religion
razib | October 6, 2006The Evil One recently talked to Paul Bloom, one of my favorite cognitive psychologists. Here is something I found of interest:
...and I brought up the issue that many researchers -- David Sloan Wilson being one that springs to mind -- have argued that religion is evolutionary but that it is also evolutionarily beneficial. David Sloan Wilson has proposed the idea that religion arose from group selection because religion promotes in-group cohesiveness. This would differ from Dr. Bloom's ideas because Bloom is essentially arguing that religion is neutral to selection and secondary to larger…
jrosenhouse | October 6, 2006Mixed messages from this article in today's New York Times.
From early in the article:
Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.
At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44 cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest names in the conservative evangelical movement.
Their alarm has been stoked by a highly suspect claim that if current trends continue, only 4…
neurotopia | October 6, 2006The Alliance for Science, in an effort to further dialogue between the science, religious,and business communities, is committed to bringing in a diverse network of speakers to its public meetings in the DC Metro area. Last year we had Dr. Peter Folger from the American Geophysical Union, Reverend Henry Green, ScienceBlog's own Chris Mooney, NCSE's Eugenie Scott, and AfS co-chair Paul Forbes to name a few. Now we're looking to a whole new year of fun with evolution education (yes, we're on an academic calendar...).
Next Thursday, October 12th, is speaker Michael Shermer. He will also have…
pharyngula | October 5, 2006A revised curriculum at Harvard may include a required course in religion, as Jim Downey has brought to my attention. There isn't enough information in the article to decide how to regard this decision, though; I don't object automatically to requiring college kids to learn to think critically about religion, and I would hope that a course at Harvard wouldn't be anything like a tutorial in Jebus-praising at Pensacola Christian College, but who knows? The summary is impossibly vague.
"I think 30 years ago," when the school's curriculum was last overhauled, "people would have said that religion…
oracknows | October 5, 2006Apparently not. The Westboro Baptist Church is at it again:
A Kansas church group that planned to demonstrate at the funerals of five Amish girls killed in an attack on their one-room schoolhouse has dropped the picket plans, a reversal that came hours after Pennsylvania's governor offered the Amish police protection.
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church issued a statement saying a representative will appear on a nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by Mike Gallagher instead of picketing the funerals.
Gallagher's website indicated the group was offered an hour of airtime in exchange…
pharyngula | October 4, 2006I've long respected the Amish—they aren't Luddites, as typically portrayed, but a community that consciously deliberates over the effects of technology on social interactions, and limits those effects (in ways I would find personally disagreeable, but hey, it's their life), and I like the fact that they are willing to let young members explore the life outside their communities. The recent murders were monstrous, their perpetrator sick and evil, and I can't even imagine the pain those families have to be going through. This comment, though, says that at least some Amish also live a life of…
razib | October 4, 2006So I read The God Delusion. I wasn't going to. The reason is this: I didn't want to read an atheist manifesto. I'm an atheist, no need to strengthen my unfaith. I have read books on atheism before, so I have that under my belt. Now, I am interested in religion as a natural phenomenon, but that's a different issue. With all that said, I caved to the cultural phenomenon that is The God Delusion and read it. And I'm glad for it, was a fun book on the whole, something I hadn't expected. Dawkins preaches an entertaining sermon.
The book is divided into two rough halves, the first is a…
clock | October 3, 2006These three are best read together, one right after another: Amanda, Dave and Pam.
pharyngula | October 1, 2006Before you read further, browse the Carnival of the Godless. It'll salve the pain when you read about the new conservative perfidy.
Our Republican overlords have taken one more step on the road to theocracy with the approval of H.R. 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act. You can read the full text of the bill, but here's the gist:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a court shall not award reasonable fees and expenses of attorneys to the prevailing party on a claim of injury consisting of the violation of a prohibition in the Constitution against the establishment of religion…
clock | September 25, 2006Pam found the link to this article from LA Times in which Rev.Jerry Falwell compares Hillary Clinton with the Devil:
"I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate," Falwell said, according to the recording. "She has $300 million so far. But I hope she's the candidate. Because nothing will energize my [constituency] like Hillary Clinton."
Cheers and laughter filled the room as Falwell continued: "If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."
At that moment in the recording, Falwell's voice is drowned out by hoots of approval. But two in attendance, including a Falwell staff member, confirmed that Falwell…
pharyngula | September 24, 2006I'm going to be a bit distracted for a while, with some upcoming travel and various other bits of busy work, but I was listening to this lecture by Ken Miller (in which Carl Zimmer was in attendance, too) as I was puttering away on a lecture of my own . It's pretty much the same talk he gave in Kansas, sans talk of shooting at new targets and other obnoxious language, but I still find myself disagreeing with his conclusions. I had to take just a minute to bring up my objections.
He wants to argue that evolution is compatible with, even strengthens his faith, but his god is remarkably aloof…
oracknows | September 24, 2006I realize that PZ and Skeptico have already posted this, but it's just too hilarious for me, as a bit of a connoisseur of pareidolia, to pass up, regardless of who might have posted about it before.
We've seen Jesus in many strange places, even on toast, but I bet you've never seen Him appear in a location such as this before. I'm not sure if the first part of the animated GIF is Photoshopped or not, but it is hilarious. (Warning: Not for the easily offended.)
Hallelujah!
And if that's not enough, Evolving Thoughts points out that new images of the infamous "Face on Mars" Cydonia confirm that…
pharyngula | September 22, 2006Oh, boy…Boingboing mentions something squid-related and everyone sends me email. Should I mention that I brought up Squid Soap back in August? (Hah! That Doctorow fellow thinks he's so cutting edge. Poseur.) However, Craig Clarke just sent me some information on a holy cruciform-shaped scrub brush, and it seems to me that we have to get these two products together.
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If you're going to wash away the sins of the world, you ought to do it with squid soap, I think.
pharyngula | September 22, 2006I have found the Lord. I pray that I won't have to witness him "speaking", though.
Thank van Kempen for leading me to my salvation.
razib | September 21, 2006Which is the correct tree?*
One could argue that this is fallacious insofar as Judaism is the "ancestor" of both Islam and Christianity, but my own opinion is that the Jewish traditions of this day and age (including "Orthodox" Judaism) are very different from ancient Judaism (the transition from ancient to modern Judaism might be analogized to anagenesis, while the relationship between Christianity and ancient Judaism is more like cladogenesis). In the United States the term "Judeo-Christian" became popular after World War II as the "Protestant-Catholics-Jew" alignment was used to…
jrosenhouse | September 21, 2006In Tuesday's post I commented that Christopher Hitchens is always reliable when writing about religion. As if to prove my point, the new issue of Free Inquiry turned up in my mailbox that night. It features an essay by Hitchens addressing the looming schism in the Anglican Church on the subject of allowing openly gay priests. Sadly, the article does not seem to be available online, so I have taken the liberty of transcribing its conclusion below the fold. Enjoy!
Not having space to go on about all that - much as I would like to - I merely point out that the same dilemma results in…
mikethemadbiologist | September 21, 2006 In the November general election, South Dakota will have a referendum that could overturn its law that bans abortions, even where the woman has been raped, is the victim of incest, would suffer long-term medical problems, or would be unable to have future children. The first of the political ads are running, so I thought this post would be appropriate (and certainly in the style my readers have come to expect....). From the archives:
Well, that got your attention, didn't it?
Of course, I realize that it's utterly inappropriate to introduce religion into the abortion debate.
(Thankfully,…
mikethemadbiologist | September 21, 2006
No, this post isn't about William Shatner albums. Over at Orcinus, there's a great post about the rendition (rendering? My torture lexicon is rusty...) of terrorist suspects to other countries. Here's the description of the U.S. citizens who live near the airbases and facilities used to conduct these operations:
But the two most interesting places were the rural town of Smithfield and Kinston down the road, where there's another airstrip that a company called Aero Contractors uses. Aero is the company that flies many of these missions for the CIA. We went there and talked to a pilot who…
mikethemadbiologist | September 20, 2006We Jews have a secret: if you wave pork in front of us, we running away screeching. Contact with our skin causes anaphylactic shock. In fact, pork works better on us than silver does on vampires. Of course, I'm kidding when I say this. But I'm not kidding when I say that Sen. George "Macaca" Allen (R-VA) is still an asshole. From Salon:
"I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops." -- Virginia Sen. George Allen, explaining how news that his grandfather was Jewish is "just an interesting nuance to my background."
What a putz.
pharyngula | September 20, 2006Why do we put up with these insane people? This is painful to listen to: it's an NPR interview with John Hagee, and he goes on and on about his weird biblical prophecies that soon (maybe in the next hour!) the Rapture is going to occur, war will break out with Russia and Islam against Israel, and God will make an abrupt magical appearance that will prove his existence. It's got excerpts from his looney-tunes sermons. We get to hear that "All Moslems have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews." And what about Hurricane Katrina? "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God…all of…