Kooks
pharyngula | March 28, 2010It's called I Hate When People Take God's Name In Vain, and just the premise is hilarious. Think about this.
The meta-hilarity is that they are so serious and so completely oblivious to their message. You apparently aren't supposed to mention "God" except when you're praying or praising him…or chastising others for saying "God" or when using him to promote your facebook fan page.
pharyngula | March 27, 2010Speaking of the ABC, I revisited their Global Atheist Convention blog, which I can say without hesitation was absolutely the worst effort any of the media put out. I think I prefer the blatant stupidity of a Gary Ablett to the mawkish blitherings of a gang of pious apologists — at least it's honest. And that's all they've got — the blog is still limping along with a series of tepid guest posts by people making weak excuses for their faith. It was supposedly a blog about the convention, but it never quite rose to the standard of even meeting their own aims — instead, it's an exercise in breast…
pharyngula | March 26, 2010
The regal figure to the right is Terrill Dalton. He had a vision that revealed that he, personally, was the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ's dad. Who knew the Holy Ghost would look a bit like the Pillsbury Doughboy?
Anyway, the Holy Ghost has come down a bit in the world. He's now living in a collection of campers and vans on a 5 acre lot in Montana, leading a breakaway Mormon sect that was too crazy for Utah.
Members of the Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven had fled to Idaho from Utah last year after their large home in a Salt Lake City suburb was raided by federal officials…
pharyngula | March 24, 2010We have further information from the University of Ottawa about Coulter's non-appearance last night.
Last night, the organizers themselves decided at 7:50 p.m. to cancel the event and so informed the University's Protection Services staff on site. At that time, a crowd of about one thousand people had peacefully gathered at Marion Hall.
So…no word of violence at all, just a peaceful protest. Ann Coulter simply chickened out, and the decision was entirely hers and the organizations that invited her.
Never mind, there was no infringement of open discussion here, just another example of right…
pharyngula | March 24, 2010Wow, I thought Cardinal George Pell was thick…but his second-in-command, Bishop Porteous, sounds like he could be even crazier. They're hiring an exorcist for Australia, and he's full of ominous warnings about evil things.
The appointment of a new exorcist by Sydney's Catholic Church precedes a warning by a senior clergyman that generation Y risks a dangerous fascination with the occult fuelled by the Twilight and Harry Potter series.
Julian Porteous, the auxiliary bishop of Sydney, warns that pursuing such ''alternative'' relaxation techniques as yoga, reiki massages and tai chi may…
pharyngula | March 23, 2010Ann Coulter, professional harridan, was scheduled to give a talk at the University of Ottawa tonight. It has been cancelled, citing a large number of protesters (which is not a problem, I would hope people would publicly express their displeasure!), and the possibility of violence (which is a problem, if true). At the very least, some hooligan pulled a fire alarm.
This is not the proper way to handle kooks at all.
She is a vile lunatic, but she should have been given the right to speak, and then her noise should have been ripped apart with good questions, and conversation after the event. It'…
pharyngula | March 23, 2010Don't watch this debate on "Does God have a future?" (video here) if your temper runs a bit hot. Sam Harris was excellent, Michael Shermer was pretty good, but their opponents, Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston, were blithering morons. Harris's early point was spot on: that there is the kind of religion that people actually practice, and then there is the New Age woo of cosmic minds and magic powers gussied up with pseudo-scientific noise, and the latter is a dodge to avoid the former.
And that's all Chopra did: he babbled about science, of all things, supporting his flaky freakish New Age scam…
pharyngula | March 22, 2010Some days, I feel like the whole issue of the mention of God on our currency is trivial and stupid, and I really don't care anymore. And then I see an 'argument' like the one in this argument defending keeping "God" on our money, and I realize that…YES, I DO CARE. I care very much that people are so deeply infected with religion that they actually think this is a clever defense.
The word "God" is not comparable to an organization, a building, a philosophy or a religion. God, unlike an establishment of religion, is a concept to atheists and believers alike. The believer perceives God as the…
pharyngula | March 20, 2010Answers in Genesis has begun a goofy little campaign called I AM NOT ASHAMED — they're apparently collecting videos of people declaring their shameless adoration of Jesus. Ho hum. All I can say is that they should be deeply embarrassed to endorse something so absurd.
They use a little unfortunate language, though.
WE WANTED A MESSAGE THAT WOULD OFFER A CLEAR CALL TO CHRISTIANS AROUND THE WORLD TO STAND UNASHAMEDLY AND UNCOMPROMISINGLY ON THE BIBLE.
Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes is willing to oblige. You too can send in photos of yourself standing unashamedly on a Bible -- you don't even…
pharyngula | March 15, 2010Gosh. I have been informed that yesterday's posting of my crazy email was too, too harsh, and that I'm such a meanie. Well, I resolved to be much nicer as I worked my way through my neglected in-box, so here are a couple more letters I've gotten in the last day or two.
Dear PZ,
I find the blatant hostility shown towards God and Jesus Christ defies belief when all either of them (God and Jesus) want is for mankind to have peace on Earth. And peace IS possible if only the emotionally handicapped intelligensia were to open their hearts to the love God has for each one of us - including them…
pharyngula | March 8, 2010Jerry Coyne has unearthed a few maggoty tidbits about Rod Dreher, the Templeton director of communications. It seems the Templeton Foundation has been padding his credentials a bit, claiming that he is a 7-time nominee for a Pulitzer Prize. Dreher? A Pulitzer? Has the prize become that worthless now?
Only it turns out the operative word in that phrase is "nominee". Anyone can be a nominee: heck, somebody could write a letter nominating me for a Pulitzer, which, if the committee has any standards at all, would go nowhere. Much like Dreher's nominations.
The real revelation, though, is much…
pharyngula | March 6, 2010Freeman Dyson (with whom I have many disagreements, so don't take this as an unqualified endorsement), wrote an interesting article that predicted, in part, a coming new age of biology. I think he's entirely right in that, and that we can expect amazing information and changes in this next century.
If the dominant science in the new Age of Wonder is biology, then the dominant art form should be the design of genomes to create new varieties of animals and plants. This art form, using the new biotechnology creatively to enhance the ancient skills of plant and animal breeders, is still…
pharyngula | March 4, 2010The other day, I got a request for an interview: a reporter was writing a story about Ken Miller. I was happy to do so — this was clearly going to be a friendly piece about Miller, and I thought it was good that he get some more press. I talked on the phone with this fellow for 20 minutes or so, and I told him what I thought: Miller is a smart guy, a great speaker, a hardworking asset to the people opposing creationism, and I also said that his efforts to squeeze religion into science were ill-founded and badly argued. I said, "It's an effort to reconcile a legitimate discipline with…
pharyngula | March 2, 2010Chopra has another mindless post on the HuffPo, titled Only Spirituality Can Solve The Problems Of The World. I read the whole thing. He's got some fuzzy definitions, praises god-consciousness, gushes about love, joy, kindness, peace, etc., but overall, it's the usual vacuous fluff. I am left with one question in reference to the bold assertion in his title.
How?
Just to name a few problems of the world: overpopulation, famine, resource depletion, water scarcity, war, and disease. Deepak Chopra, quick, 30 seconds: how will you solve any one of those problems with spirituality?
Bzzzt, time's…
pharyngula | February 27, 2010It's tough to tread that line between contempt and admiration: Jerry Coyne writes about the Templeton journalism awards. It really is a smart move on the part of the Templetonites to coopt journalists to sell their bankrupt line by tossing a good-sized chunk of money at them.
One interesting revelation is that the journalism awards aren't simply handed out by cunning Templetonistas who spot a promising compromiser in the ranks of reporters — you have to apply for the fellowship. Hey, should I? They're closed for now, but I imagine there will be a bunch of 2011 fellowships awarded, and I…
pharyngula | February 26, 2010Another day, another outraged Christian. Parents in a Utah school district were horrified to discover a link on the district web page to an evil essay:
The new battle centers on a link on the district's Web page that was quietly removed on Feb. 16. Titled "America: Republic or Democracy?" the link led directly to an essay by William P. Meyers, a California-based writer who heralds his belief that Jesus Christ is one in a long string of "historic vampires."
I, too, am deeply offended. Meyers doesn't know how to spell his own name, and everyone knows Jesus wasn't a vampire — he was a zombie.…
pharyngula | February 23, 2010So I just put up this lengthy gripe about Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini, and there were a bunch of other things I wanted to say that I couldn't squeeze in, so here are a few left-over comments.
The best take-down so far is Block and Kitcher's review — go read that. Basically, they approach the book from the perspective of both biology and philosophy, and Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini got 'em both wrong.
Larry Moran takes on the one-sidedness of the Ruse review. Ruse panned Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini, but he also threw out the baby with the bathwater: don't neglect the role of chance in…
pharyngula | February 21, 2010Renew America, the bizarrely, deeply, weirdly conservative web site founded by Alan Keyes, really had to struggle to find someone crazier than Pastor Grant Swank and Fred Hutchison and Bryan Fischer and Wes Vernon (let alone Alan Keyes himself), but they have succeeded. They have Linda Kimball writing for them. She has written the strangest history of evolutionary biology ever — I think she was stoned out of her mind and hallucinating when she made this one up. It's called "Evolutionism: the dying West's science of magic and madness". The title alone is enough to hint at the weirdness within…
pharyngula | February 19, 2010Now Andreas Moritz is featured by Orac. If he was concerned because a little criticism from a student got a fair amount of attention from Google, now he has Pharyngula and Respectful Insolence highlighting his quackery.
I hate to give hints to kooks, but really, you should study the Streisand effect. Attempts at legal intimidation, threats to silence web sites, and those kinds of nasty shenanigans to squelch bad publicity always backfire on the internet.
Oh, and Wordpress? You still suck.
pharyngula | February 18, 2010Christopher Maloney, N.D.*, is rightfully complaining about the fact that he has received rude email, and also implies that he may have received harassing phone calls. He's a sensitive soul, apparently — hundreds of email messages is nothing, I get that much every few hours — but if you are sending nothing but vituperation and anger his way, knock it off.
I repeat, STOP IT.
No phone calls. Email should be arguments, not stab-someone-in-the-eyes loudness. You don't have to compromise on content, just don't be stupid. If you are intruding on someone's personal life, you are in the wrong, plain…