Many of us love to regularly complain about the mainstream media and its atrocious coverage of science, but with the recent news of the first particle injections at CERN’s newly-completed Large Hadron Collider, it seems that there can be absolutely no mistake about the abysmal state of science reporting.
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Hysteria over LHC reaches critical mass
Thursday, September 11th, 2008Hawking bets Large Hadron Collider won’t find Higgs Boson
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008Yesterday, renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking announced that he is literally betting (to the tune of $100, or about E70) that CERN’s Large Hadron Collider won’t accomplish its primary objective of detecting the elusive Higgs Boson.
“I think it will be much more exciting if we don’t find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again. I have a bet of 100 dollars that we won’t find the Higgs,” he said.
This marks the third, publicly-announced wager Hawking has made over a matter of science: he once wagered a year’s subscription to Penthouse that conclusive evidence of the existence of black holes would not be discovered (he has said that he is 95% sure he has already lost this bet), and in 2004 he conceded a bet with astrophysicist John Preskill over the resolution of a paradox involving the loss of information in black holes.
If Hawking is right, not only will it end his apparent losing streak, it will also “show something is wrong” with the so-called Standard Model of Physics, though he has optimistically told the BBC that “whatever the LHC finds, or fails to find, the results will tell us a lot about the structure of the universe.” The Higgs Boson is an as-yet hypothetical component of the Model whose role in particle physics is to confer atomic structures with mass.
One Australian news source has claimed that Hawking’s bet is that the LHC simply “won’t work,” though Hawking has stated that the LHC could instead find certain physical structures that would be “a key confirmation of string theory, and they could make up the mysterious dark matter that holds galaxies together.” There does not appear to be any evidence from Hawking’s own statements that he believes that the LHC “won’t work.”
The Large Hadron Collider, whose first experimental test was today (it was successful), has been under intense media scrutiny over hysteria surrounding one German physicist’s largely unsubstantiated claim that the LHC could annihilate the Earth by creating miniature black holes. At the height of this hysteria, CERN scientists were particularly annoyed to find themselves the target of a lawsuit by a group of Hawaiians who were afraid that the LHC would either eat the Earth with a black hole, or just render it a mass of inert matter via a hypothetical “strangelet.” One particularly snarky rebuttal to this charge can be found here, and further safety information about the Large Hadron Collider can be found on CERN’s website.
Joseph Lykken, theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, reminded CNN reporters that “when Columbus sails west, he thought he was going to find something. He didn’t find what he thought he was going to find, but he did find something interesting.”
American Chronicle covers secularism
Sunday, September 7th, 2008There’s an impressive post at the American Chronicle today. It covers the history of secularism, George Bush’s faith-based initiatives, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Christopher Hedge’s “I Don’t Believe in Atheists”, and the future of secularism.
It’s quite long, but well worth the read. I’ll just give some highlights here:
Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and other leading revolutionaries leaned toward deism in their own beliefs, distrusting churches and holy texts, prayers and miracles, and believing essentially in a deity who had supposedly created everything and then gone on break. They were not atheists, but theists who distrusted all religions, even their own. And their tolerance extended to tolerance of atheism: “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear,” wrote Jefferson.
In one of these cases, the DOJ defended the Salvation Army’s right to take public money to run social services and still fire employees who do not agree with its religious creed. In another case, the DOJ filed a brief in a Florida case arguing that banning religious school vouchers would violate the U.S. Constitution, a claim the U.S. Supreme Court has never endorsed.
MRFF reports having been contacted by more than 5,000 active duty and retired soldiers who say they were pressured by their commanding officers to convert to christianity.
McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, who would be a very uncertain heartbeat away from the presidency of a nation capable of destroying the entire planet at the push of a button believes the planet was created in six days and that she can simply choose not to believe the evidence of global warming. We now have government programs run by religions, which are called “faith-based groups” instead of religions. We have candidates promising to defend discriminatory marriage policies in obedience to religion. And we have christian proselytizing in the U.S. military. This trend in the direction of state religion has swamped a small current in the opposite direction that in 2007 saw Congressman Pete Stark become the first Congressman in U.S. history to dare to admit he was an atheist.
In a recent article called “The Dangerous Atheism of Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris,” [Christopher Hedges] failed to include any indication of what he thinks is dangerous about their atheism. Hedges thinks these other writers have horrible political opinions, but does not explain how those relate to atheism.
While President Bush may have spoken frequently with “God”, he also spoke frequently with his top advisor, Karl Rove, who had long been reported by numerous sources not to “believe in God.”
Of course, without theism, people could hate and kill others on the basis of race, class, ethnicity, and various other excuses. Atheism does not make any individual or population decent or good. Atheism doesn’t make anyone think in any particular way. But theism, by its very nature, encourages obedience to authorities, and belief that such authorities should be trusted even if their ways are mysterious. The bizarre American reaction to 9-11 in which Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush were so comically turned into figures of authority was facilitated by religious thought. If so many people were not in the habit of turning to a lord or savior in times of fear, Hedges and all those trying to talk some sense into them would have a much easier task. If people were less like sheep in search of a shepherd, governments could not persuade them to kill each other at all
Zeus et. al. poised to make a comeback
Saturday, September 6th, 2008Ellinais, or the Sacred Society of Greek Ancient Religionists, has begun holding prayers to Athena (ancient Greek goddess of knowledge) and is protesting the Greek governments moving of statues from the Acropolis to modern museums. The ancient Greek religion was apparently made illegal in the fourth century, however police did not prevent the practitioners from holding their prayers.
The practitioners even claimed some divine evidence of their ceremony:
“Is it a coincidence that rain started falling when the ceremony started and ended at the same time as the ceremony? I think not,”
However, one could just as easily claim that the Christian God was pissed after being upstaged some 1700 years later.
The ceremony featured some 200 practitioners. It appears the atheists can no longer use the “no one believes in Zeus anymore” argument.
Help make September 28th “Church-State Separation Day”
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Earlier today, Pharyngula blogger PZ Myers reported on the right-wing Alliance Defense Fund’s proposed “Pulpit Initiative.” As part of this initiative the Alliance Defense Fund, which is an obliquely Christian legal think tank dedicated to abolition the separation of church and state, is calling on preachers and clergymen nationwide to spend this September 28th deliberately violating the terms of their religious tax exemption by publicly endorsing political candidates for high office in the 2008 election.
To counter, the Bates College Secular Student Alliance has already invited the famous church-state separation activist Ellery Schempp to deliver a talk at Bates College on the importance of church-state separation on the day of the Pulpit Initiative. It is this author’s hope that, even on such short notice, CFI and SSA groups nationwide will take the initiative to make September 28th into a national day of free, public events designed to promote the history and value of the principle of the separation of Church and State in the United States.
McCain’s VP pick is Not Good for Science
Friday, August 29th, 2008I wake up this afternoon and check the news and my e-mails from my bed on my iPod touch. It has become an enjoyable morning ritual of mine. As I perused the top stories of the day, I find that McCain chose a VP, Sarah Palin. She was an intriguing choice and I started doing some research on her.
I found out that she:
- is the governor of Alaska.
- is a mother of 5.
- is an evangelical Protestant.
- is pro-life and a member of Feminists for Life.
- is a creationist.
- is a creationist who wants creationism taught along with evolution.
I shall let her speak for herself:
In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:
“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”
(…)
Palin said she thought there was value in discussing alternatives.
“It’s OK to let kids know that there are theories out there,” she said in the interview. “They gain information just by being in a discussion.”
That was how she was brought up, she said. Her father was a public school science teacher.
“My dad did talk a lot about his theories of evolution,” she said. “He would show us fossils and say, ‘How old do you think these are?’ ”
Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, “I believe we have a creator.”
She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.
“I’m not going to pretend I know how all this came to be,” she said.
From Anchorage Daily News
Again, this is the usual tripe creationists try to push: “Teach both sides!” “Teach the debate!”
There is NO debate. Evolution is fact. I bet you Palin won’t be able to define evolution if you asked her to. In my experience, almost all deniers of evolution do not know what evolution is. It’s rather pathetic that they would deny something without knowing what it actually is.
Wired also had this to say about her:
Palin’s statements track with the official Alaska Republican Party platform, which support creation science and intelligent design by name, and says that “evidence disputing the theory should also be presented.”
According to Fordham Institute science education expert Lawrence Lerner, Palin’s nomination is less worrisome in terms of education than the broad relationship of science and government.
“In the direct sense, vice presidents don’t have much to do with what goes on in classrooms. But a person who’s a creationist doesn’t understand science and technology at all,” said Lerner. “It doesn’t bode well for science, and doesn’t bode well for interaction between science and government.”
From the Wired Website
Personally, if someone believes in creationism, it does not bother me. If their belief does not have negative effects on my life, then I don’t mind it. BUT this is just not the case with regards to Palin and most creationists. Their unscientific demeanor does have negative ramifications. It does affect me negatively. How could they possibly make informed decisions about scientific policies when they are scientifically illiterate? They are dangerous people. Palin is dangerous.
So…who wants to move out of the US with me if McCain gets elected?
Bush Admin’s new proposal for the ESA
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008The National Wildlife Federation of the United States has acquired a leaked document that predicts a significant weakening of the Endangered Species Act. The Bush Administration (here onwards BA) is apparently trying to get a bill passed that would enable corporations to bypass most of the security checks currently in place, before engaging in activities like logging or mining. John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation, believes the bill is intentionally timed to coincide with the election campaigns, so that a distracted public wouldn’t create a nuisance.
“I have been working on the Endangered Species Act for 15 years and have never seen such a sneaky attack. To suggest that our nation’s most important wildlife law could be gutted after a mere 30 day written comment period is the height of arrogance and disrespect for wildlife science. Elected officials have been saying no to proposals like this for 15 years,” says Kostyack.
Passed in 1973 under President Nixon, the stated purpose of the ESA is to protect critically endangered species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untendered by adequate concern and conservation” and also the “the ecosystems upon which they depend.” According to Wikipedia, the creation of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) was helped by the ESA. CITES has since been indispensable in enforcing the protection of endangered species.
Even though the ESA only protects species that are officially listed as “threatened” or “endangered”, over sixteen species have been de-listed since it’s inception. Another twenty three have been down-listed from “endangered” to “threatened”. Though it is believed that the latter twenty three recovered due to a ban on DDT, the ESA was certainly a helping hand.
According to the NWF news article, the current proposal attempts to:
- Eliminate informal consultations. Currently, federal agencies seeking to carry out, fund or permit an action must enter into either formal or informal consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service if the action is found to have any affect whatsoever on a listed species. The Bush Administration wants to significantly reduce informal consultations by allowing proponents of federal projects to decide unilaterally whether projects have adverse effects on listed species. This would eliminate the ability of the Service to review projects and employ its expert scientific judgment about what is needed to protect species and habitats unless an agency requests an informal consultation.
- Reduce the number of formal consultations. These are the in-depth reviews that lead to the preparation of a biological opinion, in which the Service determines whether a project will jeopardize listed species or adversely modify its critical habitat and, if so, how the project must be modified to avoid harm. The proposed changes eliminate the requirement for formal consultation any time that an agency unilaterally determines that a project will have no adverse effect on listed species.
- Avoid or minimize consultations based on “Lack of Causation” arguments. Under this rule, agencies could avoid consultation if they determine their action will have only a “marginal” impact on a listed species, ignoring the fact that the cumulative effect of “marginal” piecemeal destruction of habitat quantity and quality is one of the main causes of species decline and extinction. “This could mean death by a thousand cuts for many threatened and endangered species,” said Kostyack.
- Impose an arbitrary deadline on the consultation process. Perhaps most outrageously, the Administration proposes to impose a 60-day deadline on the Service to respond to an agency’s request for consultation and, if this deadline is not met, to allow the project to go forward regardless of the impacts of the project on listed species. “The creation of an arbitrary deadline could enable even the most harmful projects to escape Endangered Species Act scrutiny,” said Kostyack.
The iconic Bald Eagle, the Whooping Crane, the Peregrine Falcon, the Gray Wolf, the Gray Whale and the Grizzly bear among many others have seen their populations rise thanks to the ESA. In the previous years, the BA has also tried to lift the ban on logging of Giant Sequoias in California. These trees, the most massive forms of life on Earth, are of legendary legacy and would have been a long-term loss if a federal court judge had not raised his voice. Many of us are also aware of another bill the BA is currently trying to pass, which would allow offshore drilling off the coasts of Alaska straight into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2006, they already succeeded in increasing the area of the Gulf of Mexico that was legalized for drilling.
Needless to say, this administration has done more than it’s share of damage to the world, but getting bills like these blocked would help leave a slightly-less devastating legacy. I’m not an American, but if you are and have voting power, contact Karla Raettig, raettigk@nwf.org, 202-797-6869 or 202-674-3174
Aislinn Maestas, maestas@nwf.org, 202-797-6624 of the FWA to raise your voice. You can read more about the leaked document at the FWA’s website @ http://www.nwf.org/news/story.cfm?pageId=B37BC419-15C5-5FE8-B007DAC35C60F339.
CHRC Embarrasses Canada…Again
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has once again tarnished academia’s perception of Canada, and they didn’t even do anything this time.
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is planning on holding its next annual conference in Toronto, but a number of its members are launching a petition to the APSA calling for it to be relocated because of the CHRC’s persecution of those practicing freedom of speech. They’re afraid that human rights complaints will be taken to the CHRC, as was the case when Macleans printed a controversial Mark Steyn article, and when Ezra Levant published the Danish Mohamed cartoons. The word irony doesn’t even do justice to the absurdity of a commission designed to stand for human rights standing stridently against one of the most fundamental human rights.
The petition is gaining strong support among APSA members because they, if anyone, know that freedom of expression is necessary for intellectual discussion. Without it, we leave some of the most pressing issues unaddressed, especially ones endemic to much of the APSA’s contemporary discussion – that is, the growing threat of Islamic terrorism and the Muslim world’s neglect to effectively challenge it – a topic that both Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant were martyred for.
So once again, the CHRC has embarrassed Canada. One would think that something that stands against itself would self-destruct. Lets hope that this happens soon enough.
For more information on the absurdity of the Canadian Human Rights Commission visit Canadian Human Rights Commission EXPOSED!
Kids in Quebec to be “confused” by religious choices
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008The province of Quebec (in Canada) has begun requiring all grade 1 through 11 students to take classes that teach various ethical and religious systems.
Some traditional Catholic parents have tried to keep their kids out but the school boards have turned down their requests.
Marc-André Richard said the school board has just started a war with parents like himself.
He said he is worried that if his kids learn about other religions on top of Catholicism, they will become confused by too many choices. [emphasis added]
M. Richard is going to keep his kids home for these classes even if it means they fail.
As much as I want to respect the rights of parents to raise their children how they want, this crosses a line. To say “I don’t want my son/daughter knowing that some people think differently than us” is utterly absurd! If your religion is logically coherent, or at least ingrained enough in your child’s head, then the child should be able to survive a provincial religious education course.
Senator Dole’s office: atheist civil rights “would horrify most North Carolinians”
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008The 2008 Senatorial election in North Carolina, one of the most competitive in the country as incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole’s edge over challenging Democrat Kay Hagan in the polls has disintegrated in a matter of months, has just turned into a referendum on civil rights for nonbelievers.
This morning, Dole’s campaign office released an action alert warning her constituents that her competitor would be heading to Boston for a fundraiser, which “will be in the home of leading anti religion activists Wendy Kaminer and her lawyer husband Woody Kaplan — who is an advisor to the “Godless Americans Political Action Committee” and the alert also warns that “Kaminer is also an advisory board member (Woody is the chairman) of The Secular Coalition for America.”
“Kay Hagan is trying to run a campaign in North Carolina that casts her as a moderate but the money that’s paying for it is coming from the left-wing fringe of political thought,” said Dole Campaign Communications Director Dan McLagan. “Kay Hagan does not represent the values of this state; she is a Trojan Horse for a long list of wacky left-wing outside groups bent on policies that would horrify most North Carolinians if they knew about it,” McLagan went on. “This latest revelation of support from anti-religion activists will not sit well with the 90% of state residents who identify with a specific religious faith.”
Any secular person, or even religious person, who does not appreciate having all non-religious Americans collectively tarred and feathered as a “wacky left-wing outside group” whose beliefs and Constitutional rights “would horrify most North Carolinians,” can make a cash contribution to her opponent here.
If you wish to contact Senator Dole’s office and demand the immediate censure, dismissal, and condemnation of Dan McLagan for his obvious personal disdain for the non-religious (12% of North Carolina’s citizens are not religious, and 20% of them “seldom or never” attend religious meetings), her office can be contacted at info@elizabethdole.org for email, 704-633-0014 for her telephone switchboard.
A Vegetarian Spider
Monday, August 25th, 2008At the International Behavioral Ecology Congress that ended just two weeks back, Christopher Meehan of Villanova University presented a very interesting discovery. Bagheera Kiplingi, a species of jumping spider, has been found to be preferentially vegetarian. Out of 140 of its meals that were recorded, 136 were vegetarian. It’s not that the spider’s niche makes insect-meals difficult to find. The opposite might be true instead.
B. Kiplingi lives on Acacia trees in Mexico, the very same that are famous for their symbiosis with ants:
Three species of acacia (collectively known as Bullthorn Acacias) develop domatia (large hollow chambers) which are almost always inhabited by ants. To feed their guests, the plants produce beltian bodies, which are relatively large protein and lipid rich balls. In return for food and shelter, the ants provide the trees with a very valuable service: they fend of any other creatures that might think of making a meal out of the plant. We all know what a force ants can be; If needed, they take on creatures of all sizes, from other small arthropods to large mammals. These acacias are usually easy to spot due to conspicuous grass-less patches that surround the trees.
So the symbiosis has programmed the ants to attack any other creature on sight. But the beltian bodies are too precious of a food to not fight for. So it was only a matter of time then before evolution produced another specialist. B. Kiplingi also lives on these acacias but by staying out of the ants’ way, it can survive. It is known to hide on dying leaves or other lightly patrolled areas and hence avoid confrontation. When it can, it feeds on the beltian bodies, also making rare meals of ant grubs and acacia nectar. Their queer diet is also known to include friends and family, as they have been known to cannibalize.
As you would imagine, the creature is indeed named after Rudyard Kipling and his character Bagheera, the panther from The Jungle Book.
Edger Getting Linklove
Sunday, August 24th, 2008Over the weekend our website has been making some sweet, sweet link-love to other blogs around the net. Here’s a list of our link-lovers:
- The Friendly Atheist
- Pharyngula
- Sandwalk
- Lib-Deb (Edger writer)
- Tangled Up in Blue Guy
- Kristjan Wager
- Insane Quiet
- Iron Soul
- Terahertz (Edger writer)
- A Blog Around the Clock
- Black Sun Review
- Skeptico
Thank you for helping us launch our site fellow secularist bloggers. I hope we can continue to work together to make some change in this world.
Gay Jesus?
Friday, August 22nd, 2008At Ohio’s Lorain County Community College, an atheist group has made a lot of enemies over a new questioning whether Jesus had homosexual relations.
I think that poster just about speaks for itself.
My group at the University of Alberta was recently made office-mates with Outreach, the LGBTQ group on campus; we might have to hang some of these on our door.
Colorado Springs Gazette Redeems itself
Friday, August 22nd, 2008Yesterday I linked to an article which demonstrated new lows in an assault on atheism. Luckily, today there are a couple articulate letters rebutting the article.
The first letter from Jonathan Williams lays out a nice atheist creed:
I do not believe in deities mainly due to the lack of empirical evidence to their existence.
Natural phenomena can and should be explained without resorting to the divine.
One can live a moral life without the promise of a reward or the fear of punishment.
People should be judged by their actions, not by their beliefs.
It is easier to follow and obey than it is to create and to learn.
I value life because it is fragile, fleeting and finite.
Humans knows they exist and thus believe they are too important to cease to exist.
One doesn’t believe who doesn’t live according to his belief.
Truth cannot be determined by majority vote.
The moral is the rational.
The study of ethics pre-dates Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The basis for ethics is empathy.
Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so.
The second article from Julian Peterson identifies the extreme intolerance in the article:
Blinded by his own bigotry, the writer fails to see what is patently obvious to the rest of us: that this article crosses the line of good taste and that it serves to reinforce, through misinformation those negative stereotypes long prescribed for atheists.
Finally, Nicole Gaal also points out the discrimination:
To be placed in the same category as Hitler and a few other tyrants is utterly ridiculous. Even to be called rude and told my belief is odd just because it is different from yours is close-minded
The best thing to note, however, is all three letters came from atheists in Colorado Springs! No need for a (inter)national letter writing campaign, just make sure you fight ignorance and intolerance at home.
Katy Perry kissed a girl, and her parents really don’t like it
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008Katy Perry’s hit single “I Kissed a Girl” topped charts worldwide immediately after its release this April, but now her own parents, who call themselves Evangelical Christians and are both pastors in that tradition, have some strong words for their daughter’s music, which they say “clearly promotes homosexuality.”
“Its message is shameful and disgusting,” Katy’s mother told Christianity Today reporter Anne Thomas. “The first time I heard it I was in total shock. When it comes on the radio I bow my head and pray.”
The song, which has itself drawn the ire of several in the gay community, is about exactly what it sounds like- the (female) lead singer kissing a member of her own gender. In an interview with Zack from thenewgay.net, Katy Perry describes her childhood home as a “strict, suppressed household” where “any of that taboo stuff was wrong.” In the same interview, she also admits that she has never actually kissed a girl before.
Her parents express particular disappointment with the fact that Perry’s career started off in the lucrative, high-octane world of Christian rock and roll, but she was lured into secular music by a lucrative offer from a mainstream record company. “I was worried she’d start doing drugs and drinking alcohol. I still am,” frets her mother. “I spoke to her only recently. She said, ‘Oh Mum, I’m not going to turn into Amy Winehouse.’”
Praying at the pump: How God graced gasoline
Monday, August 18th, 2008In case you haven’t noticed the recent drop in gasoline price lately, Rocky Twyman would be happy to fill you in.
Twyman, 59, founded Pray At The Pump- a group that meets and joins hands at petrol stations to pray for lower gas prices- in April of this year. In the months following his first event at a Shell gas station in Washington, DC, he has held similar gatherings nationwide.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2008-05/39156681.jpg
After a success in Alabama, the group headed back to the gas station of origin and in celebration sang the popular hymn “We shall overcome”- but with the words “We shall have lower gas prices”.
In case this doesn’t seem over-the-top enough, the group also invited comedian Jay Leno to join them in praying, after he mentioned Twyman and his group during a monologue in late July:
“Hey, have you heard about this group called Prayer at the Pump?” Leno asked. “They’re a prayer group that springs up, and they go to gas stations and they hold hands and they pray for lower gas prices. Otherwise known as the Bush energy plan.” (CNS News)
What’s more, he decided not to send his request via post to NBC or The Tonight Show, relying instead on the media to deliver the message to the comedian.
This decision, of course, only after spending a day picketing the NBC studios with prayer slogans. All in a days’ work for Rocky Twyman.
(Info credit BBC, emphasis mine)
Ontario doctors may have to violate their consciences
Friday, August 15th, 2008Ontario doctors may no longer have the choice to not perform surgeries or offer treatments that violate their religion or conscience.
Ontario physicians could be stripped of their right to exercise religious or moral conscience if a new set of guidelines is accepted by their regulating body next month, critics say.
I’m undecided how I feel about this. On the one hand, I like the idea of doctors having to listen to their patients, and not being denied treatments because they happen to have aa wack-job doctor. However, I don’t know if it’s right to force someone to do something they are morally opposed to.
I suppose I would feel better if this decision would allow religious hospitals to do whatever they want (within the law), and doctors there could deny treatment, but also have public hospitals where doctors actually do their jobs.
Which brings me to another point I’ll bring up – if you’re morally opposed to burying people underground (you consider cremation to be the only way to eternal salvation), then you likely wouldn’t be a coffin salesperson, likewise, if you don’t want to give out birth control or perform abortions there may be some career paths that aren’t for you.
In reality this may just be something critics are blowing out of proportion, but it does lead to some interesting questions.
Bill! Bill! Bill! He’s back!
Friday, August 15th, 2008Guess who’s back?…Back again…Bill Nye is back! Tell a friend!
First, forgive me for that shameless re-use of an Eminem song. Second, rejoice! A perennial favorite of science lovers everywhere, Bill Nye, is back with a new show on the Discovery Channel! While I think that it won’t have the charm and the nostalgic quality of the Bill Nye the Science Guy show (how could you not? The intro credits were awesome!), I am sure as hell it will be in interesting, informative, and – most importantly – entertaining show.
This description from the Stuff Happens site really makes me want to watch the show ASAP:
Stuff Happens examines the everyday stuff of our lives, and the far-reaching effects our actions have on the planet. From cashmere sweaters causing dust storms in China, to American pig farmers inadvertently aiding the global collapse of anchovy fisheries, Stuff Happens explores the surprising twists and unintended consequences of all the stuff in our lives.
This exciting half-hour series engages the viewer with astonishing information, easy-to-follow science, lighthearted demonstrations, expert interviews and connective story-telling to amplify growing problems in the environment and important solutions we can all take to make things better. With trademark good humor, Bill Nye helps viewers get a grip on big topics and presents positive, upbeat solutions to the critical problems facing us all.
In an nutshell: Stuff Happens explores how our daily lives affect the environment and how we can reduce our negative impact on. I can’t wait to start watching it! It premieres Tuesday, September 2 at 9pm ET.
And, if you didn’t know already, Bill did have another TV show awhile back called The Eyes of Nye. It was essentially Bill Nye the Science Guy but geared more towards adults and would talk about science and discuss the ramifications of science and technology.
Man, Bill Nye is so cool. Although…it really was weird when he wanted to get a restraining order against his ex-wife because of allegations dealing with poisoning…
Nevertheless, he’s still so cool to me.
VOTE on MSNBC Poll: Should “In God we Trust” be removed from US Currency?
Thursday, August 14th, 2008At the moment, we have:
YES: 8.9%
NO: 91%
In all honesty, I personally don’t care if it says or does not say “In God we Trust” on US currency. It doesn’t affect me. I am more concerned with having humanity move onto a post-theistic world. However, the current results of the poll are rather pathetic.
It is obvious that having “In God we Trust” on currency is a violation of the separation of church and state. It blatantly advertises the government’s support of some sort of supernatural entity. I don’t care though. At the moment there are bigger fish to fry. These fish affect us in greater ways than these four words on paper. Fish such as the poor state of the school systems in the US, fundamentalism, and faith-based initiatives should occupy our minds more.
Canadians don’t want religion in politics
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008In the US it seems the person who prays the most will get the most votes, however, in Canada, two-thirds of voters do not want their politicians talking religion.
These are the results of a new Angus-Reid poll which also found that 82% of Canadians do not want religious leaders endorsing various candidates.
Africans told to be more Christian
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Clearly the solution to starvation, poverty and AIDS in Africa is more prayer. Or at least that’s what Matthew Kyei, National President of the Rosicrucian Fellowship of Ghana says.
He expressed worry that even though Christianity was introduced into Ghana many years back, crime and sin continues to plague the society.
…
He said despite the existence of Christianity in Africa, the continent lagged behind in development and attributed this to selfishness, fear, animism, brutalities and moral degradation instead of worshipping God in faith and in deed.
I’m pretty sure a good ol’ dose of sceptical rationality is what they need, not further intellectual road blocks.
Clergy scared to preach politics
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008Supposedly some clergy are feeling pressure from the IRS to not endorse any candidates in this fall’s presidential election.
A balance between religion and politics, and if a church falls off the beam they may be hearing from the Internal Revenue Service.
That’s because church leaders say the agency can remove it’s tax exempt non-profit status.
The IRS says it will investigate a church’s tax status if it’s “carrying on an unrelated trade or business.”
It’s hard to know whether what the clergy are saying is actually true in the congregations, or outside of sermons though.
FFRF Billboard in Colorado
Monday, August 11th, 2008The Freedom From Religion Foundation has acquired funding to host a billboard stating “Keep Religion out of Politics” will be up in Colorado during the Democratic National Convention from August 25-28. The billboard formerly read “Imagine No Religion” and has been featured elsewhere across the USA.
Spore attacked by ‘militant’ atheists
Monday, August 11th, 2008Will Wright, creator of the Sim games, is releasing a new game entitled Spore later this year, in which gamers will be able to play god for a world, developing life from single-celled organisms, to space-faring civilizations.
Religion can even develop in the game, which according to Wright, has only been criticized by ‘militant atheists.’ Wright describes himself as an atheist.
No reactions have hit the blogosphere yet regarding religion in Spore, but I personally don’t see how ‘militant’ atheists could have an issue with religion in a game.
In earlier news, Wright declard that Spore was performing at 38% the capacity of God, since it acheived 1,589,000 species in 18 days, which took God 7 (according to Wright, several commenters correctly pointed out God created all the animals in two days).
Religion not required for morality
Saturday, August 9th, 2008Evolutionary psychology has made further advances at demonstrating that morality requires no supernatural agent. Writes one Christian journalist:
Recent research suggests that we have been wrong, that morality can emerge and persist without religion. Evidence now points to the conclusion that early humans and prehumans were, long before religion started, predisposed to practice empathy, fairness and loyalty. In fact, these qualities are commonly found in bands of chimpanzees, and the normal behavior of very young children also reflects these attributes.
Evolutionary psychologists propose that natural selection resulted in brains that instinctually encouraged Australopithecines and other early hominids to be concerned about the welfare of others in their group, to share resources and information with them and to be loyal members of that band.
Halleluja, “Atheism on the Rise in Canada”
Friday, August 8th, 2008A recent article in the Toronto star entitled “Embracing Goodness without God” focused on the rising percentage of atheists in Canada.
A recent Harris-Decima poll found that 23 per cent of Canadians do not believe in any God.
Holy Frack! 23%!. As a Canadian I’m proud to see that enough people are finding the courage to come out of the proverbial atheist closet. Apparently Kathy Meidell agrees with me.
“The number just keeps going up – or, at least, the number of people willing to come out of the closet is going up,”
Now this brings up an interesting point of converstation among atheists. Is there a proverbial closet? Even as someone who wasn’t raised religious in any way, and as someone who finds themselves rather courageous to begin with (I can sleep in the dark), I still found it hard to tell many people I was an atheist. To many, the word is still associated with evil. I would say, from what I’ve observed, that coming out of the atheist closet is contextual. It was rather easy in a very liberal region of Canada, and even so, the fear of coming out was still there, even if only slightly.
How hard it must be in more conservative places I can only imagine.
True Religion earns big bucks
Friday, August 8th, 2008The company “True Religion” has released “miraculous” earnings numbers for its last quarter.
True Religion (Nasdaq: TRLG) has miraculously pulled off just such a feat in its latest quarter.
True Religion’s second-quarter net income increased 86% to $9.3 million, or $0.39 per share. Sales surged 78.9% to $64.2 million. And so far this year, the company was able to improve gross margin to 57.3% of sales, from 56.8%. Talk about partying like the consumer slowdown never happened.
Luckily, this is in reference to True Religion brand jeans, not any one “religion.”
FFRF becomes CFC Charity
Friday, August 8th, 2008The Freedom From Religion Foundation has become the first non-theistic organization to receive Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) status. This means that they can now solicit donations from US Federal employees. Until now only purely secular or religious organizations have received this status.
(Via Friendly Atheist)
Unobjective reporting
Thursday, August 7th, 2008I don’t normally read or write on articles from sources like the “National Catholic Register” but one got shared to me, so I was inclined to read it. The article is entitled “Face of the New Atheism” and documents an interview by Jeff Gardener with Dr. PZ Myers.
I had some good hopes for this article, after a fairly neutral introduction, however, on second reading I notice the bias slip in:
He moved from semi-celebrity among atheists and evolutionists to widespread notoriety when he blogged a tirade about the University of Central Florida student Webster Cook, who stole the Blessed Sacrament and held it hostage. [Emphasis added]
First misconception: Webster Cook was given the cracker in church, there was no sign on the wall saying “Thou shalt eat the cracker and removing uneaten crackers is theft.” He chose to hold it in his mouth and walk out in protest of being assaulted by a member of the church. There was no theft involved.
The heavy bias becomes very obvious with this gem of a paragraph:
(more…)
York University Student Union not playing by the rules
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008“The York University student council has voted in favour of a motion to ban funding to anti-abortion groups on campus. The controversial decision means that groups promoting anti-abortion ideas will not be reimbursed by the student union but will still be allowed to operate on campus, said Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Student.” – Toronto Star
In the National Post story the Vice-President of the Federation of Students at York claims that cutting funding to anti-abortion groups is not a free-speech issue. She’s not even wrong. Anytime you inhibit ones ability to express their opinion it is a free-speech issue. Instead of cutting funding you should be out debating the topic in the marketplace of ideas.
Mind you, anti-abortion groups do have a history of spewing rhetoric and strawman-ing the shit out of pro-life arguments. Arguing pro-lifers is often like arguing creationists (from what I’ve seen): they just don’t play by the rules. Or better yet, it’s like playing chess with a pigeon; they knock all the pieces over, shit on the board, fly away, and claim victory. Now the pro-choicers have broken the rules, and it is not commendable. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Great Minds Think Alike
Friday, August 8th, 2008Damn it all to hell. The ever funny team over at www.cracked.com just posted an article entitled “5 Scientific Theories That Will Blow Your Mind” – a list which I was just about to start working on myself. Atleast it’s good. I wouldn’t have added evolution to that list. I wouldn’t consider it so mind-boggling as to make people’s heads explode
…but surely it opens minds.
Tags: cracked, scientific theories
Posted in Commentary, News | No Comments »