Category Archives: Ethics

Jerry Coyne: Either Culpable Ignorance, Or Else … ?

Update again, 10/20/11: I bid a hearty welcome to visitors from Dr. Coyne’s website. (I appreciate the link, Dr. Coyne.) He seems to have a policy of not allowing my comments to remain on his site, except for those that he can twist to suit his own purposes, as I have indicated in my earlier …

August 4, 2011 – 6:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Tagged , , | Comments (134)

“God Behaving Badly” by David T. Lamb

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series God and Genocide

Book Review God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? by David T. Lamb “How does one reconcile the loving God of the Old Testament with the harsh God of the New Testament?” Say what? You read it right. That’s exactly how David Lamb opens God Behaving Badly. A few …

July 24, 2011 – 8:19 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, Ethics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (9)

The Morality of Christian Exclusivism

The morality of Christian exclusivism: exclusivism-ly at First Things: Evangel.

June 10, 2011 – 2:41 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, Evidences, Postmodernism/ Relativism, The Faith | Comments (24)

The Question of Slavery

Why doesn’t the New Testament condemn slavery? Is the Bible hopelessly behind on humane ethics? How could southern slaveholders say the Scriptures supported the practice? My article on The Question of Slavery has just been posted at BreakPoint.

June 7, 2011 – 8:43 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Deep Social Change, Ethics | Comments (7)

Who Cares Who Believes the Truth?

From Comment Number 180 on the long thread Why Should We Care Whether We Believe the Truth? I’d just like to comment at the close how interesting it was to see that no one actually seemed to disagree with this thesis: that atheism provides no objective grounds for the value of or our obligation to …

May 24, 2011 – 7:37 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments (516)

Sam Harris: Objections Sustained

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

It’s time for a final look now at Sam Harris’s Moral Landscape, specifically his recent online response to objections (with thanks again to Melissa who pointed it out to us). As I’ve said before, I affirm him for insisting that there are objective moral facts. The question is whether he has found a way to …

February 8, 2011 – 5:08 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments (4)

Harris’s Inhuman Utopia

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Sam Harris struggles manfully to defend his Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by way of an online response to objections that have been voiced against it. There are several interesting things to discuss in there, of which I will address just one for now: his proposition, mentioned in this morning’s post, that …

February 7, 2011 – 12:56 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments (5)

Sam Harris: “Firmware” To Upgrade Your Ethics

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Melissa commented concerning Sam Harris: I’m not sure whether you’ve seen this article: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/02/07/3131377.htm but Sam Harris spells out exactly how he sees the future. However, some people were not ready for this earthly paradise once it arrived. Some were psychopaths who, despite enjoying the general change in quality of life, were nevertheless eager to …

February 7, 2011 – 7:37 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments Off

The Moral Revolution Proceeds Apace

A troubling reflection from Albert Mohler: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AlbertMohlersBlog/~3/5AlfS07teA8/ Posted from WordPress for Android

January 22, 2011 – 2:08 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics | Comments (14)