Merchants of Doubt

Author: Naomi Oreskes
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408828774
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on such areas as public health, environmental science, and issues affecting quality of life. These scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers. Merchants of Doubt tells the story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. Remarkably, the same individuals surface repeatedly-some of the same figures who have claimed that the science of global warming is "not settled" denied the truth of studies linking smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole. "Doubt is our product," wrote one tobacco executive. These "experts" supplied it. Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, historians of science, roll back the rug on this dark corner of the American scientific community, showing how ideology and corporate interests, aided by a too-compliant media, have skewed public understanding of some of the most pressing issues of our era.

Benefit of the Doubt

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441244549
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
In Benefit of the Doubt, influential theologian, pastor, and bestselling author Gregory Boyd invites readers to embrace a faith that doesn't strive for certainty, but rather for commitment in the midst of uncertainty. Boyd rejects the idea that a person's faith is as strong as it is certain. In fact, he makes the case that doubt can enhance faith and that seeking certainty is harming many in today's church. Readers who wrestle with their faith will welcome Boyd's message that experiencing a life-transforming relationship with Christ is possible, even with unresolved questions about the Bible, theology, and ethics. Boyd shares stories of his own painful journey, and stories of those to whom he has ministered, with a poignant honesty that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Shadows of Doubt

Author: Brendan O'Flaherty
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674240170
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
Shadows of Doubt reveals how deeply stereotypes distort our interactions, shape crime, and deform the criminal justice system. If you’re a robber, how do you choose your victims? As a police officer, how afraid are you of the young man you’re about to arrest? As a judge, do you think the suspect in front of you will show up in court if released from pretrial detention? As a juror, does the defendant seem guilty to you? Your answers may depend on the stereotypes you hold, and the stereotypes you believe others hold. In this provocative, pioneering book, economists Brendan O’Flaherty and Rajiv Sethi explore how stereotypes can shape the ways crimes unfold and how they contaminate the justice system through far more insidious, pervasive, and surprising paths than we have previously imagined. Crime and punishment occur under extreme uncertainty. Offenders, victims, police officers, judges, and jurors make high-stakes decisions with limited information, under severe time pressure. With compelling stories and extensive data on how people act as they try to commit, prevent, or punish crimes, O’Flaherty and Sethi reveal the extent to which we rely on stereotypes as shortcuts in our decision making. Sometimes it’s simple: Robbers tend to target those they stereotype as being more compliant. Other interactions display a complex and sometimes tragic interplay of assumptions: “If he thinks I’m dangerous, he might shoot. I’ll shoot first.” Shadows of Doubt shows how deeply stereotypes are implicated in the most controversial criminal justice issues of our time, and how a clearer understanding of their effects can guide us toward a more just society.

Faith and Doubt

Author: John Ortberg
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310253519
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
Ortberg demonstrates how doubt is very much a part of faith and how uncertainty can lead to trust. "The beliefs that really matter," he writes, "are the ones that guide our behavior."

Doubt

Author: John Patrick Shanley
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458780090
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Book Description
Set in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, a nun is faced with uncertainty as she has grave concerns for a male colleague.

Faith After Doubt

Author: Brian D. McLaren
Publisher: St. Martin's Essentials
ISBN: 125026278X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world and your faith. ONE of the Best Spiritual Books of 2021—Spirituality & Practice "Will help you live fuller and breathe easier..” —Glennon Doyle Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages—Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony—offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.

Shadow of Doubt

Author: Norah McClintock
Publisher: Darby Creek ™
ISBN: 1467730440
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
Robyn's new substitute teacher Ms. Denholm is cool, pretty, and possibly the target of a stalker. When Denholm receives a threatening package, Robyn wonders who's responsible. But Robyn has a mystery of her own to worry about. What's with the muddled phone message she receives from her missing ex-boyfriend Nick? Should she try to forget him—or is the call a sign he still cares?

Darwin's Doubt

Author: Stephen C. Meyer
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062071491
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 605

Book Description
When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. During the last half century, biologists have come to appreciate the central importance of biological information—stored in DNA and elsewhere in cells—to building animal forms. Expanding on the compelling case he presented in his last book, Signature in the Cell, Meyer argues that the origin of this information, as well as other mysterious features of the Cambrian event, are best explained by intelligent design, rather than purely undirected evolutionary processes.

DEALING WITH DOUBT

Author: Gary R. Habermas
Publisher: Christian Publishing House
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Book Description
Dealing with Doubt is a book written by Gary Habermas, a Christian apologist, and philosopher. In the book, Habermas addresses the issue of doubt and how it can affect one's Christian faith. He has written extensively on issues related to faith and belief. Herein he discusses the various causes of doubt, including intellectual and emotional challenges, and offers guidance and strategies on how to navigate and overcome doubt while rebuilding one's faith. The book is aimed at readers who are struggling with doubts about their faith or who are seeking to strengthen their faith and better understand how to respond to doubt. Habermas seeks to help readers understand the nature of doubt, identify its sources, and find ways to overcome it through a more in-depth understanding of Christian teachings and practices. Dealing with Doubt is likely to be of interest to those who are struggling with doubt in their own faith, or who are seeking to help others who may be dealing with doubt. It is written from a Christian perspective and offers a defense of Christian beliefs.

The Age of Doubt

Author: Christopher Lane
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300168810
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
The Victorian era was the first great ";Age of Doubt"; and a critical moment in the history of Western ideas. Leading nineteenth-century intellectuals battled the Church and struggled to absorb radical scientific discoveries that upended everything the Bible had taught them about the world. In "The Age of Doubt," distinguished scholar Christopher Lane tells the fascinating story of a society under strain as virtually all aspects of life changed abruptly. In deft portraits of scientific, literary, and intellectual icons who challenged the prevailing religious orthodoxy, from Robert Chambers and Anne Bronte; to Charles Darwin and Thomas H. Huxley, Lane demonstrates how they and other Victorians succeeded in turning doubt from a religious sin into an ethical necessity. The dramatic adjustment of Victorian society has echoes today as technology, science, and religion grapple with moral issues that seemed unimaginable even a decade ago. Yet the Victorians'; crisis of faith generated a far more searching engagement with religious belief than the ";new atheism"; that has evolved today. More profoundly than any generation before them, the Victorians came to view doubt as inseparable from belief, thought, and debate, as well as a much-needed antidote to fanaticism and unbridled certainty. By contrast, a look at today';s extremes-;from the biblical literalists behind the Creation Museum to the dogmatic rigidity of Richard Dawkins';s atheism-;highlights our modern-day inability to embrace doubt."