ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 14

The Struggle Continues: International Blasphemy Rights Day 2021

To charge someone with blasphemy is to value a person’s life less than an idea. Sometimes the punishment is imprisonment. Sometimes the punishment is death. September 30 was International Blasphemy Rights Day, a day established by the Center for Inquiry in 2009 to reassert our commitment to defending the right to question and criticize the …

The Irreplaceable Tom Flynn

On August 23, the American freethought movement lost one of its heroes, and everyone at the Center for Inquiry family lost a dear friend and beloved colleague. Tom Flynn—editor of Free Inquiry magazine, director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum and the Freethought Trail, and former executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism—died …

Tim Minchin to Receive 2021 Richard Dawkins Award

Tim Minchin has delighted and enlightened audiences around the world with his music and comedy. For two decades, he has used his remarkable talents to not only entertain but to open minds to the wonders of science, open hearts to the power of compassion, and expose the folly of pseudoscience and superstition.  For inspiring millions …

OPEN DISCUSSION OCTOBER 2021

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like to refer back to previous open discussion …

The Rollercoaster of Faith that led to Atheism (twice)

Mine is not a terrible, bloodshed, or torturing example of the evil side of religion, but rather a story of how logic got me in and out of religious thinking. It is interesting, to say the least, so please stick to me until the end. I was born and raised a Roman Catholic, as most …

OPEN DISCUSSION SEPTEMBER 2021

This thread has been created for discussion on themes relevant to Reason and Science for which there are not currently any dedicated threads. Please note that our Comment Policy applies as usual. There is a link to this at the foot of the page. If you would like to refer back to previous open discussion …

I was told that I was demon-possessed

Since entering this world as a conscious autonomous human being I feel I have experienced a somewhat well-rounded experience of Christianity, suffering both at the hands of Christians as well as experiencing some kindness and love. I began my journey as a child under a thunderous pulpit preacher in Edinburgh where the women wore hats …

Abracadabra!

From the Richard Dawkins Foundation Newsletter. Subscribe here. Hello! Words can have incredible power. If we didn’t think so, we wouldn’t produce magazines, podcasts, or this newsletter! But their power comes from how they transmit information, how they make us feel, and how they move us to act.  What words cannot do is cause things to …

Stuart Vyse on Superstitions: Good Luck with That

Triskaidekaphobia, rabbits’ feet, horseshoes, throwing salt over your shoulder, and fear of black cats. Old and silly superstitions are remarkably common, with even some of the most skeptical among us feeling beholden to some ritual, trinket, or omen to determine our fortunes. On the latest Skeptical Inquirer Presents online event, psychologist Stuart Vyse explored the …

Water Witches? Seriously?

You probably don’t need the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science to tell you that underground water can not be detected by channeling psychic energy through a couple of sticks. While obvious to you, it is anathema to those who believe in the power of “dowsing,” in which a person holding two rods can …