The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

In this week’s eSkeptic: Bike Crashes, Divine Intervention, and the Nature of Evil: An Open Letter to Larry Taunton from Michael Shermer; Hooey. Drivel. Baloney… Would you know it if you saw it?; INSIGHT: The Discovery of Richard III’s Grave and the Fallibility of Memory; The Way of the Mister: Science & Religion are Mortal Enemies: Part III

They say “God works in mysterious ways.” Does He intervene in the lives of some people and not others based on the quality of the prayers of their friends and family? In this open letter to Larry Taunton, Michael Shermer questions Taunton‘s belief that his recovery from a bicycle accident was due to divine intervention prompted by the many prayers of family and friends.

This debate between Deepak Chopra and Michael Shermer came about after the widely read and referenced debate the two had last year on the virtues and value of skepticism. Deepak and Michael thought it would be stimulating to have a debate on the topic. Michael read Deepak’s book and goes first in the debate, offering his assessment of the “proofs” presented in Deepak’s book, then Deepak responds.

In this week’s eSkeptic, Gary J. Whittenberger investigates whether the prayer of Georgia State Governor Sonny Perdue correlates to an increase in precipitation and how likely it was to have actually caused the increase.

From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, why has superstition become so pervasive in an age of science? Robert Park, the University of Maryland physics professor and the best-selling author of Voodoo Science, asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded…

In this week’s eSkeptic, Michael Shermer reports on the findings of a recent scientific study that tested the efficacy of intercessory prayer.

In this week’s eSkeptic, the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health presents a follow-up study to a clinical trial on the efficacy of prayer therapy.

In this week’s eSkeptic, Michael Shermer recounts his experience appearing on the Art Bell Show.

In this week’s eSkeptic, articles reprinted from Time and the Associated Press detail further strange events surrounding the prayer study scandal. (See also eSkeptic from June 1st and June 11th, 2004.)

In this week’s eSkeptic, the New York Sun reports fraud and deceit in Columbia University’s study into the power of prayer. Jason Rosenhouse reviews three books addressing Intelligent Design: The Design Revolution by William Dembski, God, the Devil and Darwin by Niall Shanks, and Darwinism, Design, and Public Education by John A. Campbell and Stephen Meyer.

In this week’s eSkeptic, Bruce Grant reviews Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design by Barbara Forrest and Paul R. Gross. Paul Harris exposes the scandal behind a Columbia University Study purporting to scientifically prove the power of prayer.