Stephen Law
@stephenlaw60
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I decidedd to check - amazingly, this is true.
Israel killed more journalists in Gaza in 7 weeks than all 20 YEARS of the Vietnam war & all 6 years of World War II. 63 journalists killed in Vietnam by both sides.69 killed in World War II by all parties.70 killed in Gaza by Israel alone
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Personally I find Islam, which requires only that God communicate with us via a prophet, much more plausible than Christianity, which requires he make himself human, get himself murdered, then resurrect himself, so that, bafflingly, we can then be cleansed/forgiven & go to heaven.
This is quite something: Richard Dawkins, undoubtedly the world's leading atheist, the author of The God Delusion, comes out as "cultural Christian" and calls for the UK to promote Christianity as opposed to Islam, which he calls "not a decent religion".
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I suspect Owen Jones days at The Guardian are now numbered. I suspect he suspects that too. He deserves our gratitude and admiration.
This scandal is so disgusting, so outrageous, that those who facilitated must not be allowed to get away with it. Israel claimed al-Shifa Hospital was "the main headquarters for Hamas’ terrorist activity". This claim was used to justify attacking the hospital and slaughtering.
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Imagine the reaction if the candidate being abused were Jewish & standing against Corbyn's Labour. 'Vote Labour. Get rid of these Jews!' Story would be across every front page & said to be concrete proof of Labour's bigotry problem. But this will be ignored. Hierarchy of racism.
"VOTE LABOUR, GET RID OF THESE PALESTINIANS!" . A white man was filmed shouting at Palestinian election candidate Sameh Habeeb in West Ealing today, claiming he will vote for Labour to "spite" Habeeb and that he considers Palestinians foreigners. @Samehahabeeb
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One of the most decent and principled people in politics bullied, smeared, and taunted not just by the opposing party, but by his own MPs, including you, when he tries to set the record straight about the lies being told about him. What a sewer.
@OwenJones84 In jest, but I accept in poor taste. I’ve dropped Jeremy a note directly to apologise for any offence caused.
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Why is the fact that a future Minister of Defence, Ruth Smeeth, has been identified as an intelligence asset of a foreign state, of no interest whatsoever to our mainstream media? It's baffling. I genuinely don't understand what's going on here.
"At the time I was surprised. But on reflection, with her behaviour and hostility towards me, I wasn't." . Jeremy Corbyn reacts to the WikiLeaks revelation that one of his biggest critics Ruth Smeeth (now Anderson) was a "strictly protect" informant for the US embassy in London.
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I feel I have, as a proponent of critical thinking, a moral obligation to speak up if I see false/dubious claims being made to demonize palestinians and justify their slaughter. Yes people will accuse me of looking like an antisemite and terrorist sympathiser, but I.
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Remember when Corbyn attacked Russian donors and their influence on the Tory party, and he was disowned for doing so *by his own Labour MPs*?
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One chance of Scandewegian-style, modestly left government in my adulthood was destroyed by people like Hodge, who now control the LP. They told me there was no place for people like me in Labour, & continue to purge anyone on left on any pretext. "But you'll let the Tories in!".
Margaret Hodge admits she did everything she could to prevent Labour winning an election and would have done whatever it took to stop Corbyn becoming prime minister
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What I want to know is why so many of my colleagues, who can surely see the lies, deceit, and pisspoor journalism that are facilitating anti-arab bigotry and mass-slaughter, are keeping their heads down.
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I was depressed in 2017, 'cos I knew, beforehand, that 1. Corbyn actually had a shot at winning (despite all the naysayers and internal sabotage) & 2. this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because he & what he represented would then be completely destroyed (by his own party).
In 2017, Corbyn got 40% of the vote share, and the biggest swing to Labour since Attlee, bigger than Blair's. Two years later, Tories got an 80 seat majority. No Starmerite has yet to address the question, 'What changed between 2017 and 2019?'.
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feel I have no choice. True I am fallible and will no doubt slip up occassionally (eg saying 'none' when I should have said 'few') but I'm doing my best and I am not going to pressured into self-censoring. That would be unforgiveable cowardice given what's happening in Gaza.
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@Suffragent_ She poured it on a piece of glass in front of it, leaving painting entirely untouched. As you know.
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@P_Kallioniemi Given the facial expression, grunt, & aggression, suggesting he's doing a big love gesture is absurd. Those posting clips and images of people waving their arms about and getting their in that position by accident, as if that's remotely the same, are gaslighting us, frankly.
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A fun fact worth repeating. Wittgenstein invented the emoji.
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This really was bizarre. But so normalised had the bias and smears against him become that Maitliss ending Newsnight with this seemed unremarkable.
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'For five years Jeremy Corbyn was portrayed as a bigot leading an anti-semitic Labour Parry. This important book makes the case for the defence.' Peter Oborne - former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph @OborneTweets.
I'm incredibly excited to announce my new book: "Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn" -- publishing 4 April 2023. Pre-order from @orbooks now and you'll get your copy months before it reaches shops. Details here:
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Patients still attached to IV lines being burnt alive in tents outside a hospital. Our Government continues to send weapons. The new normal.
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The left are continuously smeared, lied about, and insulted at every opportunity by the Labour Party. It's almost as if they're more despised than the Government. But apparently they must still vote Labour because otherwise they will let the Tories in.
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I suspect Labour will win GE24, but will fail to improve lives of most Brits. To deflect blame away from themselves and their donors, they will divide & rule, blaming the left, unions, ppl on benefits, the woke, muslims, Putin, etc. This will slide us further towards fascism.
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Another eye-opener for me was seeing many in UK's skeptic, free-thought, rationalist community swallow entirely uncritically - indeed actively push - a BS narrative about the left being chock full of antisemites & Corbyn doing nothing about it, cos it suited their centrism.
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In 2016, Corbyn's Labour pulled ahead of the Tories (despite a relentlessly hostile media). That was unacceptable to most Labour MPs. They mounted a sabotage campaign, starting with the Chicken Coup. Had his MPs supported him, who knows what might have been.
'A lot of Labour members will feel that the reason that Keir Starmer made these pledges was because he was trying to win the leadership. he said what he needed to say to win. they might feel betrayed by this'. Streeting 'Well, I'm afraid they'll have to dry their eyes'
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I wrote Believing Bullshit, about how people end up trapped in bubbles of belief, unable to escape. What's particularly fascinating/disturbing is watching many supposed intellectuals - even Ivy League Professors - reveal they can be as gullible as your average cultist.
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@BBCNewsnight @vicderbyshire It's a simple test, but one that never seems to occur to journalists. Imagine an MP criticising candidates for 'particularly appealing to the Jewish community', saying was 'sectarian, extremist politics'. Imagine the reaction.
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My Short Introduction to Wittgenstein's Private Language Argument will be out shortly, Open Access, in THINK.
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@Philip_Goff An absolutely enormous horn - point it at an atom and yell 'Are you conscious?!'
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Good thread on Roger Waters - the bullshit spreading about him is really going into overdrive. Even the BBC are repeating unchecked falsehoods.
It's become a fact that Roger Waters had a pig emblazoned with the Star of David at his gig in Berlin. It has been used by MPs to call for his shows to be pulled, featured in headlines in the Daily Mail, repeated by the BBC etc. Except, he didn't. Here is the pig in Berlin:
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Today I started as Departmental Lecturer in Philosophy and Director of the Certificate of Higher Education, Oxford University Dept. Continuing Education!.
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It is this bizarre double-standard that's most shocking. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. And yet almost no one does see it, so normalised has the bias become in our mainstream media.
Sky interviewed a Ukrainian politician who during the interview said Russia has committed all kinds of war crimes & done unspeakable things. The interviewer didn't interrupt to say "Russia denies. " & there was no statement from him at the end putting the Russian point of view
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@robert64862 There's plenty about Islam I really don't like, but then that's true of Xianity too, esp. globally. I need to see evidence of a real threat. I live close to 5 mosques, and the only worrying recent incident was when a can of petrol with 'IDF' painted on it was chucked into one.
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It's quite unsettling watching smart, educated people insist that the evidence for the Resurrection is very strong.
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What is that many of us are doing now without much guilt that in 300 years time will be looked back on with moral horror? I'd guess eating meat. Any other suggestions?.
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Britain isn't at risk from Muslims. It is at risk from a folk suffering under austerity, ripped off by the greed of a tiny minority, and being told it's all the fault of the muslims, the left, the woke, the EU, foreigners, immigrants, etc.
A large group of mostly men are persistently pelting a mosque with objects. Armed police have now arrived.
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I have just gone vegan thanks to Gary Francione.
If you want to buy the book, Columbia University Press is giving a 20% discount. Go to: and enter CUP20 when you check out.
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The fear among Labour MPs that Corbyn had captured the public imagination, had pulled ahead in the polls, and might actually win, was palpable. It will never the allowed to happen again.
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There is something deeply offensive about centrists like Liz Kendal and Starmer doing sad face and wringing their hands while simultaneously refusing to insist that international law be impartially applied when they *rushed* to condemn Russia for breaking int. law in Ukraine.
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Noticing significant overlap between those who insisted the lifelong anti-racist Jeremy Corbyn was a raging antisemite, and those explaining away Musk's Nazi salute as an unfortunate accident. What's the common factor?
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There are two obvious problems re the 'It's Hamas' fault - they just need to lay down their weapons' justification for mass murder in Gaza. 1. In the PA the Palestinians did just that years ago, yet suffer continuing occupation, land theft, murder, and brutal racism, but also 2. .
People say that if Hamas would just lay down its weapons, the current war would end. That may be true, but what would the Palestinian Authority say, which put down it weapons long ago and has been left with occupation? | Opinion | Yonatan Zeigen.
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P.S. this is not me disagreeing with Dawkins. I am making a separate point. As to whether Islam is worse and/or more dangerous than Xianity, I am skeptical though open to persuasion.
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There is something particularly disturbing about these jolly IDF soldiers entertaining us with their amusing antics - blowing up homes, destroying kids toys, rummaging through underwear draws of families who may well be dead.
British-born Israeli soldier Levi Simon recorded a video of him searching Gaza homes for supposed weapons, claiming to find money instead. He then proceeds to rummage through personal belongings making derogatory comments about drawers filled with lingerie and nightwear
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Just been reminded of a great question: why couldn't God just forgive us for our sins? Why did Jesus have to be sacrificially slain and then resurrected so the slate could be wiped clean? I have yet to hear an answer to this question that makes much sense. What's the best answer?.
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There is no good argument against assisted dying. I was prepared to think there was, but, having now looked into it, there just isn't. It's moral idiocy and/or cowardice to prevent people from getting assistance in taking their own lives to avoid an imminent horrible death.
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This is surreal.
Israeli children made to sing in support of genocide. This song was promoted by Israel's public broadcaster - until it deleted it after an uproar. But this is just another example of a genocidal attitude being actively encouraged by Israeli politicians and officials.
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@hannahfearn If you want to understand where many of us are coming from, here's why I won't be voting Labour again and in fact will be actively campaigning against them (other than constituencies where there's a socialist labour candidate):
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What's the best argument against consciousness being explicable in wholly physical terms (In a nutshell, if you can manage it)?.
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BTW Smeeth played part in making unfounded antisemitism accusations. She accused @marcwads of antisemitic comments after she stormed out of Chakrabarti report launch, then deleted when he called in the lawyers. Jewish Chronicle was successfully sued by him
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This remains one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. John Noakes was a health and safety nightmare.
#OTD 1977: John Noakes scaled Nelson's Column, on a wobbly ladder. with no safety harness. and no helmet. wearing flares. to clean some pigeon poo. Don't try this. Anywhere. Ever.
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@MichaelRosenYes I felt I should read Hirsch's book. It is a spectacularly good illustration of how confirmation bias works. On checking his sources for assertions made, I discovered he was footnoting Daily Mail articles. It's absolutely dreadful.
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@CapturingChrist Do you mean it's not irrational for a contemporary intelligent, scientifically literate person to believe the entire universe is only 6k years old?.
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Labour should be a broad church, yes, but not so broad it encompasses people like Ian Austin and John Mann (just rewarded with a peerage and Tzar post for services to the Tories). They have damaged the electoral prospects of the party.
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@GeorgeBatt34036 Nor does the fact Christianity is more to Dawkins' taste than Islam prove that Christianity is right. Of course they're both wrong, though Christianity faces the bigger evidential challenge.
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Soon after Oct 7th I posted some tweets suggesting that while Hamas had clearly committed war crimes, 1. some of the claims re atrocities were unverified and looked dubious, 2. Hamas has legal right violently to resist illegal occupation (including attacking military targets). .
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@Independent Is this a parody? You're actually going with 'Corbyn played a bad video game!' rather than addressing this?
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@toadmeister @theAliceRoberts Why do you insist in forcing atheists n humanists to pay for religious schools when no state funded humanist schools are provided? Such schools would give *even more* choice, right? So support them, or drop yr support for the funding of religious schools.
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I think a lot of scientists, incl Hawking & Peter Atkins, dislike philosophy because they're empiricists and think philosophy is 1. a form of armchair reflection ('a priori'), and 2. in the business of revealing how the external world fundamentally is.
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As we watch Palestinian children writhing and burning to death having been bombed at a hospital, it must be about time for David Lammy to come on our TV screens and do his sad face again. @DavidLammy.
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According to most Biblical scholars, the entire historical evidence base for the Resurrection is the (not even fully consistent) testimony of a small band of True Believers in a new religious movement, none of whom even knew Jesus during his lifetime.
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The opening paragraphs of Kant's essay 'What is Enlightenment?'
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Cross out 'atheists' and write 'Jews', or 'Muslims', and this might well be considered hate speech. It's toxic propaganda and bigotry. But because this is a Minister talking about atheists, most just shrug.
Atheists can't have love, says woman bishop.
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Lot of this currently:.'Show me a country where socialism works.'.'Scandanavian countries with free healthcare, child care free education, etc.?'.'Those aren't socialist countries.'.'So can we have free healthcare, child care, education?'.'No, that's socialism.'.
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I've taught philosophy & critical thinking at Oxford and London. I've also written online courses for Oxford and Eton College & published many popular philosophy books. This course distils what I've found to be the most engaging critical thinking material
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Jeremy Corbyn was discovered carol singing in Morrisons by a friend of mine today.
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Had he won, he would have enacted policies that would have been genuinely transformative for many working people, and & it would then have been much harder to discredit him & left (mostly pretty mild policies of the sort that go unremarked in Scandewegia)
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@GeorgeMonbiot If you rich, you're a champagne socialist, if poor then you're guilty of the politics of envy. The standard right-wing play book is: don't engage with arguments - you may lose! - instead, just smear, smear, smear. .
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God appears to be painting the colours of the Palestinian flag across the sky. What can it mean?
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@RandalRauser Bevan created our entire National Health Service and he was an atheist. We atheists and humanists do create hospitals, but we don't tend to then put a big sign on the front saying 'To the Glory to Atheism and Secular Humanism!'.
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Saying you are going to help people who can barely pay their rent/food, while those at the top never had it so good, by 'growing the economy, is a coded admission you won't do anything about inequality. Just like New Labour (it's a myth they reduced it)
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This annoyed quite a few people. My interview with Nigel Warburton @philosophybites on the importance of clarity in Philosophy.
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A risk of being an analytically trained philosopher engaging with highly emotive topics is you come across as a heartless bastard. Or maybe I just am heartless bastard. Let me know. .
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No.
The Marjory Stoneman school shooter said demonic voices told him to kill students. Are there demonic forces at work in mass shootings?
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This is not MLK excusing rioting (he didn't). But it's insightful about those who are often the biggest obstacle to progress.
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@Peston @jeremycorbyn Robert, have you seen this study done by The Economist on antisemitism. Which confirms what every other major study has also found? Would you care to comment? Were you even aware?
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'We all worship something' seems to be the Christian apologetic meme of the month. But is it true?.
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It's worth remembering here that what this former Labour minister is actually referring to are hundreds of thousands of decent people with mildly left-wing leanings much in line with the general public.
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It's because his enemies knew his policies were and are popular that they resorted to Daily Mail-style ad hominem attacks - terrorist sympathiser, Putin apologist, antisemite, etc. - to focus attention elsewhere. They're still at it.
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If your top priority re Gaza, right now, is insisting that the expressions 'genocide', 'intifada', and 'from the river to the sea' mean something other than what both Jewish and non-Jewish protestors using them say they mean by them, then your moral compass is completely broken.
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What's the best case for thinking Christianity is more likely to be true than Islam, and vice verse?.
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@AsaWinstanley @unitetheunion What - the same Campaign Against Antisemitism that Margaret Hodge said should be 'called out for what and who they really are'?
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Did Israel deliberately murder the family of Al Jazeera's reporter Wael Dahdouh? (his son also just now killed by a drone strike). That was claimed by Zvi Yehezkeli, who very much supported it - in fact he says he wants 100k Palestinians killed.
A reminder that Channel 13 journalist Zvi Yehezkeli admitted Israel purposefully murdered the family of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh: “Generally we know the target. For example today there was a target: the family of an Al Jazeera reporter. ”
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Naturalism vs theism is, very obviously, a false dilemma. Atheists need not be naturalists and they can and would be justified in rejecting theism even if naturalism were demonstrably false. Atheists are under no obligation at all to defend naturalism.
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Of course I am an atheist and consider all theistic religion implausible. But Christianity is less plausible than Islam, I think. In order of plausibility: Islam, Christianity, Mormonism, Scientology.
Personally I find Islam, which requires only that God communicate with us via a prophet, much more plausible than Christianity, which requires he make himself human, get himself murdered, then resurrect himself, so that, bafflingly, we can then be cleansed/forgiven & go to heaven.
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Contents of Jack Symes' forthcoming Philosophers on God, including me.
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How do science and philosophy differ? Is philosophy a Grand Waste of Time? Shouldn't we be doing science instead? Some thoughts of mine.
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Fines should be proportional to income. What one person can shrug off, another may find absolutely crippling.
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Why not try a short philosophy course? Upcoming online philosophy courses at Oxford University - Department of Continuing Education (I now direct their CertHE and philosophy provision).
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Surprised by this. Britain has 9/10 poorest areas in Northern Europe. Plus the richest. Source http://t.co/SxxIGy1hnb
http://t.co/e0EIjXpWVB.
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@bbclaurak @BBCPolitics That rattling sound you can hear is that of Daily Mail journalists going though that dad's bins right now so they can run smears on him tomorrow. Same old tactics. Shame to see the BBC joining in.
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The furore over the meaning of 'From the river to the sea' is a dead cat meant to distract media attention away from the atrocities currently being committed. Our media will of course happily go along with it.
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