Theism
sa smith | January 16, 2013I will give them this-- This is a new anti-vax argument for me:
Like most medical facilities, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital appears to require that all of its employees receive an annual flu shot. It fired Sakile Chenzira, a customer service representative, for refusing to comply. Chenzira sued, claiming that because the flu vaccine contains eggs the requirement violated her religion—veganism—which prohibits the ingestion of any animals or animal by-products.
The influenza vaccine is produced in eggs. If youre vegan, this might present an ethical problem, for you. But most people are vegans…
sa smith | June 26, 2012File this under 'Religion has nothing to do with morality'--
Some religions have a problem with a vaccine that, when dosed appropriately early enough, virtually eliminates risk of cervical cancer, as virtually all cervical cancer is caused by HPV. Its even better if males get the vaccine as well, not only because if fewer males get HPV, fewer males can transmit HPV to females-- but also because the HPV vaccine might protect against non-cervical HPV cancers (which males can get).
I wish I was making this up, but some religions reject the HPV vaccine because it will turn little girls (its…
sa smith | April 15, 2012HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS???
A couple weeks ago, the would-be-hilarious-if-they-werent-so-dangerous group, the National Organization for Marriage (OMNOMNOMONOMNOM!) had their 2008 donor list leaked via the Human Rights Campaign (pdf).
One of the largest donations came from none other than the president of the John Templeton Foundation, John Templeton ($450,000) and his wife Josephine ($100,000).
I recognize that John Templeton the person and The Templeton Foundation as a foundation are different entities. However considering the personal financial and political causes taken up by Johnny boy,…
sa smith | February 24, 2012Posted without comment:
Anti-abortion "personhood" bill clears Oklahoma senate
The bill offers no exceptions in the case of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest and could mean some forms of contraception such as the "morning after pill" would be unavailable, she said.
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Oklahoma State Representative Gus Blackwell, whos educational and employment qualifications appear to be composed entirely of "JESUS! YAAAY! I CAN MANAGE NOT TO CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING USEFUL TO SOCIETY FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE JUST BY SCREAMING JESUS ALL DAY!!! YAAAAAAY!" just reintroduced our Blog Buddy Sally Kerns anti-…
sa smith | January 26, 2012Just, turn off your brain before you read this post, folks.
If you try to to think about this, Im pretty sure your entire brain will hemorrhage, and I dont want to be responsible for that.
You think I am joking.
I am not.
I actually heard rumors about what Im going to type here today a week ago, but I didnt write it because I thought it was just an internet rumor. It was too stupid to be real life.
And yet, after verifying the info, here I am. It is true.
*blink*
*deepbreath*
Okay.
Companies like Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Trident-- they take their food flavor/food additive/food everything very…
sa smith | November 1, 2011This post is going to be a touch of a stretch for ERV. I normally dont write about theology. Mostly, because I dont care. I think the cultural phenomena surrounding 'theology' or Harry Potter or Twilight is far more interesting than the ins-and-outs of the magical creatures at the center of the phenomena itself.
But I do enjoy learning new things about anything, so I was *very* much looking forward to seeing the video of Jerry Coynes exchange with a Muggle Twihard 'Systematic theologian', John Haught.
They 'debated' earlier this year, and video was taken under the understanding that it…
sa smith | July 15, 2011NOOOOO!!! ALL HOPE IS LOST!!!Gov. Fallin is asking Oklahomans to turn to a higher power this Sunday, July 17, 2011 and pray for rain.
"I encourage Oklahomans of all faiths to join me this Sunday in offering their prayers for rain," Fallin said. "For the safety of our firefighters and our communities and the well-being of our crops and livestock, this state needs the current drought to come to an end. The power of prayer is a wonderful thing, and I would ask every Oklahoman to look to a greater power this weekend and ask for rain."
Rick Perry of Texas already TRIED THIS. Texas prayed for…
sa smith | April 27, 2011I love condoms.
They are a medical device that not only helps prevent pregnancy, but a whole host of sexually transmitted diseases. And, while STDs can vary from 'dont know youre infected and doesnt have an effect on your health, really' to 'deadly' to the adults that contract them, the spectrum can look very different for the babies who get infected with the exact same viruses.
Babies get exposed to all kinds of viruses and bacteria at birth ("HAPPY BIRFDAY!"). They get in the babies eyes, mouth, everywhere. Thats why we give HIV+ moms antivirals right before they give birth, so their…
sa smith | February 16, 2011Via Dianna Narciso, one of the funniest/most pathetic excuse for a child-star-gone-wild: Atheist community service.
"Somewhere along this journey," he says, "both mine and Miley's faith has been shaken. That saddens me the most." When they first came to Hollywood for Hannah Montana, the two of them would drive down the freeway together to the studio each morning, and every day Miley would point out the sign that said
ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY
ATHEISTS UNITED
Just before moving out to Los Angeles, the whole family had been baptized together by their pastor at the People's Church in Franklin, Tennessee…
sa smith | December 1, 2010So, Dinesh D'Souza is speaking at OU tonight. Or this afternoon. Or whatever.
I couldnt help but notice not only how D'Souza is defined by his 'enemies', but that D'Souza defines himself by his 'enemies':The God Decision: Delusion, Confusion or Truth?
The "New Atheism" is an increasingly popular worldview promoted by well-known intellectuals including, Sir Richard Dawkins (who spoke at O.U. in March 2009), Christopher Hitchens, Dr. Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris -- the so-called "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism." This belief system is essentially an embrace of scientific and philosophical…
sa smith | November 21, 2010Huh.
ERV, August 5, 2009--Maybe we just need to fr*me things differently-- Condoms arent 'birth control', theyre 'HIV/AIDS control, with unavoidable (but reversible) pregnancy reduction as a side-effect, like chemotherapy for cancer'.
Teh Pope, November 20, 2010--While he will restate the Catholic Church's staunch objections to contraception because it believes it interferes with the creation of life, he will argue that using a condom to preserve life and avoid death can be a responsible act - even outside marriage.
..."In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection…
sa smith | November 1, 2010A group of OKC Atheists went to one of those 'Hell Houses' last night.
I didnt go, but I can only assume from their summary of the event, that the parishioners of Wilmont Place Baptist Church in OKC have absolutely no social grace or even basic, common decency.
You see, we have had a little 'spat' of young people committing suicide recently. Young people killing themselves after enduring constant bullying and tormenting by their peers. Not just in 'LA' or 'NYC', but right at home, here in OKC.
What was the 'plot' of Wilmont Place Baptist Churchs 'Judgment House'? Why, a young girl who has…
sa smith | October 22, 2010Living in Oklahoma, I get an especially fine kick out of Ivory Tower Theists like Karen Armstrong and Terry Eagleton trying to talk about how/what religion 'really' is.
Their words bear no resemblance to the theism I interact with on a daily basis. Those 'straw-men' and 'caricatures' of theism Gnu Atheists attack? Those are real things and real stupid shit real every day theists do every day. They are not straw-men or caricatures.
Example:
Yeah, that is leik, SUPER ELAGANTS THIEZM, amaright? They dont literally believe in Satan and literally believe that Satan was planning on appearing…
sa smith | October 14, 2010A few months ago, Kathryn Applegate wrote a couple posts on the adaptive immune system. Its relatively inoffensive. Just the bland 'science' Im used to hearing from theists, flavored with dull gender normative stories and analogies containing her husband and toddlers and clothes/shoes.
And then at random points within the sterile descriptions of science, Applegate insists her personal choice of deity has something to do with said sterile science. No evidence or explanation why she is talking about her deity. Hysterically, her posts could be summed up as "Look at all these totally natural…
sa smith | October 11, 2010Today is National Coming Out Day.
Last week, a young man from Norman OK killed himself, a few days after listening to hours of hateful comments at a Norman City Council meeting.
Watch it.
Comments start at ~min 43.
I picked a time-point at random-- ~ 1 hour in. I got to see a comment by Fred Pope, a hateful, disgusting piece of shit.Fred Pope said he and his family moved to Norman 15 years ago looking for a place that didn't necessarily embrace the GLBT community.
"We moved here so we could raise a family in a great location," Pope said. "And what this does tonight is begin to undermine that…
sa smith | September 8, 2010Im a voracious reader. Always have been. We didnt have cable or a lot of cool toys or anything growing up (dont feel sorry for me. we did get a NES when they came out, and a Tandy 2000) but Mom would always take us to the library for a new book at the drop of a hat.
But I dont read a lot of books.
I do occasionally pick up something different, but normally I read the same books over and over and over and over and over.
The 'worst' are 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Martian Chronicles'. I have read them both at least a hundred times (and its my moms copy of 'Martian Chronicles', doesnt…
sa smith | August 11, 2010Paleovirology is one of my favorite topics to read about. Whether its bringing extinct viruses back to life, or finding ancient HIV-1 integration sites, or finding millions of year old viruses in genomes, or studying the modern side-effects of ancient viral infections, I love old viruses just about as much as modern ones.
I even like wild guessing concerning ancient viruses, like this pic from Ancient Egypt:We *think* this fellow has a bum leg and a cane because of polio!
And there were several 'plagues' that ravaged Ancient Greece. Scientists and scholars have proposed various pathogens,…
sa smith | August 5, 2010I normally dread my drives home to visit my parents.
I mean, its pretty-- through OK and KS... but there is absolutely nothing on the radio but those crazy Christian talk shows. I can listen to them a while, for limited lulz, but eventually I get so sick of the Creationists and women talking about how its so AWESOME to serve their husbands, I turn it off and drive in silence.
NOT TODAY, BABY!!!!
Every show was freaking the fuck out over Prop H8 getting overturned! Freaking the fuck out AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
The hours just flew by as I laughed maniacally at:
WARBLEGARBLE! VAUGHN WALKER IS…
sa smith | July 20, 2010My mom and her friends have been having a fun time with recent Oklahoma weather-- We had constant ice storms that crippled the city this winter. Spring gave us loads of tornadoes and of course, the sideways baseball-sized hail. This summer has been 'filled' with flooding...
Mom & Co. giggle: "Better stock up on OFF!. I heard next you all are going to have a plague of locusts." "What the hell is Oklahoma doing to piss off God??" "The only thing keeping Oklahoma from being obliterated by God is the few Chosen People who manage to live there. Way to keep God from killing Oklahoma, Abbie…