religion
omnibrain | March 20, 2007It was one year ago today that I made the first post to Omni Brain. I never imagined we would do this well.
In the last year Omni Brain has undergone many many changes, the biggest of which have been Sandra of Neurofuture fame joining the blog, and moving to ScienceBlogs.
We started with not-even 3000 page views in our first full month and now receive tens of thousands of page views and visitors - which is pretty great for a smart ass little science blog! Our Technorati ranking has also grown by leaps and bounds; near 14,000 today.
Thanks everyone, for reading and for all your lively…
pharyngula | March 19, 2007Since I previously mentioned GodTube, which is all Jesus all the time and has lots of creationism videos, it's only fair that I reveal that there is also an IslamTube, where you can listen to speeches about the religion of peace or watch humvees get blown up.
Somebody introduce these two to each other.
(hat tip to Peter McGrath)
mikethemadbiologist | March 19, 2007
Yum. Theological conservative tastes GOOOODDD!
Full disclosure: I have never bought into the belief of the Compulsive Centrists that John McCain is a moderate. A detailed look at his voting record shows that he is often very conservative, with the occasional moment of lucidity (e.g., recognizing that global warming is actually happening). But it is truly pathetic to watch a man who clearly doesn't agree with the theological conservatives twist himself into a pretzel in an effort to placate them. He's done it with evolution. Now, he is 'confused' about condoms:
The unthinkable has…
clock | March 19, 2007The case is made by an atheist, of course - Amanda - but the important part of the post is the explanation of why is it impossible in the current educational system in the USA and why is the current system inherently conservative.
grrlscientist | March 16, 2007This streaming video is amusing, but also very disturbing at the same time.
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tags: religion, cult
omnibrain | March 16, 2007It sounds good doesn't it?! Just read a bit further until you realize what they're actually saying...
The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has suggested that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.
The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and one of the country's evangelical leaders, posted the article on his personal Web site earlier this month.
Mr. Mohler said in the article that scientific research "points to…
retrospectacle | March 16, 2007 I've never really talked about religion on this blog before, at least not directly. But there's trouble a-brewin' at ScienceBlogs which has worked more than a few of our ranks into tizzies of knotted panties and carpal tunnel blogging. I figure this is as good a time as any to tackle the topic, since I've been pussy-footing around it, well, my whole blog-life (the immense span of 1.5 years!). The issue came up a few days ago when new SciBling Rob Knop wrote a post espousing his position that science and Christianity were not exclusive, what the purpose of religion was, and why he is…
oracknows | March 16, 2007Ah, yes, Washington, DC.
That's where I am right now, deep in the belly of the government beast, attending the meeting of The Society of Surgical Oncology. It's usually a great meeting, except for the distressing tendency of surgeons here to act, well, too much like surgeons. For example, consider when the very first session today, which happened to be about my area of interest breast cancer, started. Was it 8 AM? No. 7 AM? No.
It was 6 AM.
I kid you not. 6 AM in the freakin' morning! The week after the switchover to Daylight Savings Time, yet! There was a time when I used to actually get up…
clock | March 15, 2007I am always late for The Buzz. I just can't blog on command.
Jason, Jason again, Mike, Mark, PZ and their numerous commenters have chimed in on time.
But the "sprituality" buzz is long gone and I am only now getting to the topic. Ah, well.
Anyway, it's late at night so I will be short and only semi-serious....
When asked "What's your religion?" who answers with "I am spiritual"? Here is a Borges-like Chinese Classification:
A) People who really believe in ghosts, spirits, talking with the dead and Ouija boards.
B) People currently under the influence of LSD
C) People who get the strong…
jrosenhouse | March 15, 2007On Tuesday I discussed a post by my SciBling Rob Knop on the subject of spirituality in an age of science. In that post I made three main points: (1) That Rob was badly mischaracterizing the views of Richard Dawkins on the question life's ultimate purpose, (2) That in downplaying the role of God as creator he was conceding many of the major points made by people like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, amd (3) That his reconciliation of science with religion depends on a notion of Christianity that leaves out many of the things people generally consider essential to Christian faith.
Since…
pharyngula | March 15, 2007Garrison Keillor has done it again: he's written another insipid article loaded with casual bigotry, this time against gays. I'm pleased to see that Dan Savage has savaged him, so I don't need to go on at length.
However, this really isn't the first time Keillor has done this—he has a history of unthinking stereotyping and rejection of gays and atheists. He's an excellent example of why, when I see the Religious Right and the Religious Left, I don't think the problem is the Right or Left…it's the Religious.
My criticism of Keillor from 2005 is below the fold. Not only does he reject atheism…
neurotopia | March 15, 2007Yet again, another Jesus flare-up. Rob Knop posted his personal religious views and the prophetical shit hath hit the fan. I swear the science and spirituality debate is like a bad case of hemorrhoids.
Some of us just never had these problems that result from self-identification. I stress the self part because, as Chris Rowan points out, the whole discussion really is about how individuals reconcile their personal views with physical realities. We only run into problems when we start trying to pigeon-hole everybody else.
Which is why when it comes to my personal beliefs/lack thereof,…
pharyngula | March 14, 2007If you go to the main ScienceBlogs page, you'll discover that the Buzz for the day is this little gem, triggered by one of our newbie bloggers:
Spirituality and Science
Over the last few hundred years, science has provided a mind-boggling richness of answers about the workings of the universe. For many people the importance of religion, at least as an explainer of the natural world, has shifted. Is it possible to believe what science teaches us about nature, and also be a person of faith? A Galactic Interactions post about being a Christian and a scientist has ignited an explosive debate.…
pharyngula | March 14, 2007That article I wrote on the Albert Mohler's bizarre endorsement of gene therapy for gay fetuses got quoted in an AP article on the subject. Unfortunately, they don't provide enough info for readers to find their way back here, but it does give a good range of perspectives anyway.
jrosenhouse | March 13, 2007That last post makes a nice lead-in to this post, from my fellow Science Blogger Rob Knop. This post is a follow-up to this previous post, in which Knop professed his own Christian faith, and protested what he perceives as a bias towards atheism here at SB. The present post is entitled, “What is the Purpose of Religion and/or Spirituality in a Scientific Age.”
Let's have a look.
Referring to his earlier post, Knop writes:
In that post, I make it very clear that religion is no good at explaining the processes of the natural world. Once upon a time, that was a big part of what religion was…
oracknows | March 13, 2007Apparently, our President brings "bad energy" wherever he goes, requiring some strong woo to cleanse the area after he leaves:
Maya leaders are to perform a special cleaning ceremony at ancient ruins to clear bad energy after a visit by President Bush.
Mr Bush is due at the Mayan ruins of Iximche in Guatemala as part of his tour of the Latin American region, reports the BBC.
But after he leaves, Maya protesters said they would hold a ceremony to restore peace and harmony to the area.
Morales Toj said: "We will burn incense, place flowers and water in the area where Mr Bush has walked to clean…
oracknows | March 12, 2007
With nearly 20 months to go before the election itself and 10 months before even the first primaries, I'm already bored with the Presidential election of 2008. None of the current candidates does anything for me. One's a total lightweight who's in no way ready to be President, and I utterly loathe two others. My reaction to the rest ranges from mild dismay to downright ennui.
Now it's gotten interesting (or at least entertaining, with the potential for many jokes). Remember Jonathon Sharkey, a.k.a. "The Impaler," the friendly Satanist who ran for Governor of Minnesota on a platform of…
razib | March 12, 2007I have not, I think, made a secret of the fact that I am a "Neville Chamberlain atheist," at least when set against the jeremiads of P.Z. Myers or Larry Moran. Part of this is due my personal laissez faire orientation when it comes to to falsities in the minds of others. So long as the falsehoods do not impinge upon my own life I am inclined to let them stand if a full frontal attack would necessitate the spending of time better allocated to other pursuits. Of course, religion is not a trivial thing, its manifestation has significant import for our world. But my own attitude has been…