Descartes reasoned from the principle that nothing can be believed to be true until it is evidently true. The only assumption he would allow was his own existence: I think, therefore I am.
Monthly Archives: March 2011
March 31: René Descartes
Tagged with: Cartesian philosophy, Galileo, Isaac Beeckman, Queen Christina, Religion of Rene Descartes
Posted in Famous Freethinkers, Philosopher
Posted in Famous Freethinkers, Philosopher
March 30: Churches v. Anesthesia
Anesthesia was denounced from pulpits across the land as impious and contrary to Holy Writ – until Queen Victoria needed to use it.
Tagged with: A.D. White, Agnes Sampson, alcohol, anesthesia, Crawford W. Long, Eufame Macalyane, James Young Simpson, laughing gas, opium, Queen Victoria, sulfuric ether, Warfare of Science with Theology
Posted in Religion, Science
Posted in Religion, Science
March 29: Ludwig Büchner
“Is it not a fact that in the very countries in which the Church holds an undisputed sway and no freedom of thought is tolerated, a very much lower standard of morality prevails?”
March 29: Wilhelm Liebknecht
Socialists had a sort of religion to begin with. “Have we not that which forms the strength of religion,” Liebknecht pointed out, “faith in the highest ideals?”
March 26: Richard Dawkins
“One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all.”
What Can Be Done?
The following is a commentary in an ongoing series of “Reflections” by John Mill. John Mill is the radio persona of Ronald Bruce Meyer and can be heard on “American Heathen.” “The American Heathen” Internet radio broadcast is aired, live,…
Posted in Reflections
March 22: The Butler Act and Evolution (1925)
In 1967, teacher Gary L. Scott, was fired under the Butler Act, took it to court, and this time got the Tennessee Senate to repeal it. Attacks on the science of human origins continue to this day.
Tagged with: Butler Act, Creation, Creation Science, creationism, Dayton, Dover school district decision, equal space, equal time, evolution, Gary L. Scott, Hunter's Civic Biology, Inherit the Wind, Intelligent Design, Jerome Lawrence, John T. Scopes Trial, Robert E. Lee, Susan Epperson, Tennessee, William Jennings Bryan
Posted in History, Law, Religion, Science
Posted in History, Law, Religion, Science
March 21: Benito Juárez
It was the atheist Benito Juárez who said, “Among individuals, as among nations, peace is the respect of others’ rights.”
Tagged with: Juarez's Law, La Reforma, Ley Juarez, Mexico, Plan of Ayutla, Plan of Tacubaya, Reform War, Religion of Benito Juarez, Roman Catholic Church, Santa Anna
Posted in Famous Freethinkers, History, Politics, Social Reformer
Posted in Famous Freethinkers, History, Politics, Social Reformer
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