THEOLOGY –
The Deplorable God Scandal and the Divine Lost Cause
Part 1. How the Megadisasters of the Innocents Disprove the Existence of a Benign and Moral Creator, a Decency and Science-Based Analysis
American Humanist 28: 10/12/20
[Follow-up to 2009 article below.
Theodicy’s Problem: A Statistical Look at the Holocaust of the Children and the Implications of Natural Evil for the Free Will and Best of All Possible Worlds Hypotheses
Philosophy & Theology 19: 125-149 (9/09)
[Directly refutes the separation of science and religion by scientifically demonstrating
that the massive death of young humans absolutely disproves the existence of a
moral creator and core Christian doctrine. The first work to calculate the death toll of
children over history, and to examine its theological implications.]
The Double Edged Drug: Is Widespread Alcohol Use Crucial to the Development and Functioning of Modern, Democratic, and Peaceful Courting Societies?
International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 7 No. 12, pp26-36 (12/16)
Religiosity Tied to Socioeconomic Status
Science 2/5/10
Why Religion is Unable to Minimize Lethal and Nonlethal Societal Dysfunction Within and Between Nations
In The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War, Todd Shackelford & Viviana Weekes eds., Oxford University Press, pp435-470 (7/12)
The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions
Evolutionary Psychology Journal 7 (3):398-441 (9/09) Press release
[The follow up to the Journal of Religion & Society paper, is the first technical work to do
the following: present a broad based comparison of socioeconomic conditions in the first
world, one that confirms the poor performance of Christian America, explain the primary
causal factors behind the origin and historical popularity of religion, and explain the
superficial nature of popular theism and nontheism. Explores the economic security factors
that help determine the level of popular faith versus secularism, and demonstrates that
spirituality is not as universal to the human condition as are language and materialism.]
How Are Other First World Nations Suppressing the Adverse Consequences of Violence and Youth Sex in the Modern Media Environment?
Pediatrics 123 (2) ppe364 (2/09)
[Notes that the secular, pragmatic sex education practices typical of less godly
democracies are producing better results than the abstinence only policies of the
American religious right.]
The Remote Prayer Delusion: Clinical Trials That Attempt to Detect Supernatural Intervention Are as Futile as They Are Unethical
Journal of Medical Ethics 34 ppe18 (4/08)
[Exposes the unethical nature of expensive studies intended to demonstrate the
effectiveness of prayer over a distance. Also the first peer reviewed paper to discuss the
mass death of the children over history and its implications for the existence of a benign
deity.]
The Evolution of Popular Religiosity and Secularism: How First World Statistics Reveal Why Religion Exists, Why it Has Been Popular, and Why the Most Successful Democracies are the Most Secular
In Atheism and Secularity: Volume 1: Issues, Concepts and Definitions, Phil Zuckerman ed., pp149-208 (12/09)
[The broadest based technical analysis by this researcher to date (although finished
earlier and not as up to date as the Evolutionary Psychology paper), this invited chapter
details the Triple Threat to Western Faith posed by the combination of modern science,
secure prosperity, and the corporate-consumer popular culture.]
Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health With Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies
Journal of Religion & Society 7 (1-17) (7/05)
[The first paper to explicity test and refute the widely believed hypothesis that only
godly national societies can enjoy good societal conditions, instead only strongly secular
democracies have historically benign circumstances. Journal of Religion & Society refused
to consider a follow-up manuscript submitted in early 2007, saying they will no longer
publish papers on the subject.]
COMMENTS IN ACADEMIC JOURNALS -
Problems with Cross-National Comparisons of Nonlethal Crimes, and the Very Low Homicide Rates of Atheistic Democracies
Comment to Divergent Effects of Belief in Heaven and Hell in National Crime Rates, Sharif & Ramtulla, in PLOS One, 6/24/12
High Illness Loads (Physical and Social) Do Not Always Force High Levels of Mass Religiosity
Comment (p90) in Parasite-stress Promotes In-group Assortative Quality: The Cases of Strong Families and Heightened Religiosity, C. Fincher, R. Thornhill, p61-199, in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Cambridge University Press (1-12)
CONTRIBUTIONS -
Copenhagen Declaration on Religion in Public Life World Atheist Conference 6/18-20/2010