Search Results for: Religion

Freedom of religion and belief – not a license to interfere with others

This is so relevant. I am all for freedom of religion and belief – but that does not give adherents of these religions or beliefs the right to interfere with my life. And, seriously, if I demand my right of … Continue reading

Australian census religion question – progress

Looks like Australians have won another small victory in the way that their religiosity is officially assessed. In particular how census forms pose the religion question on census forms is posed. I discussed the problems in my article Non religious in … Continue reading

Fiddling with census figures for religion in New Zealand

Despite the bad publicity dogging the Catholic church internationally,  Karl du Fresne reports that many NZ Catholics have a positive picture of their church in New Zealand (see Catholicism: Holy smoke, NZ Listener). His subtitle conveys the message – despite … Continue reading

A war between religion and science?

Alex Hern, writing in the New Statesman, has ticked off the Church of England (CofE) for their blatant misrepresentation of the statistics resulting from a survey they sponsored (see Church of England commits sins against statistics). He subtitled his piece: … Continue reading

Census 2013: That religion question

Ben Heather, at Stuff, made some comments on the religion question in the NZ Census (see Census 2013: Taking Stock Of New Zealand Society) which need slightly deeper analysis. He said: “Atheism is tipped to continue its rise in this … Continue reading

Does religion blur understanding of evolution?

Victor Stenger has a short, but important, blog post in the Huffington Post. Appropriately (because it’s about evolutionary science) dated February 12 – Darwin Day, 204th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Stenger’s article, No Belief Gap, considers Gallup Poll data … Continue reading

Religion in schools – a sensible approach

Here’s a short Aussie video on the problem of religious instruction in secular schools. It’s well presented, and the situation in Australia is quite like that in New Zealand. In particular, the legal structure which allows access by religious groups … Continue reading

Making sense of religion, science, and morality

Here’s an interesting discussion. And unlike many in this area – one that makes a lot of sense. Perhaps it’s because the participants are all non-theists so are not encumbered with ideological baggage. Atheists On Religion, Science, And Morality (The … Continue reading

Their mission – values or advancement of religion?

The organisations providing religious instruction in public schools have become quite defensive in their reaction the comments from concerned parents in the media. Simon Greening, current Churches Education Commission Chief Executive claims their purpose is not missionary. They don’t wish … Continue reading

Is there room for religion in science?

Jerry Coyne at Why Evolution is True highly recommends this video (see Dawkins on Al Jazeera). I watched it over lunch and can second his recommendation. It’s an Al Jazeera talk back show – The Stream – where Richard Dawkins is … Continue reading