The Swedish Atheist, The Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails Randal Rauser talks the Swedish Atheist on Drew Marshall “Meet Randal Rauser, a Christian, and Sheridan, an atheist. Over the course of one caffeinated afternoon, they explore a range of honest questions and real objections to Christian faith. Do people hold to a particular […]
Archives for September 2010
Carl Sagan’s old time religion
I would like to say some more about Sagan’s Pale blue dot fallacy but before doing so let’s say something about Sagan’s (ir)religiosity. It is often assumed that Sagan was an atheist. (Here I am assuming the standard definition of atheist as one who believes there is no God where “God” is defined broadly as […]
You’re not special because the universe is really, really big
Today we’ll start with one of my all time favorite youtube bits, one which offers a magisterial 2 minute journey through the comparative sizes of various celestial bodies. You must watch it before you continue: Star Size Comparison Clearly size is the issue here. We start off with the moon and end up with a star […]
Everybody’s gotta god
A new/old visitor to the Tentative Apologist, whatifitstrue, asks: “When does a belief system (including , perhaps atheism) become a religion…?” So what is religion? Perhaps belief in God, an authoritative revealed text, and a set of sacred rituals? In Bob’s garage is a cherry 70’ Chevelle 454. On the shelf beside the car is […]
Say, whatever became of ole’ whatshisname?
In the last few days I’ve had a few people inquire as to the status of the Tentative Apologist. Yes, I’ve been remiss in keeping the blog crackling along, this is true. But I’ve hardly been resting on my laurels. On the contrary, it’s been a couple weeks of fever pitch activity. Here’s a quick […]
Why Richard Dawkins can’t be the world’s leading atheist
Richard Dawkins is widely touted as the world’s leading atheist. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. I suppose there’s no easy way to settle the matter. (Counting numbers of books sold or google hits seems a bit arbitrary, no?) But then again, maybe there is a way to settle the matter… William Lane Craig is […]
How to burn a Qur’an (and get CNN to report it)
It is a tiny church of fifty members in Gainesville Florida, but the D___ W____ O_______ C_____ found a way to put itself on the map: threaten to burn copies of the Qur’an on September 11th in protest of the “evil of Islam”. But this story isn’t about the evil of this wackadoodle group, and […]
