Scientology's 'heretic': How Marty Rathbun became the arch-enemy of L Ron Hubbar

Scientology's 'heretic': How Marty Rathbun became the arch-enemy of L Ron Hubbard devotees (UK Independent 4-7-12)

Marty says he left the Church for two reasons. The first is what he calls the increasingly onerous financial demands it places on followers. The second is a series of personal disagreements with its leader David Miscavige, a charismatic former associate of Hubbard who has reigned over Scientology since the mid-1980s. Over the years, Miscavige has built ties to a string of Hollywood personalities. When Cruise married Katie Holmes in 2006, he was best man.

Richard Dawkins, Unreasonable Atheist? by Robert Wright

Richard Dawkins, Unreasonable Atheist? by Robert Wright (The Atlantic 3-26-12)

But is Dawkins really pursuing our common goal in a reasonable way? At the Reason Rally he encouraged people not just to take issue with religious teachings, but to “ridicule” religious belief and show “contempt” for it. Now, suppose you're a conservative Christian in Tennessee, and a fellow conservative Christian is trying to convince you of the merits of that anti-evolution bill. You're on the fence—you'd never really given much thought to whether your child's religious beliefs would be threatened by the teaching of Darwin. Then you hear Richard Dawkins, probably the most prominent Darwinian in the world, advocating displays of contempt and ridicule for your religion.

The God wars by Bryan Appleyard

The God wars (New Statesman 2-28-12)

To hardline atheists, it is now unreasonable and “dramatically peculiar” to argue that religion is not altogether evil. How did such intolerance become acceptable to rational minds?

Why we need college degrees more than we need faith by Lawrence Krauss

Why we need college degrees more than we need faith by Lawrence Krauss (Wash Post 2-28-12)

Mr. Santorum views this apparent facet of higher education as a danger, and his proposed solution is simple-less higher education and more faith.

As a faculty member at an institution of higher education, and as a scientist, however, I question the basic premise that loss of faith is a bad thing. If it is true that those who are more educated have a greater tendency to question their religious faith, shouldn't we consider that this might be telling us more about religious faith than about how harmful getting a college degree can be?

Religion, grrrr-Rachel Aviv reviews The Church of Scientology by Hugh Urban

Religion, grrrr-Rachel Aviv reviews The Church of Scientology by Hugh Urban (London Review of Books 1-26-12)

In The Church of Scientology, one of only a handful of academic treatments of the subject, Hugh Urban is less interested in the experiences of Scientologists than in the legal processes and semantic twists through which a set of beliefs becomes a religion. A professor of religious studies at Ohio State, Urban is interested in secrecy in religion, and in this book he chronicles the way Hubbard reacted to legal and political challenges to his authority by attempting (largely successfully) to conceal his theories from the public. Had he stuck with his original conception of Dianetics, his practices could have been investigated and judged according to scientific standards. A religion, on the other hand, can turn self-help platitudes into a scarce and privileged resource; criticism can be dismissed as intolerance, or persecution.

Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton - review by Terry Eagleton

Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton - review by Terry Eagleton (UK Guardian 1-12-12)

God may be dead, but Alain de Botton's Religion for Atheists is a sign that the tradition from Voltaire to Arnold lives on. The book assumes that religious beliefs are a lot of nonsense, but that they remain indispensible to civilised existence. One wonders how this impeccably liberal author would react to being told that free speech and civil rights were all bunkum, but that they had their social uses and so shouldn't be knocked. Perhaps he might have the faintest sense of being patronised. De Botton claims that one can be an atheist while still finding religion “sporadically useful, interesting and consoling”, which makes it sound rather like knocking up a bookcase when you are feeling a bit low. Since Christianity requires one, if need be, to lay down one's life for a stranger, he must have a strange idea of consolation. Like many an atheist, his theology is rather conservative and old-fashioned.

Nice Nihilism--review of The Atheist’s Guide To Reality by Alex Rosenberg

Nice Nihilism (3ammagazine 12-21-11)

'This is a book for atheists'. Rosenberg makes this explicit in the preface. Atheism requires a whole view of the world based on science that is 'demanding, rigorous, breathtaking.' There's a feeling you get when reading Rosenberg that he's fed up with atheists who avoid facing up to the big persistent questions such as: 'what is the nature of reality, the purpose of the universe, and the meaning of life? Is there any rhyme or reason to the course of human history? Why am I here? Do I have a soul, and if so, how long will it last? What happens when we die? Do we have free will? Why should I be moral? What is love, and why is it usually inconvenient?' Rosenberg demands that atheists just stop arguing with theists, for one because 'contemporary religious belief is immune to rational objection' but also because it eats into the time atheists should be taking to work through the implications of their own worldview. Atheists need to spend more time getting to grips with what they should know about the reality we inhabit because science reveals it is 'stranger than even many atheists recognise.'

Conflict at the heart of Scientology is exposed in bitter email outburst

Conflict at the heart of Scientology is exposed in bitter email outburst (UK Independent 1-4-12)

Debbie Cook's email, which was sent to 12,000 fellow Scientologists shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, alleges that Mr Miscavige has adopted a dictatorial leadership style which is at odds with the doctrines laid down by the church's founder, the science fiction author, L Ron Hubbard.

She further claims that, since succeeding Hubbard after his death in 1986, Mr Miscavige has become obsessed with fundraising. His regime is now “hoarding” a cash reserve of more than a billion dollars, she claims, and has spent tens of millions more on a portfolio of large, “posh” buildings which largely sit empty.

Alvin Plantinga and Intelligent Design by Michael Ruse

Alvin Plantinga and Intelligent Design by Michael Ruse (Chronicle of Higher Education 12-14-11)

Now, Plantinga has given us a full-length treatment of his views on science and its relationship to religion. I can only say that either he has changed his mind in the last year or, shall we say, he was not being entirely forthcoming. There is a chapter of the book on Intelligent Design Theory and I challenge any independent person to read it and not conclude that Plantinga accepts this theory over modern evolutionary theory, especially the dominant modern Darwinian evolutionary theory. But read the chapter yourself if you have doubts about what I claim. Make your own judgment.

Trial of the Will by Christopher Hitchens

Trial of the Will (Vanity Fair Jan. 2012)

Reviewing familiar principles and maxims in the face of mortal illness, Christopher Hitchens has found one of them increasingly ridiculous: “Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.” Oh, really? Take the case of the philosopher to whom that line is usually attributed, Friedrich Nietzsche, who lost his mind to what was probably syphilis. Or America's homegrown philosopher Sidney Hook, who survived a stroke and wished he hadn't. Or, indeed, the author, viciously weakened by the very medicine that is keeping him alive.