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Atheist Exile's Blog – September 2009 Archive (6)

Really Huge Survey of Non-religious Americans

Wouldn't you know it. I search for a comprehensive survey on religion, from which to extract freethinker-related stats. I find a big one (35,000+ interviews) from Pew and post the relevant information.

Then, without even trying, I find a BIGGER survey targeted exactly where I wanted it: at the American non-religious (a group I'm calling "freethinkers"). This newer survey, from Trinity College, sampled 54,461 adults, then zeroed in on the 7,407 non-religious (called, "Nones")… Continue

Added by Atheist Exile on September 23, 2009 at 11:41pm — 2 Comments

Pew Poll: 10.3% of American Adults are Freethinkers

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

Here's the most comprehensive poll on religion in the U.S. I could find. Note that freethinkers, at 10.3%, represent more than twice the number of non-Christian religious adherents. The 10.3% number is derived by subtracting the 5.8%…

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Added by Atheist Exile on September 23, 2009 at 8:30am — 4 Comments

The Brain, the Whole Brain and Nothing but the Brain

This blog post stems from another discussion (elsewhere) that segued into the topic of mind versus brain. In order to illustrate that the mind is more than just the brain, I described the following scenario . . .

What would it be like if you were born completely paralyzed, with a normal brain but without a sensory nervous system to deliver stimuli to your brain from your sensory organs? Would it be possible to think or to have memories? In what ways could you be considered… Continue

Added by Atheist Exile on September 17, 2009 at 8:30pm — 33 Comments

The Truth about Faith

The natural realm is the universe and everything in it. The supernatural realm is, by definition, outside the natural realm, so nobody knows, or can know, anything whatsoever about the supernatural. The natural realm is physical; evidence for it is literally everywhere. The supernatural realm is pure conjecture and absolutely unsupported by physical evidence of any kind. The supernatural is, therefor, not scientifically testable.

However, supernatural claims… Continue

Added by Atheist Exile on September 11, 2009 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

The Ideas and Influence of al-Ghazzali

Following my introduction (2 paragraphs) are selected excerpts from Wikipedia's article on al-Ghazzali. Many historians, Muslim or not, believe al-Ghazzali is the most influential Muslim since the Prophet Muhammad. He single-handedly shifted early Arab ideals away from Greek philosophy to orthodox Islam. Despite being a scientist, philosopher and innovator himself, Ghazzali's prolific and influential writings heralded the end… Continue

Added by Atheist Exile on September 8, 2009 at 9:30am — 4 Comments

Militant Islam: So Thick You Can Spread It With a Sword

This story from BBC News (copied here for your convenience), saves the punchline for last; and I quote:

The sect said it was fighting against Western education and believed Nigeria's government was being corrupted by Western ideas.

It wanted to see Islamic law imposed across the country.

It's…

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Added by Atheist Exile on September 3, 2009 at 4:00am — No Comments