Dr. Hector Avalos Calls For Ending Religionist Philosophy of Religion

I've been wondering what Hector thinks of my call for ending the Philosophy of Religion, since I'm basing it on his call to end biblical studies. So I asked him. He has not followed the discussion that much but enough to say this (per email):
My proposal is "to end biblical studies as we know it" (The End of Biblical Studies, p. 15),which means in its current religionist and apologetic orientation. So I am for ending the philosophy of religion if its only mission is to defend religion and theism. So, akin to my vision of the end of biblical studies, I would say that the only mission of the philosophy of religion is to end the philosophy of religion as we know it.
He also provided a progress report so far on his call to end biblical studies:
A. Five Inquisitive Minds podcasts, which are sympathetic to secularism, were devoted to The End of Biblical Studies by André Gagné, a biblical scholar at the secular Concordia University in Canada.

B. The Society of Biblical Literature approved the Metacriticism of Biblical Scholarship unit, which I helped to found based on ideas enunciated in The End of Biblical Studies. The SBL, the largest professional association of biblical scholars, has become more open to secular viewpoints.

C. I've been asked to be a speaker in a highlight panel on borders and immigration at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in San Diego in November. This invitation came despite the fact that I had criticized the SBL heavily for its religionism.

D. Sheffield Phoenix Press, one of the most respected presses in biblical studies and one managed by some scholars sympathetic to secularism, published my last book, Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Ethics of Biblical Scholarship(2011) and plans to publish my next book, The Bad Jesus. Sheffield Phoenix also published Richard Carrier's On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt(2014).
This is all good news! It's an uphill battle, I know.

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