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A Tippling Philosopher

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Featured ATP

A collection of 264 posts

A Great Myth about Atheism: Hitler/Stalin/Pol Pot = Atheism = Atrocity - REDUX

This post was one of my most popular pieces on my previous blog, and I have, over time, revised it slightly to make it even tighter, reacting to previous comments on the last version of this piece. I have tried to be detailed enough for it to be fairly comprehensive,

Whitman, tumours, the neurotypical and moral responsibility

Whitman, tumours, the neurotypical and moral responsibility

There was a famous case of a terrible shooting in 1966. Charles Whitman, an otherwise intelligent (138 IQ), ‘normal’ man, did a very abnormal thing. Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was an American engineering student and former U.S. Marine, who killed seventeen people and wou

Biblical Exegesis

On the Skepticism of the Resurrection

Christmas is over, time to get on to Easter. Someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes.

The Problem With "God": Classical Theism Under The Spotlight

This is just a reminder that I have a new ebook available called: The Problem with "God". My new ebook is available now on Kindle, Nook and Kobo. James A. Lindsay (Dot, Dot, Dot: Infinity Plus God Equals Folly) kindly wrote a foreword to support the project. The

The Tories and their blatant cronyism. It disgusts me.

Hey Conservative Party, how about I do something for you - you know, in the name of elitist, right-wing party politics, and you, you know, scratch my back in return. I wouldn't mind one of those titles. You know, a Sir or something. [caption id="" align=

US religious right losing sway: picking simplistic causal reasons

US religious right losing sway: picking simplistic causal reasons

The Daily Beast recently reported the following: According to a Pew Research Report released earlier this year, the percentage of the U.S. population that identifies as Christian has dropped from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent in 2014. Evangelical, Catholic, and mainline Protestant affiliat

Where I stand with Islam and violence now

I have been quite outspoken in recent times about what I believe to be a necessary and inescapable connection between Islam, as properly understood (yes, that notion is wrought with issue) and violence (and intolerance). I have even debated this publicly and given a public talk on the topic (at the

The Star of Bethlehem: Lecture by Aaron Adair at Merrimack College

The Star of Bethlehem: Lecture by Aaron Adair at Merrimack College

I was lucky enough to edit Aaron Adair's superb book The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View which looks at the claims within the Gospel of Matthew concerning the Star of Bethlehem. Over the many hundreds of years, various people have advanced theories to explain the apparent phenomenon, to triple c

Arnie Slam Dunks on Climate Change

This was a post from Arnold Schwarzenegger to his facebook page. Brilliant: I don’t give a **** if we agree about climate change. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER·MONDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2015 I see your questions. Each and every time I post on my Facebook page or tweet about my crusade for a

My letter to Goldsmiths in support of Maryam Namazie

For what it's worth, I wrote a letter to the Goldsmiths Student Union and University Communications team in support of Maryam Namazie. If you are unaware of what has recently been going on, Namazie, an atheist ex-Muslim secularist was asked to speak to the Goldsmiths Uni Atheists and Humanists. Howe

Parenting - why it might not much matter. Nature vs nurture!

I want you to consider the possibility that your parents did not shape you as a person. Despite how it feels, your mother and father (or whoever raised you) likely imprinted almost nothing on your personality that has persisted into adulthood. Pause for a minute and let that heresy wash across your

US Politicians' "thoughts and prayers" after massacres: Igor Volsky and gun control

What looks to be a result of terrorist activity is still another mass shooting eased in its execution by some of the most lax gun rules in the world, and certainly in the developed world. In reaction to the San Bernardino shootings, there has been a marked difference between the political statements

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Value of Life

Life has value, we would intuitively claim. But what is it about life which gives it its value? Does life have value in and of itself, or is the value derived by things which life can give us, that we can do with it? The first is intrinsic value, that life is inherently meaningful and valuable in an

You know you are doing something right, when... - this moved me

I received this email through the website contact form the other night. It moved me. Subject: I was always going to write this email. Hey Jonathan,

The Lord's Prayer advert HAS NOT BEEN BANNED in cinemas

I just want to set the record straight since this is being mis-reported all over the media. I sent a complaint to the BBC and they changed their website headline, though still report it incorrectly on the TV news. Here is how the BBC report it, having changed "ban" to "snub" and "refusal":

Update on my zombie fiction book

I am happy to say that the final edit before it goes back to my partner in crime, Rebecca Bradley, of my zombie book is going really well. The great thing is that I have really enjoyed re-reading it. It is in parts tense, in parts gruesome, and in others intellectually stimulating and funny.

The Atlantic vs The Nation on ISIS

Two of the most interesting pieces concerning what has happened with regard to ISIS have come from The Atlantic and The Nation. I advise reading both, especially as The Nation's piece is an attempt to rebut the first article.

By Yo (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"True Islam" and violent extremism - redux

I am reposting this in response to the terror attacks in France last night, resulting in the deaths of over one hundred people. As ever, the internet is awash with right-wing shouts to "kill all Muslims" and refugees, to the left-wing shouts that it is the Imperial West to blame and not Islam or Mus

God's experiential knowledge and not creating anything

Those who adhere to divine foreknowledge adhere to the notion that God has complete knowledge. He is omniscient. Thomas Nagel once asked the intriguing question, "What does it feel like to be a bat?" God would know, surely? God, I would argue (probably, if I were a Christian)

The Problem with Divine Command Theory #3

I have previously talked about Divine Command Theory (DCT) in detail a couple of times before (here and here). I have been reading a paper called "Can God's Goodness Save The Divine Command Theory From Euthyphro?" by Jeremy Koons. It's a cracking paper and worth reading. The abstract reads:

By Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA (Helping the homeless Uploaded by Gary Dee) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

On non-religious children having greater altruism and empathy

Hitting the news today was research using data from around the word which showed that children from non-religious families were more altruistic and empathetic than their religious counterparts. This is interesting because it fits into a wider picture as to how religion works in tandem with identity,

Everybody Is Wrong About God

Everybody Is Wrong About God

James A. Lindsay is author of Dot, Dot, Dot: Infinity Plus God Equals Folly which is a book I edited and released on Onus Books. He has recently written a book due for imminent publishing called Everybody Is Wrong About God. I was lucky enough to see a draft version of the manuscript which I worked

Holy cow, another death: I would be hacked to death, too

Holy cow, another death: I would be hacked to death, too

My goodness. Bangladesh, sort it out. SORT IT OUT! I am a secular publisher and author and blogger. On account of all of that, would I be living in Bangladesh, I too would probably have been attacked. The BBC's Breaking News: Bangladeshi secular publisher hacked to death A

Wikimedia Commons

Philosophy 101 (philpapers induced) #8: Belief in God: theism or atheism?

Having posted the Philpapers survey results, the biggest ever survey of philosophers conducted in 2009, several readers were not aware of it (the reason for re-communicating it) and were unsure as to what some of the questions meant. I offered to do a series on them, so here it is – Philosophy 101 (

Heroin and guns

I have a friend who often takes heroin. She's responsible. She'll often go out and do it in the woods, where she owns a little farmstead. She'll shoot up and really enjoy herself. It makes her feel good; empowered. Gets those endorphins flowing.