Critical Thinking

Debating ‘true’ Believers – why bother?

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I’ve been having some online fun today by playing my usual game of “debate the believers”. Now, least you ponder the thought, “Whats the point?”, well I have a couple of reasons. First its entertaining, especially when they come out with some jaw-dropping insanity that leaves me rolling on the floor, but also because I find that it can be educational for myself. Often I need to look into something to get the facts, unlike the believers who can simply parrot the made-up facts they buy into, and so I learn new stuff and gain new insights. Sometimes I find that I might have been wrong about something, and so I learn something new and change my mind.

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Miraculous Healing is myth and not real

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The earlier blog posting (here) regarding the faith healing cult that refuses all medical care for their children prompts me to now step back and think about the entire faith healing concept. Of all the possible spiritual gifts that religious folks claim, this one is perhaps the best hope for yielding solid proof that a spiritual realm really exists outside our current understanding of reality. Many of those who attend healing crusades have officially diagnosed illnesses, so all that is needed is a quick trip back to the doctor to verify that the illness has now vanished. If looking for solid proof, don’t just go for something vague such as back pain. Instead look for something dramatic and very easily verified such as a blind man who can now see, or somebody who turned up in a wheelchair and then walked out.

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Booted out of AutismOne

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The AutismOne conference was greatly disrupted by a couple of skeptics who jumped up on stage carrying banners proclaiming “Death of all purveyors of Woo”, so they were ejected … er no, that is not quite right, so let us step back and get the facts right.

AutismOne is woo central for the anti-vax movement, this is the conference for the folks who believe that Vaccines cause Autism. There is one little problem with that belief, it is not true, there is no evidence for it. Many studies have been conducted and all conclude “No evidence”. Much of the current anti-vaccine hype comes from a chap called Andrew Wakefield who wrote a paper that linked vaccines to Autism, but a few serious problems later emerged. He had huge financial conflicts of interest and he also faked the data, so his paper was redacted and he was struck off the medical register for ethics violations (he cannot call himself a Dr in the UK anymore). So how did the AutismOne folks react when this happened last year? They gave him an award. Now that in itself tells you all you need to know about the credibility and ethics of these folks.

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Keeping us in Ignorance? – “No”

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Nick Cohen sums it all up very nicely when he writes in Sunday’s Guardian … When censors try to restrict debate, democratic peoples must learn to reply with two words: that’s tough. “You want to use violence to stop criticism of religions that claim supernatural dominion over men’s minds and women’s bodies – that’s tough. … Read more

No rapture – So what happens now in the minds of the believers?

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Its official, the clock here in the UK just passed 6pm, and …No rapture!! … except of course on twitter where we have an armageddon of users expressing their mock disappointment at the lack of dead people rising from their graves, but then again perhaps it has been a rather quiet rapture – the type that passes unnoticed. God popped down,  took a quick look around, decided none of us were worth bothering with, was also rather keen to watch Dr Who today (on in 10 minutes if you happen to be in the UK), and so  decided to give it all a miss.

Of all the tweets I’ve seen so far, my favorite just has to be Professor Brian Cox who tweeted … “I think we should all pretend the #rapture is happening so that when Harold Camping gets left behind later today he’ll be livid.“.

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Is it ethical to support “Lets Draw Mohamed Day 2011”

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Tomorrow, 20th May, is the official “Lets Draw Mohamed day”. Given the high degree of offense this causes, is it ethical to support it or participate in it?

The short simple answer is “Yes“, however, it is still appropriate to mull over this so that as we move forward, we do so with a clear understanding as to why this is the clearest, most logical, and ethical answer.

To start, I’ll lay a foundation that underpins the answer. There are two very fundamental and well-recognized human rights that have emerged, and there is general consensus for the support of both. These are as follows:

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