Untimely meditations

One man's thoughts, observations and rants

Welcome to the personal blog of Joop Beris. I blog about a wide variety of topics, ranging from atheism to information security and lots in between. I welcome feedback on my articles but there are some guidelines. Feel free to share articles you like by using the sharing buttons but please give me credit if you want to share something. Also, check out my privacy policy and other legalese.

Please note that the things I write here do not represent the views of anyone else but me. I do not represent an organization or a business and I have nothing to sell. My views do not necessarily coincide with or represent those of my employer. Just throwing that in there for legal reasons.

Below you’ll find the most recent things I’ve written. Feel free to check them out, leave a comment and share them with others who might be interested.

Latest posts

  • Read recommendation: Heather Hastie

    Read recommendation: Heather Hastie

    I don’t follow an awful lot of blogs but there are some that I return to frequently because I feel they stand out in some way. One of those is my current read recommendation to you: the blog of Heather Hastie. I feel Heather’s writing is insightful and reasoned. She also gets a good deal…

  • It’s the kids’ fault

    It’s the kids’ fault

    Back in June of this year, I responded to a tweet from the account of the pope, @Pontifex. In his tweet, the pope or someone running the account for him, tweeted how we should build up society in light of the Beatitudes. We need to build up society in the light of the Beatitudes, walking…

  • Research reveals that raising children without religion may be the better alternative

    Research reveals that raising children without religion may be the better alternative

    An article I saw linked today via the Richard Dawkins Foundation, claims that new research reveals that raising children without religion may be the better alternative.

  • “New Atheism” bashing

    “New Atheism” bashing

    Recently, there have been a number of publications that criticise “New Atheism”. Take for instance the article by dr. Patrick O’Connor who complains that atheism isn’t about more than just not believing in god. A silly position, as I have explained here. Or the book “The Leprechaun Delusion“, equating “New Atheism” with a dangerous cult,…

  • Why is atheism so unbelievable?

    Why is atheism so unbelievable?

    Why is atheism so unbelievable? It’s something that I can’t for the life of me understand. Personally, I think it should be the default position of anyone who purports to be sane. Even in the Netherlands, which is now largely a secular country, I’m still told: “Well, you have to believe in something?” The last…

  • Creation

    Creation

    We all know the image of Charles Darwin above, an elderly man with a long beard and a pensive, somewhat haunted look. You can see that this is a man who has seen things, a man who has been places and a man who has known struggle. “Creation” tells this story but also tells the…

Recent comments

  1. I have a question. I believe life is valuable because you have a soul and are a unique person, precious.…

  2. Joop, Hope you are well. It is amazing to me the gullibility of people. How can educated people believe in…

What can be asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.

Christopher Hitchens

Author and journalist