religion
mikethemadbiologist | March 23, 2008One of the interesting things about Purim is that nowhere in the entire book is God mentioned. This is unusual for a religious text, to say the least. Over at South Jerusalem, Haim Watzman describes a sermon about Esther and free will. The whole post is worth a read, but I really liked this part:
"Divine intercession says: this is the way things are, and this is they way they ought to be," Rav Shagar writes. "The world is guided by the laws of divine justice."
That's what religious people believe, right? But that is not the endpoint for Rav Shagar.
But he goes one step further and…
laelaps | March 23, 2008I usually tread lightly on theological issues here (outside of conflicts between monotheistic dogma & evolution), but the other day I heard an interview on NPR with John Dominic Crossan about the historicity of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Crossan does not believe in a bodily resurrection of the dead, and while this departure is going to irk a number of people who feel that Jesus "rising from the dead" is central to Christianity, Crossan brings up a number of problems with the conflicting accounts of what happened after the crucifixion in the four gospels. It's not anything you're…
grrlscientist | March 23, 2008tags: Expelled!, Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, religious wingnuts, christian fundamentalists, cultism, streaming video
This streaming video reveals the unadulterated stupidity of the religious wingnuts; their poor public relations skills, their artlessness, their shocking lack of creative abilities, along with their unabashed duplicity. Oh, by the way, Happy Easter! [9:30].
nisbetmc | March 23, 2008
If you haven't seen this clip yet, above is a preview of the central message on how "Big Science" views religion in the documentary Expelled. There's little work needed on the part of the producers, since the message is spelled out via the interviews provided by PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins.
Notice the very clear translation for audiences as to what supposedly establishment science believes:
A) Learning about science makes you an atheist, it "kills off" religious faith.
B) If we boost science literacy in society, it will lead to erosion of religion, as religion fades away, we will get more…
gregladen | March 23, 2008News outlets are reporting a surprise attack on Easter. War weary from epoch fighting in the War on Christmas, only recently suspended, most analysts had predicted that there would be no War on Easter this year. But they were wrong.
From the front:
This is Easter, the day Christians everywhere set aside to celebrate the day they were hoaxed by a gang of Middle Eastern charlatans into believing a local mystic rose from the dead... at Pharyngula.
How to spot the enemy, at Laelaps.
Peep Research
Radio Propaganda War Heats Up.
Linked; Easter and Cold Fusion. at Halfway There
Are you ready…
nisbetmc | March 23, 2008While the PZ Myers Affair dominates discussion at Scienceblogs this weekend, it's important to remind ourselves that there is an invisible middle of perspectives from scientists, atheists and the religious that emphasizes shared common values rather than the continual drum beat of conflict. Indeed, there's much more to the relationship between science and religion than just the loud voices of Myers and the Expelled producers.
From a front page story at the Arizona Republic yesterday headlined "Churches Preaching Green."
Parishioners are being asked to embrace environmentalism in a variety of…
gregladen | March 23, 2008
But wait, there's more....
This person has too much access to clip art:
Still holding on to your faith? Keep watching...
oracknows | March 22, 2008The other night, I wrote about how the painfully inept and just plain dumb actions of the producer of Expelled!, the neuron-apoptosing movie that's basically an extended argumentum ad Nazium against the dreaded "Darwinism" that blames Hitler, Stalin, and, apparently, puppy hatred on Charles Darwin himself. Basically, the producers were having one of their private screenings (although how one can call a screening for which almost anyone can sign up on the web "private" is beyond me), and, by serendipity, the screening happened to be in the Mall of America on the Thursday before a large atheist…
grrlscientist | March 21, 2008tags: atheism, atheist, godlessness, Expelled!, religion, fundamentalist christians
Last night, I was amused to learn that my friend and fellow SciBling, PZ Myers, was prevented from attending a free screening of the creationist film, presciently named Expelled! A film that thanked PZ in the credits for giving freely of his time by appearing in the film itself, no less (of course, the producers lied to him about the sort of film they were making; they claimed they were making a documentary about evolution). So much for free speech, as the fim's producer shrilly proclaims, eh?
So not only is…
laelaps | March 21, 2008I've seen the glossy, gussied-up magazine versions of the New Testament at Target, Ceiling Cat has delivered unto us the lolcat Bible, and no one can be without The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but The Manga Bible? I'm not sure I even want to look...
gregladen | March 21, 2008As you have undoubtedly heard, a group of evolutionary biologists and evolutionary biology supporters attended a showing of the movie Expelled, in the Twin Cities, last night. This group included the very famous Richard Dawkins and the only slightly less famous PZ Myers. PZ and Richard, in fact, were together in line, along with PZ's spouse, a daughter, and a future son in law. Other evolution supporters and at least one local evolutionary-type blogger were also in line.
While waiting in line and minding their own business, PZ was spotted by the Expelled! production staff, and EXPELLED…
purepedantry | March 21, 2008...this has got to be in the top ten at least.
I haven't been following this much, but Ben Stein is coming out with a movie called Expelled. The movie purports to challenge Darwinism's monopoly of classroom instruction -- which to me sounds like trying to challenge yellow's monopoly of bananas...yeah, it's all over but reality is rough that way, isn't it.
Anyway, PZ -- our local scourge of creationists -- tried to go see the movie, and lo and behold he was expelled! They wouldn't let him see it. That is just unbelievable.
1) They actually specifically prohibited him, as in they had a…
gregladen | March 21, 2008This is unbelievable!!!! I am outraged yet not surprised. I am incensed yet entertained. I am frightened yet ever determined to cast off the yoke of oppression. And so on.
You MUST GO HERE NOW and READ THIS. You will laugh, you will cry, you will punch a fist through the wall, and you will never look at a police officer, a movie theater, or a creationist in the same way again. Ever.
oracknows | March 20, 2008It's a rare, rare situation, but the sheer craziness of this (hat tip PZ) knocked the wind out of me, so that I'm having a hard time finding something to say about it:
Health officials in the Philippines have issued a warning to people taking part in Easter crucifixion rituals.
They have urged them to get tetanus vaccinations before they flagellate themselves and are nailed to crosses, and to practise good hygiene.
On Good Friday dozens of very devout Catholics in the Philippines re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
[...]
The health department has strongly advised penitents to check the…
pharyngula | March 20, 2008This is what health departments are reduced to in the face of lunacy. Health officials in the Philippines have issued a warning to people taking part in Easter crucifixion rituals.
The health department has strongly advised penitents to check the condition of the whips they plan to use to lash their backs, the Manila Times newspaper reports.
Real nails are used in the re-enactments
They want people to have what they call "well-maintained" whips.
In the hot and dusty atmosphere, officials warn, using unhygienic whips to make deep cuts in the body could lead to tetanus and other infections.
And…
mikethemadbiologist | March 19, 2008When I first read that Amy Sullivan, in honor of her new book, is guest posting at the Washington Monthly, I said to myself, dear Lord, more 'Democrats need to get religion' blather. Sadly, I was not disappointed. Already, there's a book review and a post.
I was going to leave this to Amanda's excellent post, but there are a couple other points that I think need to be raised. First, the claim that "Democrats have earned lower levels of support from religious constituencies like white evangelicals and Catholics than they otherwise should have because activists and operatives have been…
pharyngula | March 18, 2008A while back, I posted about the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury had unambiguously condemned creationism. While I appreciated the sentiment, I had my doubts about his sincerity, and mentioned that I preferred my religious authorities to say "crazy stupid things". Perhaps the Archbishop reads my blog, because he has obliged.
The Archbishop hit out against the "two extremes" in the range of theories of how the world began in his Holy Week lecture on Faith and Science last night. He said "Science has more to do than is simply covered by these theories."
Creationists believe in the…
pharyngula | March 17, 2008Here's a real horror story: a place called Mercy Ministries claimed to offer psychiatric help to people in Australia, and what they offered instead was nightmarish religious discipline and doctrine. There's something subtle in there, too, that ought to make us ashamed: the Australian reporter calls it an "American-style ministry". Isn't it sad to see that our country is becoming an adjective for idiocy?
Anyway, here's one woman's summary of her "treatment".
Nine months without medical treatment, nine months without any psychiatric care, nine months of being told she was not a good enough…
mikethemadbiologist | March 15, 2008KIDDING. But if you're in Boston March 24, feel free to drop by the Boston Skeptics first EVAH! meeting and hear me speak.
But while we're on the subject of religion, I think you should check out this excellent post by ScienceBlogling Razib:
To conclude, my general suspicion of the New Atheists echoes Chris' in some ways, I find many of them sloppy and rather uninterested in constructing an accurate model of the world. They are polemicists, first & foremost. That is all fine and well, but to the gods of rhetoric I offer few sacrifices. To those of knowledge I would give my firstborn.…