“Over 300 different body plans are found without any fossil transitions between them and single-cell organisms.”
Killing for religion
(This article is based on a presentation the author gave to CFI Toronto in 2008.)
On December 10, 2007, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez was found strangled, and succumbed to the assault within hours. Her father, Muhammad Parvez, and her brother Waqas were charged with her murder.
What the Bible says about Christmas trees
It’s that time of year again: there’s a chill in the air, malls are playing the same music over and over, and the whining about the alleged attempts to expunge Christmas has begun.
I’m dreaming of a secular Christmas
Every year since I’ve become politically cognizant it seems I’ve had to endure people bickering about the ‘controversy’ over Christmas. Is it a war on Christmas, as the American right-wing TV and radio hosts purport? Is it offensive to say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” as opposed to “Merry Christmas?” Is being inclusive and saying “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Kwanzaa,” etc. a slippery slope? Is it hypocritical at best, politically or ethically untenable at worst, for atheists to celebrate Christmas? Some non-theists don’t celebrate Christmas because of its religious connotations, and some theists think that non-Christians shouldn’t celebrate Christmas.
The prophecies of Malachy
Part of “Pseudoscience A to Z”, a series of articles in the Skeptics Canada newsletter.
Malachy O’Morgair is known today as Saint Malachy, and like many saints, he had humble beginnings.
Tags: Prophecies, Pseudoscience A to Z —
Glossolalia: Speaking in tongues
Part of “Pseudoscience A to Z”, a series of articles in the Skeptics Canada newsletter about topics that have not been subjected to much critical thinking by their promoters.
Tags: Glossolalia, Pseudoscience A to Z —
“Intelligent Design is not science”: The Dover decision
US District Judge John E. Jones III issued his long-awaited ruling on the case of Kitzmiller et al. versus the Dover (Pennsylvania) Area School District on Dec. 20, 2005. The school board had required grade-nine biology teachers to read a statement calling evolution not a fact but a theory with gaps and pointing to Intelligent Design as alternative explanation for the origins of life.
Tags: Education, Intelligent Design —
In the beginning: A closer look at creation geoscience
Introduction
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The first book of the Bible, Genesis (1:1-31), describes the creation of the universe in six days, from out of cold nothingness, by a supernatural being to which Christianity, Judaism and Islam bid worship. As time progressed, people began to look more closely at the rocks which they trod upon, and noticed peculiarities which could not be accounted for by the Bible, and so required further explanation. Thus was born the scientific field of geology — the description of the earth’s rocks and how they came to be situated in their current locations.
Tags: Intelligent Design —
Alphabiotics from the neck up
Part of “Pseudoscience A to Z”, a series of brief articles in the OSSCI newsletter about topics that have not been subjected to much critical thinking by their promoters.
Tags: Alphabiotics, Pseudoscience A to Z —