religion
oracknows | December 25, 2009I think that David Bowie and Bing Crosby say it best:
Yeah, I know I've become a heathen, but I still love this song and this particular performance.
clock | December 22, 2009If a publisher offered me a contract to write a book under a title that would be something like "Unscientific America", how would I go about it?
I would definitely be SUCH a scientist! But, being such a scientist does not mean indulging in Sesquipedalian Obscurantism. Being such a scientist means being dilligent, thorough and systematic in one's reasearch. And then being excited about presenting the findings, while being honest about the degree of confidence one can have in each piece of information.
I was not offered a book contract, and I do not have the resources and nine or twelve months…
pharyngula | December 22, 2009Salon has a peculiarly defensive article by a Christian confessing to being embarrassed about her beliefs, which seems like a good start to me. She should be embarrassed. As a fun exercise, though, try reading her article while categorizing its statements in the Kübler-Ross stages — there's a bit of denial in there, some bargaining, and a faint hint of depression, but mainly what she's got is anger. She lashes out at atheists a fair bit, but it's in a revealing way.
Writers like Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Victor J. Stenger -- and, of course, performers like…
pharyngula | December 22, 2009It's a little known disturbing fact that the Mormons have a set of prophecies that foretell that the Mormons will take over the leadership of the US. A candidate for the governor of Idaho has brought this out into the open — he's having meetings to talk about saving America by having the Mormon leadership intervene.
I've had a few conversations with crazy Mormons who actually take this nonsense very, very seriously. They don't seem to understand that having the country taken over by a freakish cult with dreams of theocracy would be a way to destroy the constitution.
razib | December 21, 2009Tom Rees:
It seems that when Christianity is popular, Christians are content with the idea of a firewall separating Church and State. It's only when Christianity begins to lose it's influence over the population at large that Christians begin to campaign for the State to adopt a Christian character.
Looking at survey data from 18 Western countries, they found:
-The fewer Christians in a country, the greater the support among Christians for a greater public role for religion (as shown in the graph).
-The polarization of views between Christians and non-religious on a public role for religion…
mikethemadbiologist | December 20, 2009...but who is a rabbi? A recent British High Court decision making it illegal for a Jewish school that favors Jewish applicants to base its admissions policy on whether one's mother is Jewish, while correct in outcome, completely misunderstands the entire controversy:
"One thing is clear about the matrilineal test; it is a test of ethnic origin," Lord Phillips, president of the court, said in his majority opinion. Under the law, he said, "by definition, discrimination that is based upon that test is discrimination on racial grounds."
The decision, by Britain's highest court, brings an end to…
grrlscientist | December 20, 2009tags: Atheists Can't Think For Themselves!, humor, funny, satire, religion, christianity, islam, Edward Current, streaming video
This astonishing video sets out to prove that being a Christian requires constant thinking, while being an atheist sheep does not. This explains why atheists are the dumbest people God ever created!
grrlscientist | December 19, 2009tags: religion, fundamentalism, christianity, SPAM, MysteryBox, streaming video
A hardcore atheist finds God when he wasn't even looking for God. It's a touching story with a happy ending.
Although the star is having a bit of fun in this video, the point that the video star making is serious. The world is full of people making exactly the sort of logical mistake he's making in the video. As a result the world is filled with people thinking they have had a personal experience of their version of god yet all these people believe conflicting notions and have no real evidence for their beliefs.
oracknows | December 18, 2009Since I happen to have fallen into the topic of anthropogenic global warming, before I move back to medical topics I might as well have a little fun. Certainly, I could use some, given that I just wrote two posts in which I felt forced to criticize someone whom I admire greatly. Besides, it's been over a week since I last blogged about vaccines on this blog. that has to be some sort of record. Why wreck it now? It feels good to take a break from the topic, and there's always next week. I have no doubt that the anti-vaccine movement will produce something begging for some not-so-Respectful…
pharyngula | December 18, 2009The Joliet Jackhammers, a baseball team in Illinois, have put up an interesting sign to get people to buy tickets.
Some people are unhappy and want it taken down.
"It's in very poor taste," Councilwoman Jan Hallums Quillman said. "To have God tell you to buy tickets? Give me a break."
I wonder if Quillman felt the same way about the serious billboard campaign that had God announcing his will and intentions? There was one that read, "Let's Meet At My House Sunday Before the Game -God." Was that in poor taste? It seems to me that many people think it's perfectly alright to put words in their…
pharyngula | December 17, 2009It's not just crackers; they freak out over Mary's virginity. A New Zealand church put up this provocative billboard to get people to discuss the absurdity of literalism:
The Catholic Church condemned it as "inappropriate" and "disrespectful." I think it's funny (although it is based on an old joke), and does extract the message of the Bible from the remote and theological to something more earthy and thoughtful. And note — this was not put up by a gang of rabid atheists trying to mock Christianity, but by a sect of Christianity itself that was trying to lighten up the arguments.
You can…
pharyngula | December 16, 2009That's what he says, anyway: he's put out a desperate call for mo' money because he is under a "demonically inspired financial attack". His ministry is facing a $3 million dollar shortfall. Coincidentally, he also had to make a big payout of $3.1 to the family of a two-year-old who was spanked to the point of being covered in welts and abrasions in his church's daycare.
At last, we have identified the devil. He's a naughty little boy in Columbus, Ohio.
pharyngula | December 15, 2009I guess Oral Roberts didn't meet his fundraising quota this year, because god has finally pink-slipped the old fraud.
gregladen | December 14, 2009There are six or seven states where you must believe in god (well, swear on the bible that you believe in god) in order to hold public office.
I may have to boycott the Science Online 2010 conference, because it is in one of those states!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
emjohnson | December 14, 2009ScienceBlogs has the funniest ads sometimes. This image adorned the right hand side of my screen this morning (maybe now it's there twice). Intrigued I wanted to know more:
Compassion believes it takes more than education, healthcare and social programs to make a difference in the life of a child and help nations escape from poverty.
Finally, someone's advocating the abolition of all third world debt. Or they're suggesting that there needs to be a nonviolent civil uprising to remove authoritarian regimes throughout the Global South and expose the multinationals who support them. Exposing…
emjohnson | December 14, 2009Image: Jesus! vs. Darwin! by The Searcher
It's a tired old routine, yet time and again the same argument is taken off the shelf, dusted, buffed and then presented with a sly smile as if it were something new. Evolution, it's asserted, is only progressive and builds on earlier adaptations in its march forward through natural history. Therefore, if there is any evidence that a species adapted "backwards" it must mean that natural selection is flawed. However, the fallacy in this argument is that natural selection has nothing to do with progress, it's merely one of the mechanisms by which…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2009tags: Mute Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus, entertainment, comedy, funny, fucking hilarious, streaming video
Can mute monks sing? Yes they can, as you will discover in this amusing video of mute monks singing the Halleluiah Chorus.
Hat-tip to my good friend and former SB colleague, John Wilkins, who is celebrating these holidays as a newly employed (several months) tenure-track professor and published author in beautiful Australia. Go there and wish him happy holidays!
gregladen | December 13, 2009This is the problem with Christians. They think they have a special pass to do whatever they want as long as it done in the name of their god. Now don't get me wrong here. The average Christian does not think he or she is above the law on a day to day basis. But it is part of Christian religion and culture, and I'm telling you this from personal experience, to ignore the law when one feels that their god or their religion demands it. So, when Ray Comfort produced his bogused-up version of Darwin's Origin of Species, the idea of doing it LEGALLY did not seem too important, apparently.
So…
grrlscientist | December 13, 2009tags: religion, christianity, fundamentalism, wingnuttery, comedy, humor, satire, fucking hilarious, streaming video
The Bible states clearly in Genesis 3:16 that the man rules over the woman.
Did anyone follow this guy's "logic"? If so, please do explain to the rest of us who are still mortally confused. A flowchart might be helpful.
grrlscientist | December 12, 2009tags: The History of the Church of England, entertainment, comedy, funny, fucking hilarious, religion, Eddie Izzard, streaming video
"The gospel according to Saint Bastard"? That particular book was never allowed in the original New Testament for obvious reasons.