Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
At any rate, there’s a lively discussion going on in Heather’s comments section, and Neil Godfrey has shown up, arguing, as he always does, that the role of Islam in Islamic terrorism is much overrated. I’m just glad he’s inflicted himself on Heather and not me. It baffles me that nearly every nonreligious ideology—Nazism, Stalinism, racism, and … Continue reading “More nonsense from Jerry Coyne”
Jerry Coyne is no doubt upsetting the biblical scholars whose living (and more often than not their personal faith) depends upon Jesus having been a historical figure @ Not much evidence for a historical Jesus. (He insists he speaks as a scientist and as such is not very impressed by theologians claiming he should respect the … Continue reading “Jerry Coyne on Jesus Christ Again (per RR)”
From Jerry Coyne of Why Evolution Is True: It’s time to ponder whether a Jesus really existed I’m always surprised at how much rancor is directed toward “mythicists”—those who deny that there was a real Jesus who, whether or not he was divine, was the nucleus around which Christianity accreted. I’m also surprised at how certain many biblical scholars are … Continue reading “Jerry Coyne Again Batting for Jesus Mythicism”
Good to see Scott Atran respond specifically to the nonsense of Sam Harris and Jerry Coyne on the question of wheher religion is or isn’t a cause of current and past political violence. . . On his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/scott.atran?fref=nf&pnref=story [link no longer active – Neil Godfrey, 24th July 2019] How in fact can we destroy ISIS and its … Continue reading “Scott Atran’s response to Sam Harris & Jerry Coyne on religion and terrorism”
“If every time we mentioned women to a friend he started talking about their breasts, we’d be entitled to think that this was all he was interested in when it comes to women. The same goes for Coyne (and Harris’s) almost exclusive focus on religious beliefs in the context of Islamist terrorism.“ Dan Jones on … Continue reading ““On how to be completely wrong about radicalisation: the curious case of Jerry Coyne”“
I don’t know if Jerry will permit the following words appear on his blog. He has trashed my comments in the past. I submitted the comment in response to Heather Hastie on female genital mutilation: Is it Islamic? I avoided specific reference to FGM and spoke instead more generally of barbaric practices. (We all know the real … Continue reading “Jerry Coyne, meet Hector Avalos”
I was disappointed, and for some reason even a little surprised, to read Jerry Coyne’s response, Islamophobia again, to my recent post and see that he chose not to deal with the key points I raised. In fact, he merely repeated his own arguments as if my own rebuttal of them was nowhere on record. … Continue reading “Jerry Coyne’s reply, Bangladeshi Muslim Demonstrators, and Atheist Bloggers”
Jerry Coyne of Why Evolution Is True fame has posted on his blog his own comments on Richard Carrier’s review of Ehrman’s book. Here is his conclusion: In other words, Ehrman’s book is important to Americans only insofar as it can be taken to support the tenets of Christianity. Since it doesn’t, even by Ehrman’s … Continue reading “Jerry Coyne’s (Why Evolution Is True) Comments on Carrier’s Review of Ehrman”
Here is a list of reviews and discussions of Bart Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? on Vridar. By Others Earl Doherty’s Responses to Bart Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? Now an eBook: Doherty’s Rebuttal of Ehrman’s Case for the Existence of Jesus Hermann Detering’s Review of Bart Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? Pdf file — or in three … Continue reading “Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman) – Reviews“
Peter Neumann is in my library (The Strategy of Terrorism, Radicalized, Bluster) and I have briefly referred to his words in earlier posts (Radicalisation and On how to be completely wrong…). I’ve mostly found him to be right, though. Hope he’s wrong about the future, though.
I’ve been thinking through how best to complete the second part of my post, Atheists Do Not Understand Religion, trying to figure out the clearest way to present the results of the anthropological research which means trying to get them ever more clear in my own mind first. At the same time I have found myself … Continue reading “Atheist Hostility to Jesus Mythicism … making sense of it”
Interesting to compare two different responses to Southern Lauren‘s attempt to enter a Muslim area she opposes. Each links to a different report of the event. (I had thought Southern had been denied a visa to enter Australia; I’ve obviously been out of touch with the latest developments.) Jerry Coyne’s Comment P.Z. Myers’ Comment A … Continue reading “Looking for Trouble: Two Views”
A autobiography I found of special interest in understanding how a British Muslim became radicalized and eventually de-radicalized was Radical by Maajid Nawaz. I discussed one aspect of it in the post The Conflict between Islamism and Islam. From his biography and in his online writings and talks I have read and heard since there is absolutely … Continue reading “Flawed Counter-Terrorists”
Jerry Coyne and Mano Singham have each posted their respective conundrums about Nazis and modern day antisemitism. FTB (Freethought blogs) blogger Mano Singham raises his question in Why do neo-Nazis hate Jews? But the anti-Jewish racism of Nazi Germany had a plausible explanation. Demagogues always face a particular problem. Part of their appeal is to pander … Continue reading “Two Baffling Conundrums on Modern AntiSemitism”