religion
pharyngula | March 29, 2007Francis Collins was on Fresh Air this afternoon, and I listened. I was not bedazzled. Collins seems like a very nice fellow and he sounds sincere, but sweet jebus, what a load of tedious platitudes.
He made excuses for religion and how it can be accommodated by science, but wasn't convincing to anyone who thinks at all beyond the superficial. Terry Gross tried to draw him out on why he believes, but we only got the same old tiresome nonsense. He claims that science is only valid in investigating nature, and that it is inappropriate for examining ideas beyond nature … which begs the question…
razib | March 29, 2007Diana, formerly of "Letters from Gotham," reviews Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali at GNXP Classic. Here's her conclusion:
And, unlike the chicken littles of the Right blogosphere, I think that is exactly what we are saying, even if in rather mumblingly, hesitantly and stammeringly. That Puerto Rican girl on the subway isn't exchanging her t-shirt that says, "I must, I must, I must improve my bust," for a burqa anymore than our industrialists and molecular biologists and physicists are going to stop thinking and innovating and creating. They are an army much more powerful than the Quran, yes. We…
mikethemadbiologist | March 29, 2007That's according to Republican congressman Randy Forbes, member of the Congressional Prayer Caucus. Personally, I think exercising Congress' oversight role and passing some legislation worth a damn might help a bit more, but then again, my prayers wouldn't count for much anyway according to the Caucus. From Americans United (italics mine):
A bipartisan [Mad Biologist: this is incorrect. Every member is a Republican.] group of U.S. House members offered a simple message to the American people today: "Pray, or God will lift his caring hand from the great nation."
Over three dozen…
pharyngula | March 29, 2007Well, I've been wrong all this time. It's always been my opinion that if someone says they're a Christian, they're a Christian — I'm not going to nit-pick fine theological distinctions with someone, and if they want to claim the soiled and tattered title of Christianity, they're welcome to it. An important figure in American religion and politics, James Dobson, has shown me to be wrong. He has his own special definition of "Christian".
"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't…
grrlscientist | March 28, 2007According to the creationists, the mighty and fearsome T. rex started out as a coconut eater until humans ruined it all -- after the fall, innocent T. rex suddenly found it had to make a living by eating meat instead of coconuts.
In the middle of the lobby of the 50,000-square-foot Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., a 20-foot waterfall tumbles. Two life-size figures of children with long black hair and in buckskin clothes play in the stream a few feet from two towering Tyrannosaurus Rex models that can move and roar. The museum, which cost $25 million to build and has a sea of black asphalt…
razib | March 28, 2007Seeing how everyone just loves it when I talk about Buddhism, I point you to a post on my other weblog, the round-eyed Buddha, where I review a book which discusses the relationship of the West and Buddhism over the past 2,000 years.
retrospectacle | March 28, 2007Hard to know what to make of this, or even if what they propose--to prenatally interfere with sexual orientation--is possible.
Mr. Mohler [president of a Baptist seminary] said in the article that scientific research "points to some level of biological causation" for homosexuality.
That suggestion offended fellow conservatives, Mr. Mohler said. Proof of a biological basis would challenge the belief of many conservative Christians that homosexuality, which they view as sinful, is a matter of choice that can be overcome through prayer and counseling.
But Mr. Mohler said he was criticized even…
pharyngula | March 28, 2007Only the religious could turn a disaster into a mark in the plus column for God. Jim Downey has found an amazing series of books with some impressive titles, all with the point of giving credit to God for personal catastrophe:
Thank God For Accidents
Thank God For Mistakes
Thank God I Adopted
Thank God I Am A Bitch
Thank God I Am A Dwarf/Midget
Thank God I Am A Network Marketer
Thank God I Am A Senior Citizen
Thank God I Am A Single Parent
Thank God I Am A Stay At Home Dad
Thank God I Am A Stay At Home Mom
Thank God I Am A Virgin
Thank God I Am Afraid Of Commitment
Thank God I Am An…
razib | March 27, 2007The discussion below about the adaptive value of religion was interesting, but it sparked in me an analogy which captures my attitude toward this phenomenon. Consider religions, such as Christianity, as analogs to political parties, such as Republicans. Many of the founders, including George Washington, were not positively disposed toward political parties because they were conscious of the problems of "faction" (which plagued the last years of the Roman Republic). Nevertheless, it seems that the past two centuries of the spread of liberal democracy show that political parties are a…
retrospectacle | March 27, 2007An interesting article ("Why You Rarely See Your Professors In Church") which appeared in the University of Michigan student paper was forwarded to me by its author, Kingson Man. Its tagline went something like this:
Studies show that professors are three times more likely to be atheists or agnostics than the rest of the population. Is a complete separation of church and state good for the University, or should you be worried about being indoctrinated by godless liberals?
Oh, University of Michigan! Oh, Bastion of Intellectuals and Aging Hippie Liberals! Is *nothing* sacred in your tolerant…
oracknows | March 27, 2007Really, this guy is making that very argument with a straight face!
My brain hurts after seeing such unbelievable stupidity presented as a viable argument by Chuck Missler, the minister who founded the Koinonia House. This makes Dr. Egnor's blather seem intelligent by comparison. It's even more idiotic than the now-infamous video that claimed that the banana disproves atheism and evolution:
(Hat tip to: Stupid Evil Bastard.)
pharyngula | March 26, 2007Chuck Norris convinced me before that the bruised and jellied blob bobbing about in his cranium isn't working so well anymore, but this video of Norris advocating a bible-based public school curriculum is the final kicker.
He's fronting for an organization that's trying to smuggle bogus history and religious propaganda into our schools. It's a shame—after playing a hero for so many years on TV, he's fading away in the real world as one of the bad guys.
pharyngula | March 25, 2007That Allen MacNeill fella is crazy brave — after trying to approach Intelligent Design seriously as a course subject, now he's going to teach another controversial summer seminar on whether religion is adaptive. I think where the previous course ran off the rails was in the too-respectful attempt to encourage the participation of the Cornell IDEA club — he basically ended up aiding and abetting a gang of ignorant ideologues, and that's also the way it got spun in the media, to the creationists' advantage. I agree that it's a good idea to engage the counter-culture warriors who are pushing the…
clock | March 25, 2007Ed Cone's today's column addresses the changes in the way we talk about religion, particularly in the sphere of politics: from James Dobson to Pete Stark, from Mitt Romney to Amanda Marcotte - The last taboos in politics:
But there seems to be something bigger afoot, a willingness to challenge the traditional eggshell-walking practiced around the beliefs of others, and a self-confidence about frank claims of disbelief in the broader culture...
Yes, we talk more about it, due to the vocal atheists and their books, and the debate that started with the focus on the authors has now shifted to…
clock | March 24, 2007When a newspaper publishes a column about religion (in their Religion section) that takes into account only the Christian point of view, someone is bound to object.
When the newspaper rectifies the error by publishing an article by an atheist, then, of course, some Christianists are going to object as well.
Discussion follows - kinda basic, embryonic and naive compared to informed and sophisticated discussions we often have on atheists blogs - but a discussion nonetheless, involving local (Greensboro NC) readers of the paper.
Hat-tip: Ed Cone
pharyngula | March 24, 2007
The pop culture hysteria is getting ridiculous. The movie 300, based on a graphic novel treatment of the sacrifice of the Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae, has become a political palimpsest with everyone trying to find support for their agenda in it—but get serious, it's a comic book on the big screen. Similarly, a few have tried to see omens in the death of comic book hero Captain America recently. Again, it's a comic book — superheroes die all the time, and they bounce back like Jesus or get replaced by someone else willing to look ridiculous in public wearing garish Spandex. For the…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2007I dunno about you, but this streaming video is just a wee bit scary to me. By the way, can anyone understand what the older woman was saying and what language it is?
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tags: cult, religion, George W Bush
pharyngula | March 22, 2007What a shock—that awesome "Left Behind" video game in which you get to convert the infidel and slaughter the heathen has tanked, big time. They sunk $27 million into it, the stock had a peak of $18.70 $7.44, and now it's worth 18 cents.
I guess they didn't pray hard enough.
pharyngula | March 21, 2007Neural Gourmet has put out a call for everyone to blog against theocracy:
I'd like invite you all to Blog Against Theocracy. This is a little blog swarm being put together by everybody's favorite panties blogger Blue Gal for Easter weekend, April 6th through the 8th. The idea is simple. Just post something related to, and in support of, the separation of church and state each of those three days. Something big, something small, artistic, musical, textual or otherwise. The topic is your choosing. Whether your thing is stem cell research, intelligent design/Creationism, abortion rights, etc.,…
pharyngula | March 21, 2007
Every once in a while, a reader sends me a link to something I've already dealt with (and that's OK, I don't expect everyone to have committed the entirety of the Pharyngula database to memory), but it's a link to something so dang weird it's worth reposting. In this case, I was sent a link to a page that purports to describe the beliefs of some Jehovah's Witnesses about cats, where among many other jaw-dropping arguments, it gives us this jewel:
Indeed, modern studies of classification of cats, while not necessarily being reliable as they may be based on the discredited 'theory' of…