Famliy "values" organizations
denialism | August 22, 2012Everyone has heard about Akin's comments about "legitimate rape" and the push now coming from the GOP to get him out of the race. But is this really fair or ideal? The problem with removing Akin from the race over this is that his gaffe was not just one exposing his scientific ignorance, but because it was a Kinsley gaffe. That is, it's a gaffe because it unintentionally revealed the truth.
I'm not saying that his medieval medical hypothesis has any scientific validity, he is after all just parroting pro-life misinformation spread to attack scientific data about the frequency of pregnancy…
denialism | January 7, 2009
Not infrequently, science butts heads with culture as the data scientists collect about issues of the day may conflict with cultural perceptions and deeply-held beliefs. Attitudes and perceptions about homosexuality are, not surprisingly, a source of denialism as certain overvalued ideas about sexuality are being challenged with our deeper understanding of human sexual desire. For one, homosexuality is not a choice, despite all attempts to reprogram or suppress homosexual desires, the desires do not go away. One might even hypothesize the attempts to repress or disparage such a…
sb admin | November 16, 2008On the weekends, my four-year old daughter comes to work with me. There isn't much for her to do. She certainly isn't allowed in patient rooms. She doesn't help me make medical decisions. But we spend twenty minutes each way in the car laughing. We walk around the hospital, everyone greeting her, everyone her friend. One time, when she was actually admitted to the hospital, she wasn't scared at all because, "all my friends are there."
Friday night, we went to services. My mother-in-law was singing, and she asked us to come. Normally, I'm not one for formal religious observances---it's…
sb admin | August 23, 2008A number of us in the blogosphere have been outraged by Bush's Department of Health and Human Services' desire to put the arbitrary wants of doctors before the needs of patients. At first it was just a draft proposal, but now Mike Leavitt is pushing to implement the changes. Soon, it may be legally acceptable to deny you a needed health service because the health care provider thinks your decisions are immoral.
I've already written several times about why there can be no "conscientious objectors" in health care. This law would essentially allow doctors to ignore the standard of care set by…
sb admin | May 22, 2008John McCain has succumbed to sanity---or perhaps to political expediency. Either way, he has finally rejected the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee. If you'll recall, Hagee is one of those wacko cult leaders on the right-hand side of the Evangelical movement (I hope). He hates Catholics, and thinks Jews are just great! (That is, if you think "great" means "responsible for their own near-extermination", and "founding Israel so that they can hasten the return of Christ and be sucked into Hell at a later date.")
I suppose I don't really care what McCain's motivation was for dumping Hagee---I'm…
denialism | December 31, 2007I see that I'm in good company in my curiosity about why Ron Paul enjoys so much crank magnetism. And his crank magnetism and appeal to racist groups can't be denied. Here for instance, is Ron Paul posing with Don Black, culled from the neo-nazi Stormfront website:
Now, I think its unlikely Ron Paul knew who this was when he posed for this shot, but between this and their endorsement of Paul on Stormfront radio, I think it's pretty well confirmed who their candidate is. Also note, this picture was taken at the "Values Voters Presidential Debate" just as a reminder of who "Values Voters"…
denialism | October 30, 2007It's already got the fundamentalists up in arms. Apparently, one of them managed to read something outside the accepted cannon of Christ-like books and now they're all bothered about the December 7th release (see trailer) of the first installment of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy - the Golden Compass (IMDB).
According to CNSNews.com, leading atheist writers and intellectuals are engaged in a "scientific" quest to ultimately destroy organized religion, particularly Christianity. Oxford professor Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris and journalist Christopher Hitchens are some of…
denialism | October 17, 2007WaPo reports on the appointment of Susan Orr:
The Bush administration again has appointed a chief of family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who has been critical of contraception.
Susan Orr, most recently an associate commissioner in the Administration for Children and Families, was appointed Monday to be acting deputy assistant secretary for population affairs. She will oversee $283 million in annual grants to provide low-income families and others with contraceptive services, counseling and preventive screenings.
In a 2001 article in The Washington Post,…
denialism | September 21, 2007They're fighting for our freedoms. And in order to fight for our freedoms, thousands of miles away from home, thousands of miles from their sweethearts and husbands/wives, they must be kept pure and without sin. Therefore, Christian groups demand the military not allow PX stores to sell porn (aka Playboy).
A Christian advocacy group is encouraging military families, and other concerned citizens, to write letters to the Defense Department expressing concern over the recent decision by the Pentagon that allows the sale of certain adult magazines at military exchanges.
...
Trueman says the…
denialism | September 18, 2007Why can't people just be bigots and not demand science reinforce their bigotry? James Dobson is promoting the Exodus Ex-Gay study (reviewed by Jim Burroway here). You remember the study? The one where they ignore all the people that dropped out? The one where success also included chastity, or merely staying with the program despite not changing sexuality? The one where "conversion" left participants still sexually conflicted? Yeah, that one, is being promoted as proof that Dobson is right.
Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs-based Christian media ministry, on Monday endorsed a…
denialism | September 18, 2007I'm sad I missed the "Values Voters Presidential Debate", but I'm not alone. All the first-tier presidential candidates skipped it as well. The big winner was apparently Mike Huckabee according to the World Nut Daily, he apparently was the most hateful of them all. But the nuts are clearly upset at being snubbed by the candidates that actually have a chance of being nominated:
Debate panelist Rabbi Aryeh Spero of the Jewish Action Alliance asked, "How can we expect these no-show candidates to take on Osama bin Laden and other world leaders when they're afraid to show up and answer…
denialism | September 17, 2007Box Turtle Bulletin has been tracking the latest ex-gay study that purports to show a 30-50% efficacy in making homosexuals into heterosexuals through the Exodus ex-gay ministry.
Initial problems with the study which went to a Christian publisher rather than peer review - the authors Stanton L. Jones and Mark Yarhouse (of Regent University have an interesting history in this field:
Jones and Yarhouse have collaborated at least three times before. They wrote "The Use, Misuse and Abuse of Science in the Ecclesiastical Homosexuality Debates," which appeared in the 2000 anthology Homosexuality…
denialism | August 17, 2007One of the problems with denialists is that they simply can't accept that science doesn't conform to their ideology. For instance, it's not enough to just be morally opposed to abortion, the anti-choice organizations have to misrepresent risks of the procedure, including promoting the false link (NCI) between abortion and breast cancer.
Recently, Talk to Action exposed the lies of Crisis Pregnancy centers, and the dishonest tactics they use to misrepresent the services they offer and lie about the risks of abortion. These centers which use federal money to misrepresent the science, are…
denialism | August 16, 2007Sociologists are. Or so says Inside Higher Ed.
Sociologists -- especially those who study sexuality -- have for years done research that was considered controversial or troublesome by politicians or deans. Many scholars are proud of following their research ideas where they lead -- whatever others may think. But at a session Monday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, sociologists considered the possibility that some of their colleagues may feel enough heat right now that they are avoiding certain topics or are being forced to compromise on either the language or…
denialism | August 10, 2007What is it about "family" organizations and bigotry? That's some definition of family they've got there. The latest comes courtesy of the American Family News Network, and features the lovely hate of Congressman Bill Sali.
"We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes -- and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers," asserts Sali.
Sali says America was built on Christian principles that were derived from scripture. He also says the only way the United…
denialism | July 11, 2007Sounds dirty doesn't it? But the homobigot fake family values group, the Family Research Council, is dead serious about keeping teh gays out of baseball games.
This past Sunday, at the San Diego Padres baseball game, what was advertised as a "Free Floppy Hat Night" for kids under 14 turned out to be a double play. While the Padres management was enticing families with the giveaway for kids, it was also promoting the evening as a Gay Pride night at the ballpark. Children who received free hats were treated to the Gay Man's Chorus of San Diego singing the national anthem prior to what one…
denialism | June 22, 2007Bible Belt Blogger brings us this excerpt from the Family Research Council's "Dear Praying Friends" letter:
Surgeon General Nominee under Fire - Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush's nominee for Surgeon General, has been harshly condemned by pro-homosexual activists for a 1991 paper he wrote for the Methodist Church describing male gay sex as unnatural and unhealthy. Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL) attacked Holsinger and President Bush saying, "...The Surgeon General's office is no place for bigotry...that would trump sound science." But Holsinger's work catalogued the obvious. The Center for Disease…
denialism | May 23, 2007The San Francisco Chronicle wrote this article Monday on a recent effort to encourage gay and lesbian couples in San Francisco to foster children. The problem?
They uncritically cited Paul Cameron and his bogus research which is just self-published bigotry and hatred, with no scientific validity.
But there are signs of hope...
Here's the contribution from Paul Cameron, bigot and fraud, to the article:
The campaign, which will include a billboard in the Castro featuring two dads with their teen daughter, is perhaps the first of its kind and sure to be controversial. It comes just two weeks…
denialism | May 17, 2007What kind of family value is lying? That's the foremost question in my mind when I consider the family values organizations that use false research, lies and denialism to justify their agenda of disparaging contraception, sex education, homosexuality, and exaggerating the dangers of abortion.
In light of Falwell's death, I thought it would be appropriate to advance the discussion of the use of denialist techniques to reinforce bigotry and an anti-feminist agenda in the name of family values.
I think a good starting point for the discussion of what a family values denialist looks like is Paul…