Richard Dawkins is appearing on Colbert tonight, it should be good. In a near miss, Francis Collins is appearing tomorrow; too bad we couldn't get a collision.
Search
Profile
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)
I reserve the right to publicly post, with full identifying information about the source, any email sent to me that contains threats of violence.
Random Quote
In an early class, one of the students asked me if I believed in God. I replied, 'I don't think so.' And then proceeded to wail on the theme, using material from this column of some weeks ago, in which I observed the perpetuation of insanity on this planet through the mediums of Arabs-vs-Jews, Catholics-vs-Protestants, Southern Baptists-vs-Everyone. I said I felt if 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he them,' (Genesis 2:27, King James's italics, not mine) then we were God. And when Man (my cap, not King James's) in his most creative, his most loving, his most gentle and most human, then he is most God-like. The student said he would pray for my immortal soul. He also asked for my address, so he could send me some literature on the subject of God. I thanked him politely and told him I'd gotten all the literature I could handle on the subject from a certain Thomas Aquinas.
[Harlan Ellison, from "The Glass Teat", Article #29]
Recent Posts
- Our illness is their profit
- Friday Cephalopod: NUMBERLESS HOSTS!
- Dear Jezebel
- There Will Be Blood?
- Zooming in on the Origin of Life Science Foundation
- Friday Cephalopod: Feasibility trial successful
- Making excuses
- More bad science in the literature
- An open letter to the Indiana legislature
- One Carnival of Evolution, coming right up
A Taste of Pharyngula
Recent Comments
- Tumara Baap on Our illness is their profit
- chriswarr on Our illness is their profit
- vibise on Zooming in on the Origin of Life Science Foundation
- mrpoxman on Our illness is their profit
- Everbleed on Friday Cephalopod: NUMBERLESS HOSTS!
- CherryBombSim on Our illness is their profit
- I'm sorry, thank you on Our illness is their profit
- https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlg3ZrAn0yJktAa1txQLOB6bCND-AfW0pA on Our illness is their profit
- mandas on Our illness is their profit
- sue.welsh on Our illness is their profit
Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
Blogroll
Other Information
« An entirely appropriate summary of Stephen Meyer's talk in Oklahoma | Main | I didn't even know there was a reporter there! »
More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
That Dawkins guy gets all the cool gigs
Category: Entertainment
Posted on: September 30, 2009 10:32 AM, by PZ Myers
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/121118
Leave a comment
HTML commands: <i>italic</i>, <b>bold</b>, <a href="url">link</a>, <blockquote>quote</blockquote>
Comments
Posted by: Kobra
|
September 30, 2009 10:40 AM
Damn. I might have to watch that despite not usually watching TV.
Posted by: Rorschach
|
September 30, 2009 10:40 AM
Well, he is going to be on Maher on Friday too, that should be interesting...:-)
Taping the Colbert appearance since I'm taking my kid to the zoo at the time !
Posted by: Dr Benway
|
September 30, 2009 10:46 AM
Yeah, Collins' belief in Jesus is crazy! However, Maher's believe in ill-defined "toxins" and the Western medicine conspiracy is perfectly sensible.
Posted by: daveau
|
September 30, 2009 10:47 AM
Colbert should be good, although I'd rather see him on Stewart where he can get a word in edgewise. I always DVR both, but might stay up to watch, since I know it will be discussed tomorrow.
Posted by: https://certifi.ca/eean
|
September 30, 2009 10:50 AM
Would be better if it was the other way around (Collins one night, Dawkins the next), since Colbert often poses comments from recent guests.
Should be good though. Colbert the character is of course rabidly Catholic, but Colbert the real person is likely vaguely religious as well.
Posted by: fishyfred
|
September 30, 2009 10:52 AM
Have you not read the blog for the past couple of days?
Posted by: Mike Wagner
|
September 30, 2009 11:04 AM
Dawkin's appearances on CBC (The Hour on TV, and The Current on Radio) were both great.
It's nice to see him interviewed by intelligent people who actually understand what he's written. :)
Posted by: Matt "Nora" Penfold
|
September 30, 2009 11:07 AM
You mean you think Benway should actually go looking for evidence ? How very uncivil of you. Expect a stern rebuke from Mooney, Kirshembaum and Rosenau anytime now.
Posted by: Andyo
|
September 30, 2009 11:26 AM
#5 eean:
Colbert for real is actually pretty catholic too, only not crazy. He has said he teaches Sunday school, even. I think it was on Charlie Rose, but somebody also asked him if he taught his children of hell, and IIRC he said no.
Posted by: consciousness razor
|
September 30, 2009 11:37 AM
Colbert and Dawkins ... that's some guaranteed entertainment right there.
Andyo, perhaps this is just a nitpick, but what if any is the difference between a crazy Catholic and an irrational Catholic? Colbert actually teaches Sunday school? That would lower my opinion of him considerably.
Posted by: AZ Writer (Kim Hosey)
|
September 30, 2009 11:41 AM
I canceled my TV a while ago (starving artist and all), and have said a few times I totally don't miss it. I take it back for the first time.
I grew up with a father who embraced what seems to be Colbert's style of Catholicism -- he was reasonably devout and deeply stubborn about certain beliefs, but also pretty extreme in both his intelligence and irreverence. I don't know, I guess that kind of belief facilitates the bad kind too, but it was enlightening to me, at any rate.
Posted by: falterer
|
September 30, 2009 11:44 AM
Excited about this, though I think Dawkins will be more interested in talking about evolution than atheism. Both he and Collins are wearing slightly different hats from when they were interviewed by NPR a couple of years ago.
My guess: Colbert will play the young earth creationist, allowing Dawkins to give the rationalist perspective. Maybe tomorrow, he'll try to confide in Collins as a fellow man of faith, only to find that Collins sees no conflict between evolution and god--in fact, understanding evolution helps scientists make flu vaccines...
Right or wrong, this'll be fun to watch!
Posted by: Matt "Nora" Penfold
|
September 30, 2009 11:45 AM
Hang on a minute.
If Colbert is really a devout Catholic how come he wants Dawkins on his show ?
Don't M&K tell us that Dawkins' rhetoric will mean moderate religious people will not listen to him ? Do you think they have bothered to let Colbert know he is not playing the game by their rules ?
Posted by: RagingBullwinkle
|
September 30, 2009 11:57 AM
Too bad it`s not the other way around. Colbert is a theist and he`ll let Collins have the last word.
Posted by: consciousness razor
|
September 30, 2009 12:02 PM
Matt Penfold: Catholics believe evolution is compatible with their particular flavor of God, as incomprehensible as that sounds. The fact that Dawkins is an atheist is different story. Is it perhaps Colbert's secret way of celebrating Blasphemy Day? If he (and not his character) is religious, he certainly doesn't seem to care much about blasphemy.
Posted by: Matt "Nora" Penfold
|
September 30, 2009 12:08 PM
Mr T, the argument advanced by M&K (and others) is that Dawkins' rhetoric on religion puts off moderate religious believers who would otherwise be onboard as regards the evolution/creationism debate.
Clearly Colbert never got the memo telling him that as a moderate Catholic he is supposed to have nothing to do with promoting evolution, and especially nothing to do with Dawkins. That or Colbert is an intelligent man who has worked out that you can disagree with someone of some things and agree with them on others without problem.
Posted by: xinit
|
September 30, 2009 12:13 PM
I was lucky enough to get last minute tickets to see Prof. Dawkins, thanks to CFI Ontario.
I especially liked his re-enactment of the Banana Video in answer to a question about Comfort's plot to distribute "Origin" on campuses. What I thought of most when I read that Francis Collins was going to be on Colbert the night following Dawkins was a cautious answer he gave regarding Collins' appointment... He stated that he was sure that Collins was very intelligent, and (paraphrased)
"that he wasn't sure if his [Collins] religious... ... I'm trying to come up with a polite way of saying it... religious PROCLIVITIES... ever interfered with his scientific decision making"
Religious proclivities.
Makes it sound dirty, and the audience loved it.
Posted by: consciousness razor
|
September 30, 2009 12:25 PM
Matt Penfold: yes, I understand where you're going there... Surely, such an uncivil attitude toward M&K's
bullshitteryargument is hardly appropriate.Quoth Mooney, from Whitman without citation, "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself." The logic is irrefutable. Irrefutable, I tell you!
Posted by: Andyo
|
September 30, 2009 3:26 PM
Just in case (some don't seem to know), Dawkins has been on Colbert before, for the release of TGD. It was pretty funny.
I think Colbert, even though he's probably the most "religious" of these talk show hosts (Stewart, Maher, Conan, Letterman), is the most scientifically literate. His interviews with scientists are better than the others and he's demonstrated he knows his stuff and the questions he asks wouldn't be asked just by anyone (see Jon Stewart's interviews with scientists). If you notice, in that Dawkins interview he hits a lot of the IDers rationalizations which suggests he also knows about the "New Atheists" and has informed himself.
RE: Sunday School, see this and this. I saw that Conan interview, and I'm not sure but I think he also mentioned it on Charlie Rose.
He's also said how he views religion with a sense of humor. He has been asked this because his comedy on religion is probably the funniest of the bunch (This Week in God, anyone?).
Posted by: bobxxxx
|
September 30, 2009 8:08 PM
"Richard Dawkins is appearing on Colbert tonight"
Actually, Richard Dawkins in on Colbert tomorrow night, Thursday 10/1/2009.
Posted by: Sylvie
|
September 30, 2009 8:18 PM
To Xinit #17: Hee hee. "Proclivities” reminds me of this Arthur C. Clarke quote "I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent."
Posted by: Sylvie
|
September 30, 2009 8:31 PM
Per Colbert's Web site, Dawkins in on today, Wednesday, 9/30. I'm in the Pacific Time Zone, which means 11:30 tonight (too late for me). Comedy Central re-runs the late night show at an earlier time (7:30 or 8:30) the next day, so, he should be on again tomorrow, 10/1, at a more reasonable hour.
Posted by: JJ
|
September 30, 2009 8:42 PM
@11 AZ Writer (Kim Hosey)
You should be able to watch it o Hulu (if you are in the US)
http://www.hulu.com/the-colbert-report
Posted by: bobxxxx
|
September 30, 2009 9:08 PM
Correction to #20, Dawkins is on Colbert tonight 11:30PM and tomorrow at 7:30PM Eastern time.
Posted by: Rey Fox, Bird Caller Guy
|
September 30, 2009 11:45 PM
"(Stewart, Maher, Conan, Letterman)"
Don't forget Craig Ferguson.
Posted by: Boomer
|
October 1, 2009 12:00 AM
Crocoduck tie... nice!
Posted by: Josh Rosenau
|
October 2, 2009 10:47 PM
"too bad we couldn't get a collision"
Yeah, they might have traded compliments for a while: http://www.newsweek.com/id/216206/page/1
http://biologos.org/resources/richard-dawkins/
Interesting to note, in response to Matt Penfold, et al., that Dawkins has adopted a rather more conciliatory tone about science and religion of late. Maybe he's actually willing to acknowledge that his critics have a point and to incorporate their advice.