Theism

The key to my obnoxious cheerfulness are my expectations. They are very low. I expect nothing from anyone. Thus when they fail miserably (say, the BP clean up) Im not disappointed. And, when people accomplish even the most menial tasks, Im happy. That being said, the Oklahoma City Council actually approved, 8:1, an OKC Gay Pride Parade. :-D YAAAAY!!! Wow, gay pride parade in OKC! What a time we live in!... But what about that one dissenter. Whos that one "NO!" vote...? That fellows name is Brian Walters. Im sure you all have NO IDEA why he voted against it:The reason I voted no on…
I didnt know what to say about Venter & Crew making a bacterial genome from scratch. No such luck from the BASTION of child rape, homophobia, misogyny, and flat out stupidity human morality and ethics, the Catholic Church: Church warns cell scientists not to play God Catholic Church officials said Friday that the recently created first synthetic cell could be a positive development if correctly used, but warned scientists that only God can create life. heh. "It's a great scientific discovery. Now we have to understand how it will be implemented in the future," Monsignor Rino Fisichella,…
Being an out, proud, vocal atheist, one thing I seem to have trouble communicating to people is just how very little I care about their own personal beliefs. I dont care if you love Jesus any more than I care if you love Big Macs or tap dancing or MAC lipstick. Its your life, whatever. My problem is, people just cant keep their hands to themselves. For instance, it is against the religion of Muslims to generate artistic renditions of their choice of deity. That means that Muslims cant make a velvet painting of Mohamed riding a bucking bronco. I can. Alternatively, in some branches of…
Oh yeah-- Today is the National Day of Prayer (WHOOO NICK! WHOOOOO!!!). Lets celebrate! This catchy tune from 2004 is still 100% relevant-- from abortion to child rape... good times...
Well shit. I went to sleep last night, happy as a clam cause my young girl dreams of destroying the planet and everything on it were finally about to come true thanks to BOOBS... And then I wake up this morning. And now Im sure we are going to have to deal with The Accommodationists bitching about how very rude and uncivil it was of us to prove to the world that the god of Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi does not exist, but really the religion of Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi is so more elegant and enlightened than us petty scientists were making it out to be anyway, blah blah blah. Maaaaan...
Oklahomas Christian Medical and Dental Association is such a massive joke. They brought in Donald Ewert, a clueless dork, to talk about the 'Evolution of the Immune System' Creationism. Brought in Mr. NOMNOMNOMNOM to talk about the science/religion/ethics behind stem cell research SCIENTISTS KILLING BABBIES! And yesterday they brought in Ellen Myers to talk about: "Did the Nazis have it correct? Part II: Euthanasia and Doctor Assisted Suicide; Will We Repeat the Past." I had no idea who this woman was. A casual Google search turned up juicy morsels like this:She has published papers in the…
I havent mentioned anything about Ugandas Evangelical-driven quest to kill homosexuals. I figured that you dont really need to have my expertise in HIV-1 to recognize that these people are fucking psycho. But, it doesnt take a whole lot of effort for me to demonstrate that on a scientific level, these people are wrong (not surprising since its religious nuts fueling this fire, and they think the universe began 6000 years ago and believe in talking snakes and shit)-- killing every homosexual in Uganda would have little effect on HIV-1 infections/deaths. Anyway, heres the deal. Percentage of…
I have four blood-relative aunts. Three of them are math teachers. One is a respiratory therapist. My dad is a math/science teacher. Mom was an accountant. I have cousins that went into nursing, forensics, and 'organic chemistry'. My brother is an engineer. And Im a researcher. Im mostly Russian and British, with a bit of German. Couple this with the fact 'science' and 'math'' were essential to the evolution of modern man, the only logical conclusion is that there are 'math' and 'science' genes which result in 'adaptive phenomena' that are selected for or against, depending on historical/…
EEEEEEEEEW! You will NEVER guess whos coming to *my* campus in January! Robert P. George! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You know who this guy is, even if you dont 'know' who he is-- he was one of the founders of 'National Organization for Marriage', of 'GATHERING STORM!' infamy. The guy is a putrid douchebag. Why the hell would this fruitcake be speaking on a medical university campus? Well, the Baptist Student Fellowship of Christian Medical Dental Christian Pharmacist Association invited him to speak on "Science, Philosophy, and Religion in the Embryo Debate." George has no scientific training. He…
The reaction to the news that the Irish Catholic Church covered up (thus encouraged) the molestation and rape of children is odd. At least odd to me. Apologize? Quit using the titles 'Father' and 'Your Grace'? Really? The people involved in this disgusting tragedy (perpetrators and those who protected them) should only have two real options. 1-- Spend their remaining lives and the entire fortune of the Catholic Church to right this wrong. Sell the Vatican for whatever you can get for it. Spend all the Churches $$ and all of their man-(nun)-power on the victims of abuse, and any suffering…
Ha. Ray Comfort (ie, insufferable attention whore) is cruising for tricks atheist kids to debate in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, he is going to run into the same problems Charles Jackson had. While Professional Evangelical Freaks can draw crowds on the coasts, they arent exactly a novelty in Oklahoma. Theyre the norm. So the atheist kids I know ignored Jacksons pleas for 'debates'. If they wanted to debate some idiot radical theist, they could have gone home and talked to Mom. *blink* Kids in OK join atheist groups to get away from those kinds of people. However I was happy to 'debate' Jackson…
Sally Kern lives in constant terror of the ACLU-- but at least Governor Brad Henry has her back. Oh wait, no he doesnt. LOL! Baptists. The Baptist Messenger -- an established weekly newspaper with a paid circulation of over 85,000--decided to photoshop Governor Henry's signature on the embarrassing and archaic "Proclamation for Morality." And to try and make the piece of right wing trash look even more legitimate, they placed the text of proclamation onto Executive Department letterhead and forged the signature of Secretary of State M. Susan Savage next to the state seal of Oklahoma. This…
If you were a True Christian, how would you spend $10,000? True Christians like to talk about how much Jesus liked kids. OK has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, maybe contribute to that in some way? Hey, maybe donate it to an organization that helps victims of child abuse, considering what the Catholic Church does to children. Hell if I were a True Protestant Id totally do that to give The Finger to the Mary-worshipers! True Christians also like to talk about how Jesus commands them to help the homeless and downtrodden. The homeless that wander the streets of…
The blog of the Buddhist magazine Tricycle has responded to my post that Buddhists generally believe in God. Some of the comments also brought up some semantic issues which are real in how Buddhists view God, and how it might be distinguished from more personalized conceptions of the divine being, especially in the Abrahamic religions. The short of it is that many Buddhists will accede that gods may exist, but that their role in the religion is relatively marginal. Additionally, Buddhists reject the Creator God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is an important distinction. First, though the…
Wow, the crazies are going... crazy... this week. So the bigots who gave money to pass Prop 8 are bawwing about how theyre being persecuted by homosexual terrorists, thus laws must be changed for their personal comfort. Not happy with taking away homosexuals right to marriage, they now want people to be able to donate large sums of money to political campaigns anonymously: Proposition 8 proponents' complaint that a California campaign-finance disclosure law has led to harassment of same-sex marriage opponents failed today to sway a federal judge, who refused to throw out the law or shield…
My favorite arguments 'for' theism are the ones about 'morality'. I never bring it up first, but I *love* it when deranged theists do:Random idiot theist: IF WE DIDNUT HAS GAWD DEN WE HAS LOTZ OF MERDERS AND STUFF CAUSE ATHIESTS KILL LOTS OF MOAR PEOPLESES! Me: Im doing scientific research with the hope of eliminating HIV/AIDS and cancer from this planet. What do you do? Random idiot theist: *huuuuuurrrrrr* Me: lol. I really dont think individuals heavily invested in some putrid form of theism have any idea what 'morals' and 'morality' really mean. For instance, there is a difference…
Via Ed Brayton, more on Rick Warrens oh-so-helpful HIV 'activism': Warren's man in Uganda is a charismatic pastor named Martin Ssempa. The head of the Makerere Community Church, a rapidly growing congregation, Ssempe enjoys close ties to his country's First Lady, Janet Museveni, and is a favorite of the Bush White House. In the capitol of Kampala, Ssempa is known for his boisterous crusading. Ssempa's stunts have included burning condoms in the name of Jesus and arranging the publication of names of homosexuals in cooperative local newspapers while lobbying for criminal penalties to imprison…
We know what the US would look like if radical theists like Warren, Robertson, Dobson, James Kennedy, or any doughy sweat-stained evangelical were in a position of real authority. We know. Because other countries, even 'secular' ones, dont have the same luxury of the separation of church and state as we do. People in other countries are forced to live their lives under the greasy shadow of beautiful, hope inspiring religion. Senegal: Court Sentences Nine Men to Heavy Jail Sentences for Sodomy On January 8, 2008, the nine men appeared in court to respond to charges of criminal conspiracy and…
UPDATE 1/9/09-- More RIck Warrens anti-activism. When I found out yesterday that Rick Warren was speaking at Obamas inauguration, I was pretty grossed out. Grossed out, and confused. Obama and Warren appear to be polar opposites... but whatever. Its Obamas party, he can invite whoever he wants. I didnt care. Until I read how Obama was justifying this decision: Pastor Rick Warren has a long history of activism on behalf of the disadvantaged and the downtrodden. He's devoted his life to performing good works for the poor and leads the evangelical movement in addressing the global HIV/AIDS…