Marcel Cairo has put up a thoughtful piece on the newly discovered Albert Einstein letter in which the great physicist dismisses belief in God as a childish superstition. I agree with Marcel that Einstein’s view should come as no surprise, given his previously known statements on the subject. I might add that Einstein seems to…

Here’s something a friend of mine sent me, concerning a Buddhist ceremony for her late mother-in-law, Jane. (Names have been changed for privacy.) I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but I was very impressed yesterday evening when the Buddhist monks came. There were two of them, and one was clearly the accomplished famous monk.  Of…

It’s always a good idea to be skeptical of polls. With that caveat in mind, a recent survey (PDF file) of Canadians offers some possible food for thought. In one section of the multipart 2005 survey, respondents were asked to identify themselves as theists or atheists. Elsewhere they were asked if certain moral values were…

Yesterday was Sunday and I wasn’t in church. Not being a member of any religious denomination or any particular faith tradition, I have no church to attend. From what I hear, church attendance is down throughout much of the Western world, and there is a looming shortage of priests and ministers. No doubt the various…

Frequent commenter Eteponge provided two very interesting responses to my post about Marcel Cairo’s Tuesday radio show. As Marcel himself said, Michael, if you’re ever not in the mood to write a new post, I would suggest you might repost Eteponge’s comments above. I would love to see what people have to say about traditional…

I was surprised to find that my post on the Buddhist monk was picked up by another blog, where it led to a long and rather interesting discussion. I never actually thought that my observations on this topic would generate much interest. Also, here’s a critical review of Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, which…

I didn’t even know that Christopher Hitchens had a brother, but he does, and Peter Hitchens has written a fascinating, thoughtful, and provocative  review of Christopher’s book God Is Not Great. Christopher is an atheist, or as he styles himself, an "anti-theist." Peter is a member of the Anglican Church. They do not get along.…

I think atheists need better spokespersons. Just look at this nine-minute appearance by a seemingly besotted Christopher Hitchens on Hannity & Colmes. Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, was on the show because he wrote a nasty column excoriating Jerry Falwell as a superstitious fraud mere hours after Falwell’s death. The article begins: The…

This is cute. Hat tip: Skeptical Investigations.