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Randal Rauser

Home of progressively evangelical, generously orthodox, rigorously analytic, revolutionary Christian thinking (that's what I'm aiming for anyway)

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open society

Why atheists shouldn’t object to the call to “Pray for Paris”

November 15, 2015 by Randal

In the last two days the entire western world has been reeling from the horrific terrorist attacks on Paris. In response, twitter has seen hashtags like #PrayForParis and #Prayers4Paris trending as people far and wide join hands to stand in solidarity with the French people (even if “standing in solidarity” often consists of little more than a […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, open society, Pray for Paris, providence, solidarity, terrorism

Faith-Head Christians vs. Brain-Dead Atheists

August 15, 2015 by Randal

A few weeks ago I wrote an article titled “Faith-Head Christians vs. Brain-Dead Atheists” for the John Templeton Foundation to be published at Slate. The article was published a few days ago. You can read it here.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, Christianity, dialogue, open society, theism

Healthy dialogue in a polarized world

February 17, 2015 by Randal

The importance of charitable and thoughtful dialogue has long been a particular interest of mine. (See, for example, my 2011 book You’re not as Crazy as I Think: Dialogue in a World of Loud Voices and Hardened Opinions.) So I was happy to join Drake and Paul at Boldcupofcoffee.com for a discussion of these themes.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Boldcupofcoffee.com, dialogue, interview, open society, You're not as Crazy as You Think

Contempt for dissenting opinion

November 16, 2014 by Randal

In “Advice on politely educating ridiculous religious people” I took issue with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s claim that “religious beliefs are ridiculous.” In the discussion thread Rob Gressis asked: “How do you feel about people who believe in astrology or crystals?” I replied by noting that I wouldn’t call their belief ridiculous since such a statement would […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: dialogue, discourse, open society

Is it time to teach the controversy?

June 28, 2014 by Randal

You probably know this phrase as the clever marketing strategy of The Discovery Institute. Right in the upper echelons of marketing slogans, alongside DeBeers’ “A diamond is forever” and Nike’s “Just do it!” we have Discovery Institute’s “Teach the controversy”, a clever plea for open-mindedness and free inquiry as a way to bring intelligent design into […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: church, dialogue, evangelicalism, open society, Teach the Controversy

Is Peter Boghossian guilty of hate speech?

January 22, 2014 by Randal

Over the last day my good readers have drawn to our attention a couple passages on Peter Boghossian which are worth spotlighting on the main stage. To begin with, Derek M pointed out a truly bizarre fact that Boghossian’s promotional blurb mentions that he was kicked out of a doctoral program. For example, in the […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, fanatic, hate speech, ideology, open society, Peter Boghossian, theism

Mock beliefs, not people?

June 10, 2013 by Randal

In my essay “Laughing at Fundamentalists?” I critiqued John Loftus and Keith Parsons for advocating ridicule or mockery of those they call “fundamentalists”. In response a few commenters advocated mocking beliefs rather than the people that hold them. And how’s that supposed to work? Skeptic Sam (trying unsuccessfully to stifle a snicker): “Do you seriously […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: belief, dialogue, mockery, open society, ridicule

Why was Tsarnaev not read his Miranda rights? And how amazing that anybody should care to ask.

April 20, 2013 by Randal

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the remaining suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, was taken into custody last night. Since then I’ve heard many discussions, and read many opinions, over the fact that he wasn’t read his Miranda rights when he was taken into custody. The initial justification given was a Supreme Court decision that the reading of […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: democracy, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Miranda rights, open society

Can we end atheist and Christian name-calling?

March 16, 2012 by Randal

Earlier today The Atheist Missionary posted a comment which offered a link to a postcard length caricature of Christianity. The comment came replete with TAM’s own self-satisfied commentary:  what’s absurd are the theological underpinnings of Christian theology, succinctly expressed here: http://p.twimg.com/AoGpjSCCAAAhv8G.jpg:small Atheists look at something like this and chuckle. I’m not sure what goes through […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, dialogue, open society, secularism, The atheist missionary, You're not as crazy as I think

The grounds for excluding religious voices in secular society

January 9, 2012 by Randal

Jerry commented: “I believe that everyone has the right to express their beliefs on public policy, whatever it is that has contributed to the formation of  those beliefs.” Jerry may think that. But these days he may find himself in opposition to the secular state. Case in point, the debate in the Surrey School Board […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: dialogue, ethics, homosexuality, open society, pluralism, religion, secularism

The Pornographic Harry Potter? On the near impossibility of reasoning with Christian fundamentalists

July 17, 2011 by Randal

When I was in Rio last month I found myself in the back of a cab on my way to the conference at which I was to speak. Unfortunately, when we arrived I discovered that the cabbie didn’t accept credit cards and I had no Brazilian money. To complicate matters further, the poor fellow spoke no […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: fundamentalism, Harry Potter, liberal arts, open society

Losers who promote their own books on their blogs

January 24, 2011 by Randal

“Don’t you get tired of losers who promote their own books on their blogs? Dude, that is really pathetic.” Yeah I know, it is pathetic. However, I’ve got no dignity so I don’t mind. Gimme a mic and an audience and I’ll start prattling off on myself shamelessly like a mallard preening or a peacock strutting, […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: dialogue, hypocrisy, Jesus, John Loftus, open society, You're not as crazy as I think

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