In what I can only describe as completely bizarre, this week the UK Royal family has “fired” the racist slave who had been in servitude to them for more than 60 years. Will she be paid severance? Of course not – she’s a slave, she doesn’t get paid either way! It was her “honour” to […]

Download audio transcript Around a decade ago, one of my Christian friends put forward the view that the bible should not be subjected to academic enquiry. I had heard this view many times, including by the late minister at my (former) parish. Going back around 20 years now, another friend who was studying at Moore […]

Wow what a past couple of days it’s been on this issue. The NRL’s Manly Sea Eagles unveiled a pride jersey for the Women in League Round with rainbow stripes as you see Mr Jackson modelling opposite. What does LGBTQ+ rights have to do with promoting Women in League? I have no idea, it’s not […]

The Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade in the US is understandably shocking, and some of the consequences truly horrifying. But in truth the decision brings US law back into a field of normality though it may not seem like it at first. Terminations in Australia Yes here in ‘Straya we are more civilised than […]

Both candidates have made history The vote count is not yet complete for 2020 US presidential elections, but at this stage it looks like Trump has increased his vote by over 8 million compared to 2016. Yes Mr. President, that is “huge”. With a total vote likely to be around 71 million, that is higher […]

This is not 2016, it is not a difficult election to forecast. I am predicting that Trump is re-elected for a second term with 95% confidence. In 2016 I did say, repeatedly, that Trump would win. However, truth be told 2016 was a difficult election to forecast. We had two candidates that were profoundly unpopular […]

Almost exactly a year ago I promised a new blog series on atheist biblical studies, and despite writing several drafts I haven’t yet began the series proper. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about my own journey and why I reject the idea that I “lost” my faith or religion. Christians today […]

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it can’t have escaped your attention that the Parliament this week passed legislation in defiance of the Government (the “medevac bill”). In doing so, one of the most awful and appalling situations that has been allowed to go on has finally been, well, partially addressed. That situation is […]

Welcome to my brand new academic blog series. I call it my Atheist Bible Studies. This will be the introductory post, and for this series I will choose topics that Evangelical Christians will find challenging, but which everyone else (atheist, liberal Christian, or other theist) probably won’t. I should note that I’m not an anti-theist, […]

On his blog, well-known bible scholar Larry Hurtado gave me a public dressing-down while laying out his reasons for not publishing a comment I made to his previous blog post. He didn’t name me, but I will confirm it is my comment he is talking about. He didn’t abide the use of the word “lie”, […]

This blog entry has gone under several revisions. Last updated 02/06/2018. Yes you read right, this isn’t clickbait. The First Century Manuscript of the Gospel of Mark that Dr. Daniel B Wallace told the world about during a debate in February 2012 with Dr. Bart Ehrman has, finally, been published. The debate is here. The […]

So I thought I would tackle this one. To be upfront I will “vote” yes in the survey, but I’m about to make a pretty compelling argument for the “No” case. And one that frankly isn’t being made but is by far their most legitimate argument that is free from secondary concerns like the bullying […]

One lie perpetrated by Evangelicals is that we atheists can’t explain what happened to the body of Jesus after he was crucified. We actually don’t know what happened, and don’t claim to know, but can put forward a number of different options all of which enjoy scholarly support. In addition I have formed a new […]

Atheists often deny they have a specific world-view. I would contend that any strongly held world-view is prone to fundamentalist style beliefs. Whether it’s in history, science, religion, paranormal, health, or society. One prominent feature of fundamentalists is that they evaluate information under their own set of rules that are in conflict with best practise […]

Watch this: Video: White House I love this video. This video sums up everything that’s wrong with Turnbull. Here he is sitting across from one of the most ridiculous first-world State leaders in our generation, and he’s listening to him spew his bullshit. To bring my international readers up-to-speed, Turnbull is well educated, highly intelligent, […]

This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while, it’s a direct follow-on to my 2010 post Hi, I’m an Islamophobic. On today’s Outsiders programme with Ross Cameron and Rowan Dean was one of the loveliest people I have ever seen on television. His name is Imam Shaikh Mohammad Tawhidi (pictured), and […]

The cyber espionage group known as Longhorn has been formally identified by Symantec as the CIA. Now, take a breath and get ready to learn the ugly truth behind this revelation. We live in the digital age, and underpinning that is the illusion of electronic security. Now I say illusion, but I wish to stress […]

It’s at this time of year that Christians claim that they are persecuted. Perhaps they take their cue from Jesus who was persecuted and then crucified. Unlike many other atheists, I believe it is right to remember Jesus as a good man who was unjustly persecuted. And to recognise the good he taught. Where I […]

I just heard that political satirist John Clarke has died. RIP you wonderful man! John was 68 years young.  

No, I don’t think so. And to be honest, I don’t at all feel bad for gays and lesbians who are demanding we enact it through this term of Parliament. But before you leave in disgust and label me a bigot let me explain: I do agree we should work towards legislating same-sex marriage, but […]