Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'agnosticism'

The Professoriate: Surprisingly Religious

October 8th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism, Daily Devolutions, Philosophy

Among the non-academic public, there is a general perception that university professors are irreligious.  As someone who has long been in and around academics, I have shared this perception and commented on it just the other day.  The actual numbers, it turns out, tell a different and surprising story.
In a recent article, Amarnath Amarasingam discusses [...]

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Making Religious Babies: A Cultural Phenomenon

October 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

As I noted in A Tale of Two Religion Scholars, Dr. Michael Blume’s research (which you can find at Homo religious) shows that religious groups out-reproduce their secular counterparts.  The data are solid and correspond to the commandments of most religions: “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Given that religious people make more babies than secular people, Blume [...]

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Why Do Atheists-Agnostics Have More Religious Knowledge?

September 30th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism, Methodology, Philosophy

In a recent post, I commented on a recent Pew Forum survey finding that atheists-agnostics have greater knowledge of religions in general and Christianity in particular than do the believers in those faiths.  This has ruffled more than a few feathers in the communities of the faithful, especially American Christians who have always displayed a [...]

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What is Agnosticisim?

July 5th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism, Classifications, Definitions, Methodology

Over at Slate, Ron Rosenbaum has penned a manifesto for the “new agnosticism,” which he sees as an alternative to credulous theism on the the one hand and strident atheism on the other.  Rosenbaum’s position deserves considerable merit and has some appeal, but I am not sure I can agree with him on this definition:
Agnosticism [...]

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