Among the more active and vocal atheists, there’s a fairly common distaste for the words “respect” and “tolerance” when religion is the object of discussion. Take, for example, Greta Christina’s suggestion that “Atheists...

A recent popular article by Don Fitz from Washington University embodies this approach to capitalism.  In the post, titled “Inside the Psychology of the 1%,” Fitz says some of the following about capitalism: “Why then, is having more money at a give...

“Money can’t buy happiness,” or so the saying goes. What, then, are we to make of the barrage of articles like these:The New York Times: “If You’ve Got the Money, Honey, You May Be a Little Bit Happier“ The Wall Street Journal:...

Today is National Day of Reason, and boy does this world need it. The news has been full of story after story of reason’s importance to the flourishing of humanity and the dangers that await us if we ignore reason:We continued to mourn with the victims of...

Scientists and sociologists have long debated and puzzled over two seemingly unrelated facts: continually rising IQ rates, and continually falling crime rates. We may have had the explanation in front of us for over decades: lead. A “partial replacement” of...

In the wake of the heart-wrenching tragedy at a Connecticut elementary school, many are calling for new laws restricting firearms, especially to the mentally ill. We have to step back and ask, “will any of the proposed legislation actually save any...

A healthy government protects personal freedom without regard for wealth, class, or place of birth. Governments fail to do this by either failing to protect those rights – as in Somalia – or by actually infringing upon them – as is the trend in the...