https://secularhumanism.org/2024/07/how-to-talk-to-christians/ ​   Speaking as an atheist, I’ve participated in many debates, usually with Christian leaders. Below are some of the points I made. I hope it will be instructive to those of you who engage in religious discussions. Feel free to use or modify any of my comments. Basically, an atheist is simply someone without a belief in any gods. I can’t prove there are no gods. I just find no credible evidence for them, which is also why I don’t believe in astrology or alien abduction by UFOs. Suppose I tell you that the universe wa ..read more

​https://thehumanist.com/features/interviews/an-interview-with-herb-silverman   Scott Douglas Jacobsen: It’s been a hot minute since last talking virtually. However, since I was travelling all over the States, I did get the opportunity to, in fact, meet in person, Sharon [Herb’s wife] and you. That was lovely, so thank you: for showing me Charleston, having a meal, taking a walk, and just being hospitable. Do you get a lot of visitors? Dr. Herb Silverman: It was a pleasure to see you, Scott. Now you understand why Charleston is the top tourist attraction in the US. There are man ..read more

My values are tied in with my purposes. What is the purpose of human existence? The primary purpose of every living thing is to replicate so the species will survive. The more we learn about our natural world, the less significant humans seem to be in it. Charles Darwin showed that we are all animals in a long evolutionary line. But purpose for humans is about more than mere replication and survival. It’s about what we believe we should do in the brief time we’re alive. And most people have more than one purpose. I believe we all need to find individual purposes in our lives.&nb ..read more

This just appeared In The Humanist magazine ​As a long-term academic before I retired, I often served on the College of Charleston’s Tenure and Promotion Committee. For faculty who apply for tenure (lifetime appointment), usually in the sixth year of teaching at an institution, the committee looks at the candidate’s vita, teaching evaluations, and letters of recommendations. They make decisions based on research, teaching, and service to the academic community. The committee discusses the candidate and formulates questions. They then hold an extensive interview with the candidate, followed by ..read more

​https://www.ftsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/May-June-2024-Ezine.pdf   Some God believers say they don’t believe in science even though they frequently use science, for instance, when they engage in technology or rely on antibiotics. I can’t say I “believe” in science because science is based on evidence, not belief. Scientists try to disprove their own theories or the theories of others before they submit their findings to peer-reviewed journals. Eventually, there is a consensus among scientists, which might change with new scientific evidence. There are no peer reviews for gods because ..read more

​Every deity ever worshipped is the product of ancient superstition invented by people who knew little about the universe and our place in it. They didn’t know our Earth revolves around the Sun or that our planet’s day/night cycle is the result of the Earth spinning on its axis. Genesis 1:16 says “God (also known as Yahweh) made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser to govern the night. He also made the stars.” The authors didn’t know that our sun is really just an average size star, one of more than 200 hundred billion stars in our galaxy ..read more

​https://www.ftsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/March-April-2024-FS-Ezine.pdf   While I have many problems with the Christian Bible, there are some portions I agree with. One is Luke 12:48: “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I recognize how fortunate I am to have been born in a country and a family where I had ample opportunities to attain a decent education and standard of living. But I ask myself what we should do about those to whom much is not given, whether born in this or another country. And I’ve noticed that people opposed to helping immigrants also seem less charitably disp ..read more

​My letter published in the February/March 2024 Vol 44 No 2 issue of Free Inquiry. https://secularhumanism.org/2024/01/letters-february-march-2024/      Re: “Why Am I Agnostic?” by Alejandro Borgo (FI, October/November 2023), Borgo mischaracterized atheism. He said, “The fact of being an atheist is a position taken in the conviction that there is a proof that the entity called ‘God’ does not exist.”    Not so.    I used to call myself an agnostic because I could not prove if a god exists, so I took the agnostic position that the existence of a ..read more

https://thehumanist.com/magazine/winter-2024/commentary/herbs-corner-what-is-wrong-with-atheists   When we atheists talk about religion, especially with Christians, we usually give good arguments about why Christian God beliefs can’t be true. We quote various biblical passages that make no sense to us, and explain how science contradicts many portions of the Bible. Our arguments rarely work with biblical literalists, because they don’t accept the science we show them. Most Christians don’t know the Bible very well and don’t care about the passages we quote.  ​  We tend to assume ..read more

https://www.ftsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/January-February-2024-Ezine.pdf    Many claim that the United States of America is a good and moral country because we are a “God-fearing nation.” Can you imagine what kind of morals and values we would have if we weren’t a God-fearing nation? Without religion, the United States would probably have the highest rates of violent crime — murder, rape, and robbery — in the developed world. Without a deep commitment to our faith- based values, we’d probably have an educational system that’s an embarrassment, with our children ranking among the ..read more