The Brief
Get Up To SpeedIn the words of Blaise Pascal, mathematician and Catholic, 'Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.' Does religion breed intolerance, violence, and the promotion of medieval ideas? Or should we concede that overall, it has been a source for good, giving followers purpose, while encouraging morality and ethical behavior?
View Debate PageMatthew Chapman
- Author, Filmmaker and Co-Founder of Science Debate
Matthew Chapman will argue for the motion the world would be better off without religion at the Nov. 15 Slate/Intelligence Squared U.S. debate in New York.
A real hero with real courage, Pat Tillman not only refutes forever the lie that there are no atheists in foxholes, but more than that provides an opening for a far more radical thought: atheism, in and of itself, is courageous, and faith, in and of itself, is cowardly.
If you've spent time meeting religious people in small-town America, it's easy to imagine what "outing" yourself as an atheist could mean in such a place. Atheists should learn from the gay rights movement that the first step toward acceptance is the one that takes you out of the closet.
A.C. Grayling
- Renowned Atheist and Professor of Philosophy
Tyler Krupp and Rachel Stuart, The Stone, New York Times, October 31, 2011
An interview with Grayling, philosopher and public intellectual.
In his new book, The Good Book: A Secular Bible, the philosopher sets out his manifesto for rational thought. He talks about why religion angers him, the power of philosophy and his mane of hair.
In the wake of the natural disaster in New Zealand and Japan, Grayling questions those that spend time praying to a god.
Peter Brietbart, Freethinker, February 22, 2010
A 4-part interview with A.C. Grayling, discussing the meaning of life and the burqa in , combating extremism and circumcision in , why religion has stuck around so long in , and what lies in store for humanity in .
Peter Brietbart, Freethinker, February 22, 2010
A 4-part interview with A.C. Grayling, discussing the meaning of life and the burqa in , combating extremism and circumcision in , why religion has stuck around so long in , and what lies in store for humanity in .
Peter Brietbart, Freethinker, February 22, 2010
A 4-part interview with A.C. Grayling, discussing the meaning of life and the burqa in , combating extremism and circumcision in , why religion has stuck around so long in , and what lies in store for humanity in .
A panel discussion on the role religion plays in society featuring A.C. Grayling, Evan Harris, Samia Rahman, Jon Cruddas, and Cristina Odone.
Religion has lost respectability as a result of the atrocities committed in its name, because of its clamoring for an undue slice of the pie, and for its efforts to impose its views on others.
Dinesh D'Souza
- Author, What's So Great About Christianity
Even if we set aside religious conviction, there are compelling reasons to believe in life after death.
When science, far from disproving God, seems to be pointing with ever-greater precision toward transcendence, imagination and wishful thinking seem all that is left for the atheists to count on.
So does a belief in evolution automatically lead to disbelief in God? Actually, Darwin didn't think that. Darwin was not an "intellectually fulfilled atheist"; rather, he called himself an agnostic.
The best empirical evidence for life after death comes from people who have had near death experiences.
Atheism foolishly presumes that reason is, in principle, capable of figuring out all that there is, while theism at least knows that there is a reality greater than, and beyond, that which our senses and our minds can ever apprehend.
Many of the conflicts that are counted as religious wars were not fought over religion. They were mainly fought over rival claims to territory and power.
An interview with Kings College President Dinesh DSouza: why hell argue against the motion, The World Would Be Better Off Without Religion, at the Nov. 15 Slate/Intelligence Squared U.S. debate.
The undecided person is right to wonder how Christianity will make his life better. After all, he is considering not only whether to believe something but whether to base his life on it. DSouza enumerates some concrete ways in which Christianity can improve our lives.
Across the globe, religious faith is thriving and religious people are having more children. By contrast, atheist conventions only draw a handful of embittered souls, and the atheist lifestyle seems to produce listless tribes that cannot even reproduce themselves.
Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint, November 12 & 19, 2009
An interview with DSouza about his life as a Christian apologist.
Evolutionists have some ingenious explanations for morality. But do they work?
If evolution cannot explain how humans became moral primates, what can?
Dinesh DSouza, the new president of New York Citys only Evangelical college, wants to build a Christain A-team.
Rabbi David Wolpe
- Named the #1 Pulpit Rabbi in America by Newsweek
An interview with Rabbi David Wolpe: Why hell argue against the motion, The World Would Be Better Off Without Religion, at the Nov. 15 Slate/Intelligence Squared U.S. debate.
Yet there is a reason why people who are part of religious communities give more to charity, are healthier and happier - as demonstrated in study after study. Faith is not the child of hope but its parent. Faith gives one the courage to find purpose even in dark times.
Without eliding or eluding the fact that Islam is a particularly troubling case in the modern world, the question remains: does conducting hearings into Islam specifically aid or impede our pursuit of terrorism?
Can science and religion coexist? Of course they can if each side is willing to practice a little epistemological humility.
Wolpe gives four reasons why he thinks atheists are so angry.
For The Motion
Imagine, sang John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Kashmir dispute, no Indo/Pakistan partition, no Israel/Palestine wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no Northern Ireland 'troubles.'
The fundamental problem with religion is that it is built, to a remarkable degree, upon lies.
Social scientific research concerning the identities, values, and behaviors of people who don't believe in God or are non-religious, and addresses the ways in which atheism and secularity are positively correlated with societal well-being.
Earlier this year, Andrew Zak Williams asked public figures why they believe in God. Now it's the turn of the atheists ' from A C Grayling to P Z Myers ' to explain why they don't.
Against The Motion
To regret religion is to regret Western civilization.
Theodore Dalrymple, an atheist, argues belief in God makes you a better person, both morally and practically.
Karen Armstrong and Richard Dawkins to respond independently to the question "Where does evolution leave God?"
As a believer, Collins sees DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.
It's not so much about this doctrine or that, Mass or the Lord's Supper or even Ramadan or Yom Kippur. It's about purpose, meaning and whether I ought to get out of bed in the morning.
In our increasingly secular society, many religious people feel their voices are not heard. So here, leading public figures and scientists explain their faith to Andrew Zak Williams.
Religion and War
Are religion and religious differences to blame for war and conflict? Many war leaders have claimed to have God on their side, but should religion get the blame? A "War Audit" commissioned for the BBC program "What the World Thinks of God" investigates the links between war and religion through the ages. It was carried out by researchers at the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford University.
Morality
While morals may not have come exclusively from religious precepts, it might be hasty to say that religion has nothing to do with our moral code.
Debates
Mark Oppenheimer and Sam Harris debate whether religion is a force for good for the Economist.
Surveys
This survey details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid.
Gallup surveys confirm a downward drift in religious identity among Americans, as well as a slight increase in the number of Americans who view religion as old-fashioned and out of date.
