religion
clock | July 24, 2006Norse cult gains among inmates:
A pagan religion that some experts say can be interpreted as encouraging violence is gaining popularity among prison inmates, one of whom is scheduled to be executed this week for killing a fellow prisoner at the foot of an altar.
Michael Lenz is scheduled to die Thursday for the death of Brent Parker, who was stabbed dozens of times at Augusta Correctional Center during a gathering of inmates devoted to Asatru, whose followers worship Norse gods.
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Asatru is often associated with white supremacy, although most Asatru leaders deny that.…
mikethemadbiologist | July 23, 2006From Paul Waldman's book Being Right Is Not Enough--What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success:
But the stance of those in the Radical Religious Right toward homosexuality is unlikely to change anytime soon. Since they believe the Bible absolutely prohibits homosexuality, they don't see any room for compromise. As American opinion evolves, their views will grow further and further from the mainstream. Whether it takes ten years or forty years, there will come a day when gay Americans have full legal rights, and antigay prejudice becomes a hallmark of fringe thought. At some…
neurotopia | July 22, 2006I just don't get it. On one hand, Francis Collins is clearly a bright guy and an established researcher. He headed the Human Genome Project, for cryin' out loud. He's an evangelical Christian, which I personally don't care about one way or the other, as long as his beliefs remain his personal beliefs. An article in the Washington Post, however, has me wondering what he's thinking.
Certainly Dr. Collins is one of the more prominent advocates for the compatibility of science and religion. On one hand I admire that. Many of the extreme religious conservative persuasion have set up a…
neurotopia | July 21, 2006Today's award goes to Ralph Reed, cherubic ex-leader of the Christian Coalition, who lost his bid to be the Republican nominee for the Lt. Governorship of Georgia this week.
Apparently, Mr. Morality is blaming John McCain for calling attention to Mr. Reed's ethical lapses.
The connection was the report issued by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by McCain, that found Reed had been paid more than $5 million by two casino-owning Indian tribes -- both clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- to rally Christian voters against other tribes opening competing casinos.
You must've screwed…
mikethemadbiologist | July 20, 2006This is a modified post from the old digs, moved over here to the new site.
Stem cell research has always been a very personal issue for me: a close family relative is a type I diabetic (this is an autoimmune form of diabetes caused by the body's destruction of the pancreatic cells that produce insulin, and is not related to diet). Over the years, I have watched this relative, despite her best efforts, suffer various side effects, ranging from heart disease (despite no family history and an excellent diet) to a detached retina (another common side effect of type I diabetes). And in one way,…
mikethemadbiologist | July 19, 2006
(via Shakespeare's Sister)
I've always found it odd that Christian conservatives constantly claim victim status, particularly when so many of them, when it comes to foreign policy are so convinced that will can overcome anything. It's sort of like Norman Vincent Pearle but with fighter bombers. Then again, logical consistency isn't exactly the Christian conservatives' strong suit.
The latest hue and cry of discrimination revolves around pharmacists and other healthcare workers who refuse to provide legal procedures and medications such as contraception and birth control. Shakespeare's…
oracknows | July 16, 2006Although Capitalist Pig vs. Socialist Swine found it to be possibly the funniest video on the Internet, I found it very disturbing that people (in this case, the infamously homophobic and hate-filled Westboro Baptist Church) can actually think this way and seriously believe the statements in this video.
Check out the smirk on the narrator's face at the end of the video.
These are probably the same sort of people who are openly rejoicing over the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza because they believe it's a sign of the end times and that their impending rapture is near. (The original link is no…
neurotopia | July 15, 2006Kent, the gift that keeps on giving. Man, is anybody affiliated with Hovind NOT a crook?
neurotopia | July 15, 2006One of my readers (kewl, I have readers!) informed me that Kent Hovind's lawyer might also be in a bit of legal trouble. It seems that Glen Stoll of Washington state is in a pickle as well. Stoll is Hovind's lawyer, and has ownership of the embroiled Dinosaur Adventure Land House of Lies creationist theme park ever since a property dispute involving a lack of building permits.
It looks like this guy is a total scam artist. Emphasis mine.
The court found that Stoll, who falsely claimed to be a lawyer, and his businesses sell a fraudulent "corporation sole" and "ministerial trust" scheme,…
neurotopia | July 14, 2006Jackass creationist, theme-park owner and professional lunatic Kent Hovind was arrested on 58 federal charges.
Hovind, a.k.a. Dr. Dino, is best known for claiming to have obtained a level of education that puts him on par with professional scientists. He is also no stranger to the inside of a courtroom:
In April, Circuit Judge Michael Allen ordered the buildings at Dinosaur Adventure Land closed because Hovind failed to obtain a building permit during the 2002 construction. The outdoor theme park was allowed to stay open.
That's right, our good Christian friend apparently doesn't care about…
razib | July 14, 2006Wikipedia is really funny, I mean, what you stumble upon...Nikah Ijtimah "is a form of polyandry that existed in the Pre-Islamic period in the Arabian peninsula." I knew of the purported existence of polyandry in pre-Islamic Arabia (see No God but God), but this, I did not know of:
...there were four types of marriage during the Pre-Islamic period of ignorance. One ... type of marriage was that a group of less than ten men would assemble and enter upon a women, and all of them would have sexual relations with her. If she became pregnant and delivered a child and some days had passed after…
scientificactivist | July 14, 2006Although a given scientific paper probably has at least something fairly interesting or unique about it, most people aren't going to be too interested in reading about, for example, the structural details of the protein-protein interactions between cytoplasmic integrin tails and focal adhesion-associated proteins (my work).
But this paper... man, this is completely different. Not only could I not wait to read it, hell, I wished I was there when the experiments were taking place!
On July 7th, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a paper in Psychopharmacology…
scientificactivist | July 13, 2006This week's Nature features a news article and editorial about Francis Collins--director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute--whose new book The Language of God advocates reconciliation between science and religion. Although the status of science in America could be improved by lessening religious anti-science hostility, and we're generally much better off in general when we all get along, the argument advanced by Collins is less than compelling.
To his credit, Collins' religious views are relatively progressive, and he disagrees strongly with creationism and intelligent…
neurotopia | July 12, 2006Over at Aetiology, Tara is confused. She somehow thinks that Focus on the Family is actually anti-life.
She says:
Indeed. I'd love to see them mount a campaign against a foundation that fights horribly painful guinea worm infections, AIDS in monogamous, married relationships; and funds scientific breakthroughs for a number of underfunded illnesses. Go ahead and show us again, FoF and ALL, just how "pro-life" you really are.
I'm sorry to say that Tara just doesn't get it. The answer to the conundrum is glaringly obvious. FoF and other assorted "values" groups are most definitely pro-life…
razib | July 11, 2006One of the things that frustrates me about the modern Left is that many secularists tend to pull their punches when it comes to non-white or non-Christian groups. While white Protestant charismatics are sneered at as "holy rollers," black Protestant charismatics are "inspirational" and "spiritual." While white Protestant men oppress their wives, Muslim men are oppressed.
This is not to say that there are no issues in regards to racism and prejucide when it comes to the groups I highlight above. But, at the end of the day superstition is superstition, no? And shouldn't we expect the best of…
stcynic | July 11, 2006I came across this post at Howard Friedman's religion law blog and it got me to thinking. The post is about Pakistan amending their state law to allow for women convicted of premarital sex to be "rehabilitated" rather than put to death, as their law previously demanded. I was repulsed by the notion that anyone could possibly be so barbaric as to think it's okay to kill a woman for not being a virgin. I'm sure most people agree with me. I'm sure most Christians, even most theologically conservative, inerrantist Christians (everyone but the reconstructionists, essentially) would agree that it's…
jrosenhouse | July 10, 2006I managed to find time during my break to catch the new Superman movie. It mostly holds your interest, though it could certainly have been thirty minutes shorter without losing anything. The action sequences are impressive, and the acting is good (especially Kevin Spacey, whose even better than the always excellent Gene Hackman as Luthor). On the other hand, Luthor's evil scheme is utterly preposterous and Superman himself is such a stiff, humorless, bore that you find yourself sympathizing with Luthor.
More below the fold, including a few spoilers.
So, let's see. Luthor's big plan is to…
mikethemadbiologist | July 7, 2006Well, with at least one thing she writes:
For the past six years, the most prominent Christian in America has been the president. His belief is not of the "God said it. I believe it. That settles it," sort that fundamentalists embrace. Rather, Bush subscribes to a syllogistic doctrine of presidential infallibility: God works through Christians; I am a Christian; I have decided to do X; therefore, X is God's will.
Crazy bugger, that Bush.
mikethemadbiologist | July 6, 2006Matt Stoller at MyDD.com comments on Andrew Sullivan's and Robert Samuelson's apologetics for global warming:
This is rich. The rush to war was premised on the assumption that the judgment of the Bush administration (and Sullivan) was superior to that of professional weapons inspectors like Hans Blix. This turned out to be false. Now, the foot-dragging on global warming is premised on the assumption that the judgment of the Bush administration (and Sullivan) is superior to that of the global scientific community.
As usual, this is an issue of judgment and trust. Put Sullivan and Samuelson…