religion
gregladen | June 11, 2009County Commissioners in Kleberg County, Texas flaunt their disregard for the law, the constitution, and for diversity.
From now on, courthouse employees and other government workers officially answer the telephone "Heaven-o" instead of "Hell-o." This insanity is the idea of local yahoo Leonso Canales Jr, who has been saying "God-o" or "Heaven-o" since he came up with this brilliant idea in 1988.
Not everyone is a convert to Kleberg County's heavenly ways. Madolyn Musick, who runs a bookstore, insisted, and linguists would agree, that "hello" has nothing to do with "hell." Besides, she…
gregladen | June 10, 2009There is an interesting piece in Religion Dispatches pointing out that when the Muslim American killer of an army recruiter was being profiled in the press, his religion was identified as a key potentially motivating factor, but Scott Roeder's religious connections are not being touched on to nearly the same degree in the discourse regarding his murderous activity.
On June 1, the New York Times ran a story, "Seeking Clues on Suspect in Shooting of Doctor," an investigation into a little known anti-abortion activist, Scott Roeder, who'd been arrested for gunning down Kansas abortion…
pharyngula | June 9, 2009Now you can all do it: an archbishop of the Open Episcopal Church is selling consecrated crackers by mail, payable with paypal. The guy sounds like a bit of a kook; he's doing this because he believes people will sincerely appreciate receiving a scrap of Jesus' holy meat in the mail, and will use them to carry out informal masses whenever they feel like it.
Unfortunately for the desired effect of desecration, he has been excommunicated from the Anglican church, and the Catholics say his consecrations aren't real, so the only people who might be offended by any cracker abuse are these fringey…
oracknows | June 7, 2009I'm busy working on a talk today, but there is a tidbit that lends itself to a brief (and hopefully amusing and educational) Sunday exercise. It comes, not surprisingly, from the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism. It doesn't actually have anything to do with vaccines per se, but it is a perfect encapsulation of the sort of fallacious statements and arguments that pseudoscientists in general make. Indeed, this comment could easily have come from a creationist, religious, alternative medicine, New Age, or 9/11 Truther website, among others and fit right in.
Specifically, it is a comment that the…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2009tags: disease, god, religion, creationism, humor, funny, satire, Edward Current, streaming video
In a live webcast, Edward Current explains how God created a perfect world and had nothing to do with creating disease. But letting just anyone write in and comment probably wasn't the best idea [3:51]
mikethemadbiologist | June 6, 2009Abortion isn't the lesser of two evils--it is a just and good thing. So says Reverend Katherine Ragsdale:
Let's be very clear about this: when a woman finds herself pregnant due to violence and chooses an abortion, it is the violence that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing.
When a woman finds that the fetus she is carrying has anomalies incompatible with life, that it will not live and that she requires an abortion -- often a late-term abortion -- to protect her life, her health, or her fertility, it is the shattering of her hopes and dreams for that pregnancy that is the tragedy;…
gregladen | June 4, 2009There is an interesting post on The Intersection called Civility and the New Atheists, by Chris Mooney. In the post, Chris reviews Barbara Forrest's statements that in engaging int he cross-world-view debate (scientists vs. creationists, atheists, vs religion, etc.) one should maintian etiquette, respect and understand diversity, and practice humility.
Atheist and pro-science writer Mooney notes in speaking of a talk by Forrest:
Forrest therefore concluded her talk by saying that we need are "epistemological and civic humility"-providing the groundwork for "civic friendship." To which I…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2009
Who: journalist and author, Nina Burleigh
What: free public presentation, "Biblical Forgery"
Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor, room D4
When: Thursday, 4 June 700-830pm
Join CFI and the Secular Humanist Society of New York to meet journalist and author Nina Burleigh, who wrote the recently published book, Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed, & Forgery in the Holy Land. Her book tells the story of the unraveling of a Bible relic forgery scheme in Israel, and gives a glimpse into the intriguing world of biblical archaeology…
grrlscientist | June 3, 2009
Who: journalist and author, Nina Burleigh
What: free public presentation, Biblical Forgery
Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor, room D4
When: Thursday, 4 June 700-830pm
Join CFI and the Secular Humanist Society of New York to meet journalist and author Nina Burleigh, who wrote the recently published book, Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed, & Forgery in the Holy Land. Her book tells the story of the unraveling of a Bible relic forgery scheme in Israel, and gives a glimpse into the intriguing world of biblical archaeology…
pharyngula | June 2, 2009This local (he's in my backyard of St Paul!) rabbi, Manis Friedman, offers an enlightening vision of old testament morality. He was asked, "How should Jews treat their Arab neighbors?" Here's his answer.
I don't believe in western morality, i.e. don't kill civilians or children, don't destroy holy sites, don't fight during holiday seasons, don't bomb cemeteries, don't shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral.
The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).
Fortunately, other rabbis gave slightly different…
pharyngula | June 2, 2009Classy.
My Prof Got Run Over By An iPod (Biology) from Mark Nauroth on Vimeo.
The fundies are very concerned, because they have rightly noticed that when their kids go off to college, they come back better educated…which often means they become more liberal and reject traditional religious beliefs. What to do? How about creating desperate online courses with 'hip, edgy' music and bad acting to tell teenagers not to do those things? You really have to see that caricature of a movie at that link: a family says goodbye to their sweet little girl going off to college; she comes back 9 months…
jrosenhouse | June 1, 2009Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He is also a contributor to the crazy right-wing website Town Hall, which does not bode well for anything he writes.
Let's have a look at his latest offering:
Recently, I received a rare student complaint over an e-mail I had sent to all my classes. In the e-mail, which welcomed all of my students back for a new semester, I characterized myself as an “outspoken Christian professor.” I admitted that I had been critical of some aspects of Darwinism and that I saw my students as more than mere “random…
grrlscientist | May 31, 2009tags: religion, atheism, godlessness, Keep Porno Out of Day Care Centers!, humor, funny, satire, edward current, streaming video
This video reveals Hollywood's latest assault on our culture; stripping preschoolers of their innocence and filling them with unchaste ideas. [4:15]
pharyngula | May 30, 2009You must listen to this ghastly interview with Bill Donohue on the Irish Catholic scandal. He is calmly taken apart by one of the victims of priestly rape — his views are characterized as "obscene".
What a nasty little man.
gregladen | May 30, 2009The Source is a novel by James A. Michener. It is actually a fun novel to read if you have any interest in the history of the middle east.
One of the themes in the novel is the relationship between god and humans. In the earlier part of the history described in this book, god has an intimate relationship with humans, and often manifests as a burning bush in order to speak with specific humans that god might be interested in. But over time the humans get less interesting and god gets into other things, and the whole burning bush thing becomes less and less frequent and eventually, there…
grrlscientist | May 30, 2009tags: religion, atheism, godlessness, god is nonexistent, humor, funny, satire, edward current, streaming video
This video talks about how Our Lord goes to extraordinary lengths to create the illusion that he does nothing. Why? Because he can do anything! [4:20]
pharyngula | May 29, 2009The more sophisticated creationists like to toss the name "Alvin Plantinga" into arguments — he's a well-regarded philosopher/theologian who favors Intelligent Design creationism, or more accurately, Christian creationism. I've read some of his work, but not much; it's very bizarre stuff, and every time I get going on one of his papers I hit some ludicrous, literally stupid claim that makes me wonder why I'm wasting time with this pretentious clown, and I give up, throw the paper in the trash, and go read something from Science or Nature to cleanse my palate. Unfortunately, that means that…
gregladen | May 28, 2009"When I first looked at it I wasn't sure, but when I moved it away from me it started coming out. I thought Christ, yeah, she's right - that's the image of Jesus.
"The kids are still eating it, but we kept the lid."
source
hat tip: Iain Davidson
gregladen | May 28, 2009Catholics are trained to steal away into closets or back rooms with any babies that happen to be left around, so they can be secretly baptized. You did know this, right? It is true. If you take your baby to a day care provider, check on this first. If you suspect there are Catholics working there, just tell them your baby is named Mark or Mary and mention some funny story about the Baptism and that should do it.
You probably knew all that, but what you probably didn't know is that Atheists are trained to do this: CLICK HERE.
OK, now click here.
OK, now click here.
OK, that is all…
pharyngula | May 28, 2009Only this is the good kind, addressing a problem with power and honesty, and providing a personal connection. This is the testimony of a victim of the Irish Catholic workhouse system, and the brutal pedophilia of corrupt priests.
I found this on the blog of one of the creators of the Father Ted series, Graham Linehan, who wrote of this:
If all copies and records of 'Father Ted' were somehow wiped, I would find it impossible to summon up the affection with which Arthur and I initially wrote the show. Somehow, these days, The Irish Catholic Church seems a lot less cuddly.