Friday Five

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Tyler Handley - October 23rd, 2008 in Feature 0 votes Vote Up! Vote Down!

Every Friday the crew here at Edger will rank the top five blog posts, videos, science news, and anything else of interest to the freethought community.

5. On the Evolutionary Origins of Religion

The cultural naturalism report brings us this descriptive post on the debate over the evolutionary origins of religion.

“The divide on the question of the naturalistic origins of religion is between the adaptationists and the by-product theorists. The adaptationists are led by David Sloan Wilson and Jonathan Haidt, while Daniel Dennett is the major proponent of the religion-as-a-by-product hypothesis. In this essay, I outline the issue briefly and mention some implications of these ideas.”

4. Daylight Atheism: Advice to an Atheist

Deacon Duncan from the evangelical realism blog gives us this well reasoned and contemplative analysis of how an atheist should act during a particular case of public prayer.

“By standing during the prayer, and visibly pledging to support the community without sacrificing their personal principles, atheists can lead by example, demonstrating that tolerance can be helpful, non-violent, and principled.”

3. Why ‘Stayin’ Alive’ could literally save your life

In another awesome mix of science and music, scientists at the university of Illinois have discovered an ingenious way to ensure people conducting CPR achieve the ideal number of compressions per minute to resuscitate the heart.

“Nadkarni said he has seen ‘Stayin’ Alive’ work wonders in classes where students were having trouble keeping the right beat while practicing on mannequins. When he turned on the song, ‘all of a sudden, within just a few seconds, they get it right on the dot.’”

2. All aboard the atheist bus campaign

The Atheist Bus Campaign finally got underway this week in London, with Richard Dawkins matching donations. Ariane Sherine wrote about the campaign in the Guardian. This was definitely worthy of the number one spot this week, simply because of the exposure and controversy it will generate.

“Your donations will give atheism a more visible presence in the UK, generate debate, brighten people’s day on the way to work, and hopefully encourage more people to come out as atheists. As Richard Dawkins says: “This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think – and thinking is anathema to religion.”"

1. CFI Pushes Back Against Religious Restrictions on Free Expression

And Edger’s number one spot this week goes to Austin Dacey and the Center for Inquiry, who represented those who believe in freedom of speech at the ninth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. CFI has been working alongside the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) to combat the defamation of religions enactment.

“Austin Dacey drafted and read a statement urging the Council to abandon the dangerous notion of the defamation of religions, asserting: “Rights belong to individuals, not ideas. . . . Belief depends on the freedom to doubt, to dissent, to discover.””