false 171992 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 171992 1 166088 2003 God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong total:10|4:6|3:3|2:1| 10 35 17 1 406026 4.16 3363 335 17537031 937966 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Mar 11 14:41:06 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 18:01:03 -0700 2008 Joshi pulls no punches, offering the reader an entert...more...]]> 78407200 1548857 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Fri Nov 20 03:58:33 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 03:58:33 -0800 2009 76070242 1869213 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Wed Oct 28 19:23:28 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 19:23:28 -0700 2009 52592113 2217448 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Mon Apr 13 21:23:11 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 21:23:11 -0700 2009 50892605 2174435 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 3 0 false Mon Mar 30 02:05:22 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 02:05:22 -0700 2009 50117226 2023785 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Sun Mar 22 18:31:51 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 18:31:54 -0700 2009 48779226 2112683 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Tue Mar 10 01:13:32 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 01:13:32 -0700 2009 48778968 912503 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Tue Mar 10 01:04:55 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 01:04:55 -0700 2009 46465388 2034124 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Sun Feb 15 18:28:52 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 18:28:52 -0800 2009 37692578 1548763 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Thu Nov 13 23:19:30 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 23:19:30 -0800 2008 35638704 203040 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Sat Oct 18 12:49:24 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 18 12:49:24 -0700 2008 26819151 895852 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 4 0 false Wed Jul 09 20:49:13 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 20:49:13 -0700 2008 16251755 937888 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Sun Feb 24 12:01:41 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 24 12:01:41 -0800 2008 16135903 932783 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 3 0 false Fri Feb 22 18:28:02 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 18:28:02 -0800 2008 10604477 684933 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 0 0 false Mon Dec 17 21:02:14 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 21:02:20 -0800 2007 9766377 651083 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 2 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri Nov 30 11:27:21 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 11:27:26 -0800 2007 1984710 118433 171992 1591020808 9781591020806 1 <![CDATA[God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078m/171992.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172397078s/171992.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171992.God_s_Defenders_What_They_Believe_and_Why_They_Are_Wrong 3.50 10 That the essential doctrines of the world's major religions -- especially Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- are matters of truth or falsity is itself a fact around which no amount of sophistry or special pleading can get. Unfortunately for them, evidence has been steadily accumulating for at least the last half-millennium to suggest that these doctrines are false. What has saved religions from completely collapsing of their own absurdity is, of course, the difficulty--indeed, the impossibility--of definitively determining the truth or falsity of these doctrines. The impossibility allows the pious to maintain, as a slim and ever-decreasing hope, that the tenets of their religion might somehow still be true, or at least not clearly false. No amount of negative evidence can ever conclusively put any given religious dogmas out of court (aside from those that can be shown to be self-inconsistent), because there will always remain the remote possibility that they are true. . .

[I]t is plain that the battle against religious obscurantism must and will continue. The moment one folly is snuffed out, another and still greater folly seems to emerge to take its place. The greatest harm that religion has done, and continues to do -- well beyond such malfeasances as the killing of witches and heretics, the suppression of civil liberties, the disastrous uniting of religion with morality, and the terrorizing of its own adherents with thoughts of hellfire and eternal damnation -- is the subversion of clear thinking. This subversion, in my judgment, corrupts even the social benefits that religion has on occasion provided. My only plea, therefore, is that atheists, agnostics, and secularists speak out a bit more vociferously, even tartly and pungently, against their foes -- for foes they certainly are, not only to human freedom and dignity, but to the advance of all human knowledge and civilization.

]]> 2003 3 0 false Thu Jun 14 19:10:28 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 14 19:10:28 -0700 2007 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=171992