Changes

:"Atheists reject the magical world. No God. No angels and demons. No miracles. And so on. The general position of what is often referred to as the New Atheist movement is that atheists approach life through logic and empirical evidence (science) whereas religious people rely on faith and feelings. Many atheists would argue that they do not believe in something unless there is a good reason for doing so. But is this true?

:"Atheists reject the magical world. No God. No angels and demons. No miracles. And so on. The general position of what is often referred to as the New Atheist movement is that atheists approach life through logic and empirical evidence (science) whereas religious people rely on faith and feelings. Many atheists would argue that they do not believe in something unless there is a good reason for doing so. But is this true?

:I recently started a program of research to answer this and related questions concerning the magical lives of atheists. Atheists explicitly reject religion but are they really not magical thinkers? For this post, I am going to focus on the topic of intelligent alien life. Atheists may not believe in God, but they seem particularly susceptible to believing that intelligent alien life has visited our planet despite there being no compelling evidence to hold such a belief....

:I recently started a program of research to answer this and related questions concerning the magical lives of atheists... Atheists may not believe in God, but they seem particularly susceptible to believing that intelligent alien life has visited our planet despite there being no compelling evidence to hold such a belief....

:In the UK, polls suggest that more people believe in UFOs than in God. For example, one recent poll found that about 42% of UK residents believe in UFOs but only 25% believe in God.  In general, belief in alien visitors and other fringe magical beliefs such as belief in ghosts seem to be increasing. If the abandonment of religion represents a rejection of magical thinking, shouldn’t all forms of magical thinking be on the decline?...

:In the UK, polls suggest that more people believe in UFOs than in God. For example, one recent poll found that about 42% of UK residents believe in UFOs but only 25% believe in God.  In general, belief in alien visitors and other fringe magical beliefs such as belief in ghosts seem to be increasing. If the abandonment of religion represents a rejection of magical thinking, shouldn’t all forms of magical thinking be on the decline?...