ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 27

A Terrific 2020 for TIES

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) is a program of the Richard Dawkins Foundation that gives middle school teachers the tools they need to effectively teach evolution and answer its critics. Having put on free in-person workshops in all fifty states before the pandemic, TIES has fully embraced its new role as an online source …

Thinking Like an Atheist

For Seth Andrews, host of The Thinking Atheist podcast and author of the upcoming book Confessions of a Former Fox News Christian, atheism is just one step in a longer journey of discovery. “The Thinking Atheist is not me; it’s an idea,” he tells Rob Palmer in a special interview for CFI, where he discusses his skeptical coverage …

Mubarak Bala, Blasphemy, and a Year of Nightmares

Mubarak Bala, president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was arrested in April for unspecified crimes, during a year of aggressive invocation of Nigeria’s blasphemy law. The fact that a judge has now decreed that Bala must be released—eight months after being detained without charge—is what passes for good news in 2020. We’ll take it. The …

FILM CLUB

We have created this thread to provide a dedicated space for the discussion of films. All we ask is that, whatever the topic or genre, the films are stimulating, intelligent and thoughtful, so that they are actually worth discussing, and that you post any recommendations along with a commentary giving a bit of background and …

VIDEO: A Most Fortunate Event

In the latest Skeptical Inquirer Presents online event, Sean B. Carroll wowed over 700 real-time viewers with a fascinating look at how random chance has shaped the universe we live in at every level, from the macrocosmic to the microscopic. Not only was it revelatory to think of the odds against each of us being …

The Facts about 5G

A few months ago, 5G wireless technology was in the news because of absurd conspiracy theories claiming that 5G towers were spreading the coronavirus. This nonsensical myth is still propagating, even as tech giants such as Apple are singing the praises of 5G. Meanwhile, many people still harbor fears that cell phone signals cause cancer. …

The U.S. House Condemns Blasphemy Laws

A cofounder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Rep. Jamie Raskin has been a passionate advocate for the rights of nonbelievers around the world. Earlier this week, after delivering a stirring speech on the floor of the House, Raskin pushed through a resolution calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws. “Everyone must …

A Secular Agenda for a New Era

As the Trump presidency sputters to a close, idealogues in the administration are scrambling to implement policies that further erode church-state separation, undermine science, and remove protections for groups the religious right doesn’t like. For example, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has finalized a rule allowing federal contractors to discriminate against racial and religious minorities, women, …

The Court’s Collision with Reality

Last month, the Supreme Court showed that it is willing to privilege religion even at the expense of public health during a pandemic with its decision to overturn New York’s restrictions on indoor worship services. Ron Brownstein at The Atlantic explores how the Court’s new religious-conservative supermajority is in cultural conflict with the country’s secularizing …

How the Horsemen Changed America

Around the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. was one of the world’s most religious countries, but around 2007 something shifted, and since then America has become the eleventh least religious country. What happened? In the latest issue of Free Inquiry, Robyn Blumner, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins …