In his book Fighting Words, Hector Avalos does not say that secularism is devoid of any violence. Religious violence, however, is more tragic than secular violence since it is predicated on unverifiable premises. In this week's episode of the Inquisitive

In this week's episode, we continue our exploration of Hector Avalos', Fighting Words, and discuss the issue of violence in Islam and the Qur'an. Is Islam truly a religion of peace as so many people seem to think? As with Judaism and Christianity, Islam a

Most people think that Christianity is non-violent. But such a perception is flawed, since the foundational event of the Christian religion - the sacrifice of the Son of God - is of extreme violence and has engendered some of the most horrific acts of vio

This week on the Inquisitive Minds Podcast, we discuss two other scarce resources created by religion and mentioned in Hector Avalos' book Fighting Words: (1) Group Privileging and (2) Salvation. The Hebrew Bible promotes the idea that Israel was specific

In his book Fighting Words. The Origins of Religious Violence, Dr. Avalos explains how inscripturation and sacred space are two scarce resources created by religions, and that such resources often engender violence. This week we discuss inscripturation an

As we journey through Dr. Avalos' book, Fighting Words, we explore the many theories that scholars use to explain the causes of Religious Violence. The relationship between religion and violent actions is quite complex. An interdisciplinary approach which

This week on the Inquisitive Minds Podcast, we analyse Hector Avalos' book Fighting Words. The Origins of Religious Violence in light of the recent clash between Ben Affleck and Sam Harris on Real Time with Bill Maher. The question was whether or not one

We continue our discussion of Hector Avalos' book, Fighting Words. The Origins of Religious Violence. Scholars have a social responsibility to denounce false reasoning when it comes to religion and violence; expose lies which contribute to the detriment o

In our new series dedicated to the Religion and Violence, we will be discussing Hector Avalos' relevant book: Fighting Words. The Origins of Religious Violence (Prometheus, 2005). Is religion is prone to violence? What are different theories of violence a

In this last podcast dedicated to Critical Thinking, we tackle more common logical fallacies such as: Personal Incredulity, Burden of Proof, Tu Quoque, Reductio ad Absurdum, Begging the Question, Red Herring, Argumentum e Silentio, Straw Man, Post Hoc Erg