Science,
Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard Dawkins
"It's often said that people 'need' something more in their lives than just the material world.
There is a gap that must be filled. People need to feel a sense of purpose...You don't have
to be a scientist - you don't have to play the bunsen burner - in order to understand enough
science to overtake your imagined need and fill that fancied gap. Science needs to be
released from the lab into the culture."
When Religion
Steps on Science's Turf by Richard Dawkins
"There is something dishonestly self-serving in the tactic of
claiming that all religious beliefs are outside the domain of science.
On the one hand, miracle stories and the promise of life after death are
used to impress simple people, win converts, and swell congregations. It
is precisely their scientific power that gives these stories their
popular appeal. But at the same time it is considered below the belt to
subject the same stories to the ordinary rigors of scientific criticism:
these are religious matters and therefore outside the domain of
science. But you cannot have it both ways. At least, religious theorists
and apologists should not be allowed to get away with having it both
ways."
Religion - the
antithesis to science by Peter Atkins
"Religion is the antithesis of science; science is competent to
illuminate all the deep questions of existence, and does so in a manner
that makes full use of, and respects the human intellect. I see neither
need nor sign of any future reconciliation."
Is
Science a Religion? by Richard Dawkins
Argues that science is not a religion because it "is free of the main vice of religion, which is faith."
The
Improbability of God by Richard Dawkins
"Even if the physicist needs to postulate an irreducible minimum that had to be present in the beginning,
in order for the universe to get started, that irreducible minimum is certainly extremely simple. By definition,
explanations that build on simple premises are more plausible and more satisfying than explanations
that have to postulate complex and statistically improbable beginnings. And you can't get much more
complex than an Almighty God!"
Science, Complexity, and God from
The Freethought Zone
Uses the tools of the Argument from Design (as propounded by Behe and other "Intelligent Design" advocates) to argue that, on the grounds of complexity, God does not exist.
Science and Religion from
The Freethought Zone
Argues that postulating the existence of a god "replaces the question 'How did our simple universe get here?' with the much more difficult question 'How did an infinitely complex god get here?'."
The 'Big Bang'
Argument for the Existence of God by Theodore Schick, Jr.
"Some believe that evidence for the big bang is evidence for the existence of god. Who else, they ask, could have caused such a thing? In this paper, I evaluate the big bang argument, compare it with the traditional first-cause argument, and consider the relative plausibility of various natural explanations of the big bang."
The
Anthropic Coincidences: A Natural Explanation by Victor J. Stenger
Stenger argues that the fine-tuning argument for the existence of God is flawed because it
assumes that only one kind of life, ours, is possible in every
configuration of universes. Stenger also provides a naturalistic
explanation for the anthropic coincidences.
A Designer Universe?
by Steven Weinberg
A Nobel prize winning physicist discusses the possibility that the universe was designed.
In Search of God
from New Scientist Magazine
Have neuroscientists found a physical explanation for why religion is so prevalent?
Pseudoscience and Rationality
by Mike Hardie
"For secular scientists and moderate Christians alike, there can be few developments of
modern fundamentalism more perplexing and unfortunate than that of religious pseudo-science.
This, for anyone not familiar with the term, is the sort of thing best exemplified by such theories
as Young-Earth Creationism -- it is, in brief, the practice of trying to use science to justify
religious convictions."
The Talk.Origins FAQ Archive
A comprehensive FAQ on evolution and creationism.
Evolution and Philosophy:
An Introduction by John Wilkins
Critics of evolution sometimes claim that "evolution fails to meet the standards of true science."
Wilkins shows that "evolution, especially the modern theories, is science at its best,
and when it and the nature of science are considered realistically, evolution is not lacking
from a philosophical perspective."
Observed Instances
of Speciation by Joseph Boxhorn
Some creationists concede that evolution can occur within species but claim that there is no
evidence that speciation can occur. This article defines what scientists mean by "species" and
lists several examples of observed speciation events.
The General
Anti-Creationism FAQ by Jim Meritt
A frequently asked questions list which addresses many common creationist
misunderstandings.
Asimov on Creationism by Issac Asimov
Explains why the theory of evolution is a scientific theory and creationism is not.
Creation "Science" Debunked
by Lenny Flank
A number of good essays explaining why creationism is wrong.
