAAF (Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers) – http://www.maaf.info/
• Blog: “Ex Exclusive Brethren Agnostic/Atheists thoughts” – http://yobeauty.wordpress.com/
• Blog: “Truelogic’s Weblog” – http://truelogic.wordpress.com/
• Blog: “The Wall of Separation” by Rob Preston – http://blog.au.org/ – on separation of state and church
• Blog: “Our Humanity, Naturally” by Dave Niose – http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally | RSS – http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/feed
• At this blog: Bertrand Russell – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/bertrand-russell/

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Articles

• “How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion” (MIT Technology Review) – http://www.technologyreview.com/view/526111/how-the-internet-is-taking-away-americas-religion/
  • Using the Internet can destroy your faith. That’s the conclusion of a study showing that the dramatic drop in religious affiliation in the U.S. since 1990 is closely mirrored by the increase in Internet use.
• “Religious affiliation, education and Internet use” by Allen B. Downey (arXiv: arXiv:1403.5534v1 [stat.AP]; 2014.03.21) – http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.5534
  • Using data from the General Social Survey, we measure the effect of education and Internet use on religious affiliation. We find that Internet use is associated with decreased probability of religious affiliation; for moderate use (2 or more hours per week) the odds ratio is 0.82 (CI 0.69–0.98, p=0.01). For heavier use (7 or more hours per week) the odds ratio is 0.58 (CI 0.41–0.81, p<0.001). In the 2010 U.S. population, Internet use could account for 5.1 million people with no religious affiliation, or 20% of the observed decrease in affiliation relative to the 1980s. Increases in college graduation between the 1980s and 2000s could account for an additional 5% of the decrease.
• “Is Atheism Irrational?” by Gary Gutting (NY Times; 2014.02.09) – http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/is-atheism-irrational/
• “‘Spiritual but Not Religious’: A Rising, Misunderstood Voting Bloc” by Steven Barrie-Anthony (The Atlantic; 2014.01.14) – http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/spiritual-but-not-religious-a-rising-misunderstood-voting-bloc/283000/
  • No, they’re not just atheists.
• ” New Atheism’s big mistake: Debating creationists solves nothing” by Sean McElwee and Abigail Salvatore – http://www.salon.com/2014/02/01/new_atheisms_big_mistake_debating_creationists_solves_nothing/
  • Fundamentalism isn’t really about the Bible; it’s about politics. So attacking religion doesn’t fix the problem
• “Bill Nye’s Debate Of Creationist Ken Ham Has Some Scientists Bothered (VIDEO)” – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/03/bill-nye-debate-creationist-ken-ham-video_n_4714370.html
• “Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Soon Will Be History” by FRANK ELTMAN (HuffPost > Science; 2012.05.26) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/27/richard-leakey-evolution-debate_n_1548766.html
• “Atheists flying ad campaign meets strong resistance” (CNN; 2011.06.30) – http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/30/atheists-flying-ad-campaign-meets-strong-resistance/
• “Is it time to counter religious bullying? – Religious Right bombards NBC over Pledge wording” by Dave Niose (Psychology Today > Our Humanity, Naturally; 2011.06.23) – http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201106/is-it-time-counter-religious-bullying
• “Physics and the Immortality of the Soul” by Sean Carroll (Cosmic Variance blog at Discover; 2011.05.23) – http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2011/05/23/physics-and-the-immortality-of-the-soul/
• “Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ” by Elizabeth Landau, (CNN; 2011.02.27) – http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-26/health/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence_1_sexual-behaviors-liberalism-exclusivity
  … Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and found that, on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. This applied also to sexual exclusivity in men, but not in women. …
• “Ayn Rand: The GOP’s Godless Philosopher” by Amy Sullivan (Time; 2011.05.13) – http://swampland.time.com/2011/05/13/the-gops-godless-philosopher/
• “Is Your Religion Your Financial Destiny?” by David Leonhardt (NY Times; 2011.05.11) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/magazine/is-your-religion-your-financial-destiny.html
• “Study links willingness to cheat, viewpoint on God” by Nomi Morris (Los Angeles Times; 2011.04.30) – http://articles.latimes.com/print/2011/apr/30/local/la-me-beliefs-morals-20110430 – The study found no difference in the ethical behavior of believers and nonbelievers. But participants who saw God as compassionate were more likely to cheat than those who believed in an angry, punitive God.
• “The Myth of Militant Atheism” by Dave Niose (Psychology Today; 2011.02.17) – http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201102/the-myth-militant-atheism – Why are atheists vilified? What is a militant atheist?
• “Why do Americans still dislike atheists?” by Gregory Pauland and Phil Zuckerman (the Washington Post; 2011.04.29) – http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-americans-still-dislike-atheists/2011/02/18/AFqgnwGF_story.html
  …A growing body of social science research reveals that atheists, and non-religious people in general, are far from the unsavory beings many assume them to be. On basic questions of morality and human decency — issues such as governmental use of torture, the death penalty, punitive hitting of children, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, environmental degradation or human rights — the irreligious tend to be more ethical than their religious peers, particularly compared with those who describe themselves as very religious. …
• “Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military” by James Dao (New York Times; 2011.04.26) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/us/27atheists.html
• Ricky Gervais:
  • “An (Atheist) Easter Message from Ricky Gervais” (World Street Journal; 2011.04.14) – http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/14/an-easter-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-excellent-christian/
  • “Ricky Gervais: Why I’m an Atheist” (World Street Journal; 2010.12.19) – http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/
  • Ricky Gervais home page – http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php
• “Religion and obesity: Can church make you fat?” by Julie Deardorff (Chicago Tribune; 2011.03.24) – http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/julieshealth/chi-religion-and-obesity-can-church-make-you-fat-20110324,0,4939382.story
• “Letter to the Six Billionth World Citizen” by Salman Rushdie (at Aaron Crossen’s blog) – http://www.aaroncrossen.com/?p=39 – Salman Rushdie’s letter to the six-billionth citizen
• “Questionable Quiz: Why The Military’s ‘Spiritual Fitness’ Test Flunks” by Rob Boston (The Wall of Separation; 2011.01.10) – http://blog.au.org/2011/01/10/questionable-quiz-why-the-military%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98spiritual-fitness%E2%80%99-test-flunks/
• “Walking Santa, Talking Christ” – Why do Americans claim to be more religious than they are?; by Shankar VedantamPosted (Slate; 2010.12.23) – http://www.slate.com/id/2278923/
• “Why I Am Not a Christian (An Examination of the God-Idea and Christianity)”
  by Bertrand Russell (1927.03.06) – positiveatheism.org/hist/russell0.htm
• “No Atheists Need Apply” by Wendy Kaminer [http://www.theatlantic.com/wendy-kaminer] (The Atlantic; 2010.01.13) – http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/01/no-atheists-need-apply/33460/
• “Science and Belief in Turin” by Nina Burleigh (The Huffington Post, 2010.04.11) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nina-burleigh/science-and-belief-in-tur_b_533207.html
  What some people call the clash of civilizations is not a fight between Islam and the West but between science and faith. The religious rightists in America may want us to believe that they are different from the theocrats of Iran and the fundamentalist of Al Qaeda who teach their suicide bombers that they are targeting “infidel” Christians or Jews, but in fact, the dogmatically religious have more in common with each other than with non-believers.
  
  We live in an age of intense materialism in which scientists are on the verge of understanding how the universe was formed, but we also live at a time of resurgent faith that remains as hostile to science as when Galileo was locked up for observing the centrality of the sun…
• “The Importance of Unbelief” by Stephen Fry: http://bigthink.com/ideas/17864
  …If you assume there’s no afterlife, Stephen Fry says, you’ll likely have a fuller, more interesting life. …
• “Food for The Eagle” by Adam Savage: http://www.boingboing.net/features/savage.html
  • MythBusters to Receive Harvard Humanism Award: http://harvardhumanist.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:drawing-inspiration-from-the-arts&catid=6:lastest-news&Itemid=38
• “The Atheists are Doing it Wrong” by Fruzsina Eordogh (2010.07.26) – http://trueslant.com/fruzsinaeordogh/2010/07/26/the-atheists-are-doing-it-wrong/
  … If the fundamentalist Christians are pushing for Creationism to be taught in public schools (despite it violating the First Amendment), then the Atheists should be willing to compromise by pushing for more faith based studies – because, how can religious folk say no to more religious education? …
  
  …Atheists will not be able to dispel the notion of God from our collective minds for a long long time (Religion has dominated human minds for thousands of years) – so Atheists should instead be pushing for more tolerance of various different viewpoints, of various different religions. Because that is the real problem Athiests have with the Religious. The religious fundamentals lack critical thinking skills, are narrow minded, possess various prejudices in spades, don’t care about love or this planet, and cannot even defend why they are part of the faith they are in – its like they are indoctrinated, much like a cult. …
• Top Ten Myths of Popular Psychology – http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/10-09-01/

  • Myth #1: We Only Use 10% of our Brains
  • Myth #2: It’s Better to Express Anger Than to Hold it in
  • Myth #3: Low Self-Esteem is a Major Cause of Psychological Problems
  • Myth #4: Human Memory Works like a Video Camera
  • Myth #5: Hypnosis is a Unique “Trance” State Differing in Kind from Wakefulness
  • Myth #6: The Polygraph Test is an Accurate Means of Detecting Lies
  • Myth #7: Opposites Attract
  • Myth #8: People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities
  • Myth #9: Full Moons Cause Crimes and Craziness
  • Myth #10: A Large Proportion of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense

• “The Origin of Superstition, Magical Thinking, and Paranormal Beliefs (an integrative model)” by Marjaana Lindeman & Kia Aarnio (Skeptic; 2010.09.08) – http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/10-09-08/#feature
• an humorous discussion on “Open-Source religion” – http://www.metafilter.com/82405/Open-Source-Religion – religion as programming code, i.e. an implementation of memes.
• Bertrand Russell‘s Ten Commandments for Atheists – http://timf.anansi-web.com/serendipity/:

  • Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
  • Do not think it worthwhile to produce belief by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
  • Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.
  • When you meet with opposition, even if it is from your family, endeavor to overcome it with argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
  • Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
  • Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do, the opinions will suppress you.
  • Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
  • Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
  • Be scrupulously truthful even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
  • Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that is happiness.
    
• “Morals Without God?” by Frans De Wall (The New York Times; 2010.10.17) – http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/morals-without-god/?src=me&ref=general
• “Morality: ‘We can send religion to the scrap heap'” (New Scientist, issue 2782; 2010.10.20) – http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827822.100-morality-we-can-send-religion-to-the-scrap-heap.html?full=true&print=true – an interview with Sam Harris.
• “Why atheism will replace religion” by Nigel Barber (2010.05.18) – http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion … Atheists are heavily concentrated in economically developed countries, particularly the social democracies of Europe. In underdeveloped countries, there are virtually no atheists. …
• “Obama Touches the Untouchables: Non-Believers” by Steven Waldman (The Huffington Post; 2009.01.20) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-waldman/obama-touches-the-untouch_b_159538.html

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Here at this blog: Bertrand Russell – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/bertrand-russell/.