Local man debunks evolution, sets sights on gravity next

In which local Californian paper Contra Costa Times prints this cogent and thorough debunking of Evolutionary Theory:

Evolution is a fantasy

Jayne Thomas, in her March 29 letter, "Evolution is not a 'viewpoint'," is right in insisting evolution isn't a viewpoint.

The fantasy, not theory, of evolution supposedly works by survival of the fittest. Fittest for what?
Fittest to survive? So evolution merely asserts that those who survive, survive.

My friend, God, nearly laughed his head off when he heard that one.

Raphael Sealey

Berkeley

To be fair, anyone who still has imaginary friends is probably going to believe some pretty dumb things, anyway.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Daily Blend: Tuesday, January 29, 2013

[full size (584×764)]

Good: Federal judge stops DEA’s attempt to seize a rural Massachusetts motel after a few guests there committed crimes without the motel owner’s knowledge. ^[pictured]
(via Uzza)

PZ Myers handily dismantles the tired anti-abortionist claim that science proves that personhood begins at conception.

Meanwhile, the anti-abortion fetal “heartbeat bill” makes it to Arkansas.

Creeping Creationism in Missouri.

Ray Comfort: Surgeons can’t reconstruct chimp attack victim’s face, ergo, Evolution is dummy-dumb-dumb.

I’m 96% humanist! Take that, 2009 Humanist of the Year PZ Myers and your paltry 90%!

And finally, here’s a bunch of Christians I could have a drink with (if I drank):
(via Joe. My. God.)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Pres. Barack Obama

The blogging vibe has forsaken me today, so here’s a quick link dump for y’all.

President Obama ^[pictured] enacts whistleblower protection law – then adds signing statement that he’ll ignore any protections that prevent him from targeting whistleblowers. You can’t make this shit up.

Creeping Creationism in Colorado.

Meanwhile, the ugly and pseudo-historical Creationist branch of racism contaminates Texas schools.

Oh, look, it’s a new report about the Catholic Church covering up clerical child abuse for Bill Donohue to splutter in denial about.
(via Friendly Atheist)

Today’s argument against banning assault rifles^*: There aren’t that many people being slaughtered by them, and besides, we already tried it once and it really didn’t work, so fuck it, amirite?
(via The Agitator)

Proof that there is an Intelligent Designer, and that it’s totally wasted.
(via @radleybalko)

And finally, random adorable photo time:
(via @EmergencyPuppy)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

* Because the linguistic pedant in me refuses to use the term “assault weapons”.

Daily Blend: Friday, November 30, 2012

Bill O’Reilly

Awesome: New law demands that all free public schools in England must teach proper Evolutionary Theory or lose government funding.
(via @BadAstronomer)

Today in less-than-good news: New international study shows Antarctic and Greenland ice is melting faster than ever, contributing to rising sea levels. Evidence so damning, even this Fox News talking head has stopped calling global warming a “conspiracy”.
(via @JFitzsimmons7)

And finally, yes, Bill O’Reilly ^[pictured] actually thinks that Christianity is not an “organized church”, but a “philosophy”. I’m not even touching that one.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

What “teaching the controversy” looks like in Louisiana

You know, with quality educative material like this …

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

Fact or Theory?

Man makes judgments about the evidence of fossils based on his beliefs. A man who believes God’s record of Creation and history will look at fossils in one way. A man who believes in evolution will view fossils in a different way.

When men write about fossils, especially fossils of dinosaurs, they usually will say things that show what they believe. Understanding what view a writer has is important. The Bible says that Christians should be discerning. That means that Christians should understand what is right and wrong.

In this activity, you will be given several books or articles to read. You must evaluate whether the writer is writing from an evolutionist viewpoint or Creationist viewpoint. Use the following chart to help you.

Creationist Viewpoint	Evolutionist Viewpoint
God crated the heavens and the earth.	Earth and space are a result of a sudden explosion.
The earth is thousands of years old.	The earth is millions of years old.
Fossils are probably a result of the great Flood recorded in the Bible.	Fossils show the great geologic ages of the earth.
God created all the kinds of animals in the beginning.	Different kinds of life have gradually evolved over long periods of time.
Man is God’s special creation. He is different from the animals because he is created in God’s image.	Man is the highest level of animal.

[34]

---

What the Bible Teaches Us

Dinosaurs were “discovered” in the early 1600s by an English scientist named Robert Plot. He found the bones of an animal that had clearly been huge. But long before Plot found these bones, the Bible talked about unusual animals that were very likely dinosaurs.

Evolutionists believe that dinosaurs and man never lived on the same earth at the same time. But the Bible says that God created all the land and sea animals during the fifth and sixth days of Creation. And He created man on the sixth day of Creation. So dinosaurs and man would have lived at the same time. God’s Word is always accurate. We can trust it to be true even in areas of science.

We also know that God spared some of the dinosaurs during the Flood. Genesis 7:15 says that “two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life” went into the ark. So after the Flood, some dinosaurs must have survived for a time.

In Job 40:15–19, the Lord talks about an animal that He called Behemoth (bih HEE muth). This large, grass-eating animal had a “tail like a cedar.” The animal also had […]

[48]

… I just cannot for the life of me figure out why some U.S. states fare so abysmally low that they’ve all but turned the country’s education system into an international joke.

Maybe it’s ’cause of all ’em elites I keep hearing about. Them and their godless, knowledge-y ways …

(via @RichardDawkins)

The Thinking Atheist visits Ken Ham’s Creation “Museum”

The always enlightening godless YouTuber Seth Andrews, better known as The Thinking Atheist, recently went on a tour of Kentucky’s notorious Creation “Museum”, that monument to religious delusion owned by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis. Below is a summary of the ten lessons he learned during his little escapade into Christian fundy-land:

Summary: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

Seth “The Thinking Atheist” Andrews goes on his first tour of Ken Ham’s “wretched hive of dumb and villainy”, the Creation Museum near Petersburg, Kentucky, on Friday, October 05, 2012. He first meets up with a few other skeptics from around the region who are also curious about the Museum. On their way over, Andrews disagrees that the Museum is a “literal interpretation of what Scripture says”, saying it’s rather a “literal interpretation of what Ken Ham says” and that there are other kinds of Biblical Creationists than Ham’s version of Young-Earth literalism.

LESSON ONE: Drop the coin.

There’s a coin funnel near the entrance that encourages visitors to “drop coins” and “watch the fun!”, which Andrews characterizes as “very telling”.

LESSON TWO: Kids love dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs (and other prehistoric beasts) are everywhere at the Creation Museum as skeletons, statues, animatronics and photo ops.

LESSON THREE: Dinosaurs love kids!

According to the Museum, dinosaurs – including carnivores like raptors – “coexisted with human beings” in the Garden of Eden “like pets or companions”. (A carnivorous dinosaur is depicted as grazing through vegetation.) The further they advance through the Museum, the more they see everything seems designed to appeal to children and “mold the[ir] minds”, and the message presented throughout is crystal clear:

LESSON FOUR: God is under attack!

Andrews wonders why an omnipotent and all-powerful God would be concerned about any human “attack”, but the Creation Museum folks seemed “pretty alarmed about it”. The Museum blames this on modern scientists who advance claims and theories that contradict the Bible, pitting “Man’s Word” against “God’s Word”, which disagrees with the notion of evolution and an old Earth and Universe. Instead:

LESSON FIVE: Humans descended from a dirt-man and rib-woman about 6,000 years ago.

Once upon a time, Adam and Eve enjoyed the beautiful Garden of Eden along with lambs, penguins and vegetarian dinosaurs. All was well, until …

LESSON SIX: Don’t listen to the snake!

Adam and Eve “angered God” when they fell victim to the Serpent’s temptation and ate the Forbidden Fruit, at which point they were evicted from Paradise and “the whole world went to shit”. Because:

LESSON SEVEN: When you disobey God, the whole world goes to shit.

Adam & Eve’s “single act of rebellion, thousands of years ago, is the reason we have starving children, predatory animals and wars, pain and crime and death the Nazis”. A&E’s sin even “destroyed the vegetarian diet”, even amongst the animals (and dinosaurs). In addition, adding to the “mountain of self-inflicted Cosmic Pain”, A&E’s sin is also responsible for:

LESSON EIGHT: Original Sin created weeds!

Then again, the global infestation of both weeds and humans “shouldn’t be a problem for us”, as …

LESSON NINE: God’s plan involved incest.

A sign reads: “Genesis 5:4 teaches that Adam and Eve had sons and daughters. So, originally, brothers had to marry sisters,” and, “All humans are related. So whenever someone gets married, they marry their relative.” Unfortunately, the evil of humankind would eventually boil over into the Global Flood. The Creation Museum spends a lot of time teaching visitors about Noah’s Ark, from how it was built to how the fossil record supposedly “proves” the Flood happened, along with showing how the stalls inside the Ark were maintained (showing more dinosaurs aboard the Ark). Everyone was invited to put together God’s plan to wipe out the vast majority of life on Earth “like a puzzle”.

LESSON TEN: Everything is our fault.

One recurring theme – “outside of how evil the teachings of Evolution are” – is that “God’s Word [is] never to be questioned, ever”. The phrase “God’s Word” is everywhere in the Museum, demanding trust and obedience, whilst discouraging visitors from relying on “Human Reason”, as our minds are “merely a conduit for misinformation” and “thinking for ourselves is what caused all of our troubles to begin with”.

Andrews summarizes his experience at the Creation Museum as “jarring”. He is sickened by how the “thousands of impressionable, insulated children brought there by religious parents” get brainwashed, and he’s angry that the Museum presents its deluded nonsense as “legitimate science”. The other skeptics are of the same mind, decrying how the Museum is so slick and well-made that it seems to hide the “terrible story” that festers within. They are similarly outraged at how many young children were running around inside the Museum, excited by all the dinosaurs and flashy visuals, possibly being led to believe the garbage information they were being fed was truth. They expressed their worries about what the existence of such a house of lies could mean for the future of scientific ability in the United States.

Ultimately, Andrews labels the Creation Museum a “slick, fanciful, high-dollar guilt trip” and “a church decorated with dinosaurs”. If he had been the one to name “this particular Kentucky attraction”, he would’ve called it “Jurassic Lark”.

Essentially, his visit reaffirms what every rational being already knows: Ken Ham’s pseudo-scientific farce is no more than a disgrace to human reason doubling as a trap for impressionable children who go there for all the pretty dinosaurs and leave with minds filled with bullshit. “Jurassic Lark”, indeed.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Daily Blend: Saturday, October 06, 2012

Simon Singh

Another bunch of quacks opt for legal thuggery to try and silence debunker Simon Singh ^[pictured]. Let’s hope that libel reform holds up?

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA): “[E]volution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory […] is lies straight from the pit of Hell.” Phil Plait: Get the f@¢k off the House Science Committee.

And finally, Wonkette live-blogs the Jon Stewart vs. Bill O’Reilly “Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium” debate that I can’t see and that had better be released on video soon after it’s over, dangit.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Bryan Fischer is clueless about evolution. Movie at 11

Here’s how the American Family Association’s Crank-in-Chief Bryan Fischer responds to new findings that a large number of intellectual disabilities may be due to random genetic mutations rather than inheritance:

Random gene mutations cause of many mental disabilities. Thot random mutations were key to evolution! fxn.ws/PqJySV

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) September 27, 2012

The minimally educated observer may note both the crank’s characteristic knack for using a tangentially related topic as a sloppy attack on a subject they don’t like, and also, said crank’s remarkably brazen display of scientific illiteracy.

The reality (something Fischer would never be caught dead living in) is that mutations can be good or bad in terms of how they affect one’s chances for long-term survival and reproduction. Mutations that increase an individual’s physical or psychological abilities are thus more likely to be passed on to future generations, whilst mutations that impair an individual physically or psychologically are less so. Evolution is unable to give a damn about which of these genomic changes end up helping or harming a given population; it’s a blind, directionless, stochastic process that’s driven by the laws of nature.

But, of course, cognitive shrimps like Fischer are unable to grasp such nuanced and complicamated principles, regardless of how fundamental to science and even life itself they may be.

Tags: Bryan Fischer • gene mutation • mental disabilities

Daily Blend: Friday, August 31, 2012

Clint Eastwood

Ten-year-old Maine babysitting girl and her mother charged with manslaughter over baby’s accidental death.
(via @thedailybeast; RT: @radleybalko)

Wonkette presents the best summary of the Clint-Eastwood-berates-an-empty-chair ^[pictured] spectacle. I still love him and his movies, dammit.

And finally, it seems that Ray Comfort is running out of ways to deliver his “Darwinism leads to Hell!” mulch.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway • Nicole Greenaway • manslaughter • Clint Eastwood • Republican National Convention • Barack Obama • Republicans • Mitt Romney • Ray Comfort • Theory of Evolution • Charles Darwin • Darwinism • Hell • Christianity

Daily Blend: Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Daniel Tosh

Phew! How’s that for a day of blogging? Now, if only the Internet would send me this many interesting stories every day … (On second thought, please don’t, Internet. I’d surely die.)

Survey: 5-10% of Canadians are LGBT. (You can count on the 18-34 age group being the most accurate, given the increasingly accepting climate they grew up in.)
(via Joe. My. God.)

“Comedian” Daniel Tosh ^[pictured] goes from terminally unfunny to straight-up asshole. (He has since apologized on Twitter.)

The Oatmeal’s final message to Charles Carreon.
(via @radleybalko)

Obama administration lays out rules for proper accommodations for temporary agricultural workers. Conservatives wingnuts: “Nanny State”!!!

Vox Day: Richard Dawkins criticized fellow evolutionary scientist over notoriously poor research, ergo, he’s a “deeply unpleasant individual”, and academic disagreement on a single detail means the entire Theory shouldn’t be taught in schools.

This totally unbiased, super-credible, WorldNetDaily-promoted Daily Caller report claims that 83% of U.S. doctors might quit over ObamaCare.
(via Joe. My. God.)

I spy with my little eye a new xkcd Q&A project! Go check it out. (It includes nuclear baseball.)

“I was raised to believe in god and now someone says they don’t believe in god so I don’t like it.”

And finally, PZ Myers posts his own (first-ever) vlog about the FtB/Thunderf00t kerfuffle:

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Canada • homosexuality • Forum Research • National Post • Daniel Tosh • rape jokes • rape • The Oatmeal • Matthew Inman • Charles Carreon • FunnyJunk • Obama administration • Barack Obama • Human Events • U.S. Department of Labor • Diane Katz • Heritage Foundation • conservatives • wingnuts • Theodore Beale • Vox Day • Richard Dawkins • E.O. Wilson • Theory of Evolution • group selection • ObamaCare • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act • WorldNetDaily • WND • The Daily Caller • Doctor Patient Medical Association • DPMA • what if? • xkcd • baseball • speed of light • relativity • Omaha, NE • Omaha Coalition of Reason • atheist billboards • Emlyn Forsuh • PZ Myers • Thunderf00t • misogyny • Freethought Blogs • freethought

Daily Blend: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Tennessee’s notorious anti-science education bill officially becomes law.

Nutball Rep. Allen West ^[pictured] (R-FL): 80 Congressional Democrats are secret Commies! And also, President Obama is afraid of me.
(via Joe. My. God.)

National Review Online continues to clean house. Good on them, or shame for hiring overt bigots in the first place?

Gawker hires a Fox News Channel mole. Definitely keeping my eye on this.

It’s official: The Simpsons (sorta) live in Springfield, Oregon. Not sure how complimentary this is.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Tennessee • monkey bill • Bill Haslam • science education • SB 893 • HB 368 • Allen West • Democrats • Congress • Congressional Progressive Caucus • Communism • Communists • Communist Party • Barack Obama • wingnuts • National Review • National Review Online • NRO • Rich Lowry • Robert Weissberg • White Nationalism • wingnuts • Gawker • Fox News • Fox News Channel • The Fox Mole • The Simpsons • Springfield • Springfield, OR • Matt Groening

Tennessee Senate passes anti-science education bill

Redux

Tennessee apparently hasn’t learned its lesson from its landmark 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial – and what’s more, it’s now extending the same ignorance-based approach to education that led them to that crushing courtroom defeat in the first place to other scientific domains as well:

The Tennessee state Senate passed a bill Monday that protects teachers who allow student to question and criticize "controversial" scientific theories like evolution.

The Senate voted 24-8 for SB 893, which would allow teachers to help students "understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" like "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning."

"The idea behind this bill is that students should be encouraged to challenge current scientific thought and theory," Republican state Sen. Bo Watson told The Tennesseean. Watson is the bill's sponsor.

The proposal also instructs teachers on how to comfortably and appropriately "address students' concerns about certain scientific theories" within a curriculum established by the Board of Education. The bill would not affect the state's science curriculum.

Sneaky as ever. See, they’re not changing or corrupting science education in schools; they’re just allowing kids to ask questions about myths and rank pseudoscience … and encouraging teachers to answer with lies. But the curriculum itself is totally safe!

If so, then how come …

The National Association of Biology Teachers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the American Institute for Biological Sciences, the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Nashville Tennessean, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the National Earth Science Teachers Association, the Tennessee Science Teachers Association, and all eight Tennessee members of the National Academy of Sciences

… are all against this bill? Gee, maybe it wouldn’t preserve the integrity of science classrooms after all.

The bill now heads to Gov. Bil Haslam (R) for an almost-certain signature. Thank god for those liberal activist judges who will (even more certainly) slap this silly law down the first chance they get. It seems somewhat upsetting to me that people should rely on the criminal justice system to know better about what should be taught as proper science than the lawmakers elected to make those very decisions in the first place.

Coincidentally, new research is in: Global warming is still real and temperatures are still rising. One wonders what Tennessee teachers will have to say about it once SB 893 hits the rulebook.

(via @radleybalko)

Tags: SB 893 • HB 368 • Tennessee • Tennessee Senate • Bo Watson • Monkey Bill • teach the controversy

Poll: AL & MS Republicans clueless about Obama & science

Public Policy Polling reveals the sad state of affairs in the empty minds of the Party of D’oh in more regressive parts of the U.S. [first link changed for convenience]:

PPP asks Republicans in Alabama, "Do you think Barack Obama is a Christian or a Muslim, or are you not sure?" Guess how many say Christian? 14%! Among the remaining 86%, "Muslim" slightly leads "not sure," 45%-41%. ("Not sure" may by the demographic Rick Santorum is reaching out to when he accuses Obama of peddling a "phony theology.")

But the Alabama Republicans are a thoroughly trusting lot in comparison with their Mississippi brethren. Among Mississippi Republicans, just 12% say Christian, 52% say Muslim, and 36% aren't sure.

The poll also finds that two-thirds of the Republicans in both states do not believe in evolution. Two-thirds of Alabama Republicans also believe interracial marriage ought to be legal, compared with 54% of Mississippi Republicans. Progress!

It appears that we need a variant of crank magnetism for generalized pig-ignorance. (Then again, we do have the term “Republican”.)

(via @michelleinbklyn)

Tags: Public Policy Polling • Alabama • Mississippi • Barack Obama • interracial marriage

Creationist legislators trumped by Evolution-savvy students

A few morsels of Creationism-related news today, and the outlook is brighter than it might have been. Firstly, it looks like Indiana’s multi-Creation-myths bill, which was already encountering political and legal resistance in the State House after passing the Senate, has effectively been killed, at least for the time being:

A bill that would have specifically allowed Indiana's public schools to teach creationism alongside evolution in science classes has been shelved by the leader of the Indiana House of Representatives.

The proposal cleared the state Senate two weeks ago, but Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma is using a procedural move to kill the proposal for this legislative session.

“It seemed to me not to be a productive discussion, particularly in light that there is a United States Supreme Court case that appears to be on point that very similar language is counter to the constitution,” Bosma said Tuesday. “It looked to me to be buying a lawsuit when the state can ill afford it.”

The bill approved by the state Senate would have permitted local school districts to teach creationism as long as the curriculum also incorporated origin-of-life theories from multiple religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology.

Congratulations to Rep. Bosma for recognizing that “teach ALL the Creationisms!” is not a valid response to fears of violating the Establishment Clause, contra what a number of his fellow Republican seem to believe.

Rep. Jerry Bergevin (R-NH)

Unfortunately, the former apparently applies to lawmakers in New Hampshire, who now seem to think the time is ripe for pushing religious fables as science curriculum in their own state:

To state Rep. Jerry Bergevin, the horrors of the Columbine school shooting and the atrocities of Nazi Germany are linked by the theory of evolution, and that's all the evidence he needs to see that New Hampshire's children shouldn't be taught that it's correct.

Bergevin, a Republican from Manchester serving his first term, introduced one of two bills that will be before the Legislature next year addressing evolution, the first in the state since the late 1990s.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Laurie Higgins

Housekeeping: I added a new myth (A18: “Atheists/Evolutionists believe in social Darwinism”) and also cleaned up the hundreds of excess post labels that I never use anymore. (Some older posts may be oddly or even non-tagged as a result.)

Disgustingly predictable: Illinois Family Institute’s head bigot Laurie Higgins ^[pictured] manages to twist the heartbreaking Rolling Stone exposé on gay teen suicides into an attack on those poor, maligned homophobic conservatives.

Excellent: Animal rights extremist Camille Marino finally faces some sort of comeuppance.

CONT’D: Part 2 of Radley Balko’s series on the war over prescription painkillers. (Part 1)
(via The Agitator)

Media Matters debunks Right-wing lies about electric cars.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: atheists • evolutionists • social Darwinism • Laurie Higgins • Illinois Family Institute • Sabrina Rubin Erdely • Rolling Stone • Anoka, MN • Camille Marino • Negotiation Is Over! • Donal O'Leary • painkillers • opioids • CDC • DEA • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • Drug Enforcement Administration • electric cars • right-wing media • conservatives • Media Matters • Media Matters for America • MMfA

Indiana Senate committee passes Creationist education bill

Sen. Scott Schneider (R-IN)

Someone might want to point out to Creationist legislators in the Indiana Senate that they’ve just about to vote themselves into losing a major lawsuit:

An Indiana Senate committee on Wednesday endorsed teaching creationism in public schools, despite pleas from scientists and religious leaders to keep religion out of science classrooms.

Senate Bill 89 allows school corporations to authorize "the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life" and specifically mentions "creation science" as one such theory.

State Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, who voted for the measure, said if there are many theories about life's origins, students should be taught all of them.

But John Staver, professor of chemistry and science education at Purdue University, said evolution is the only theory of life that relies on empirical evidence from scientific investigations.

"Creation science is not science," Staver said. "It is unquestionably a statement of a specific religion."

The Rev. Charles Allen, head of Grace Unlimited, an Indianapolis campus ministry, said students would be served better by teaching religion comparatively, rather than trying to "smuggle it in" to a science course.

The Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee nevertheless voted 8-2 to send the legislation to the full Senate.

What does it say about your capacity as a lawmaker, particularly one in a senate committee devoted to education policy, when both scientists and even ministers are telling you you’ve got your head up your posterior?

(via Blag Hag)

Tags: SB 89 • Scott Schneider • Charles Allen • Grace Unlimited • Indiana Senate Education Committee • Creationism

Daily Blend: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Sen. Beth Moura (R-RI)

Let’s hope today becomes known as The Day That Both the Internet and SOPA Died^TM.

• Lawsuit: CT Muslim college student reports sexual harassment, gets reported for terrorism by harasser and expelled.

• Another Rhode Island politician, Sen. Beth Moura (R) ^[pictured], feels the need to insult Jessica Ahlquist for upholding the law better than politicians do.

• Finally, a Christian-Rightist links both evolution and abortion to the Holocaust simultaneously.
  (via Right Wing Watch)

• “Life cannot be meaningless so long as we have the capacity to affect the well-being of ourselves and others. For true meaninglessness, we would need heaven.”
  (via RichardDawkins.net)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Balayla Ahmad • University of Bridgeport • sexual harassment • Beth Moura • Jessica Ahlquist • American Civil Liberties Union • ACLU • Bert Dorenbos • Nazis • Paula Kirby • atheists • afterlife • Heaven • Christianity

Adopt an Atheist: Stan Johnson – Round 1

I’ll admit, I had little expectations when I put myself up for Christian adoption two weeks back in response to Bill Donohue’s “adopt an atheist” initiative. But lo and behold, I’ve received a challenge!

Taker: Stan Johnson (Protestant Christian)

Rules —

• The format is a free exchange (no jury or “winners”/“losers”).
• Each round starts with Stan’s argument(s) (A = Argument)) and concludes with my counter-argument(s) (R = Rebuttal).
• Subject matter is limited to arguments of logic and evidence to support the existence of God(s) and/or the validity of Christianity.
• Any other topics or tangents may be ignored.
• Any and all rhetoric, tactics and content is acceptable, so long as all participants adhere to the blog rules.
• Arguments can be as many and lengthy as desired (though conciseness is appreciated).
• Participants may choose to ignore any argument(s) that they feel have been sufficiently addressed (as to avoid beating a dead horse).
• Rounds will continue indefinitely until any participant(s) choose(s) to end the debate for any reason.

Note: Challengers’ arguments may be paraphrased/edited for clarity/formatting reasons.

---

ARGUMENT(S): Stan Johnson

A1: The natural world (specifically the biology of organisms) doesn’t seem random, and instead appears to have been designed. This is a thought even shared by some very well known atheists. Richard Dawkins in his book The Blind Watchmaker even said "Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose." Yet, non like Christians, who follow the implications of what they study (in this case that it is designed), atheists throw out the notion because it doesn't follow their worldview. Francis Crick was once cited as saying "Biologists must constantly keep in mind what they see was not designed, rather evolved."

A2: The Earth has to have been designed because it doesn't make sense for the earth to be able to exist unless there was a plan going into making it. The earth would have destroyed itself as soon as one minute thing was off. Also, a lot of things would happen at the same time because there are instances where one thing could not happen before or after other events for it to have come into being.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Proof that abstinence-only works, or something [full size (400×336)]

• Off-duty California police lieutenant causes traffic accident. Cop gives her a ticket. Police captain cancels it “in the interest of justice”.
  (via The Agitator)

• World Meteorological Organization: 2011 was 10^th hottest year on record. But, of course, they’re all conspiratorial Big Climate shills and whatever, amirite?
  (via @MichaelEMann)

• Arkansas schools promoting bullshit-based abstinence-only sex ed. Guess they really like those high teen pregnancy rates ^[pictured].

• Prominent Creationists lie and cheat to make money. Movie at 11.

• Meanwhile, other Creationists are sexist assclowns. “[G]als” and “show mares”? Fucking seriously?

• Kentucky’s Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church bans interracial couples “to promote greater unity”. ’Cause what spells togetherness like racist discrimination?

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Concord, CA • Robin Heinemann • Ron Bruckert • David Downing • World Meteorological Organization • WMO • climate change • global warming • 2011 • Arkansas • abstinence-only • sex ed • The Real Deal • teen pregnancy • Creationists • Eric Hovind • Sye Ten Bruggencate • God Quest, Inc. • Uncommon Descent • women • misogyny • Tom Bethell • Pike County, KY • Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church • interracial marriage • racism

‘NOVA’ Dover trial documentary now on YouTube

Here’s a great watch for anyone interested in the Evolution/Creationism(ID) battle and the legal history and ramifications of it all: The fantastic NOVA episode on the landmark 2004 Dover trial, which cemented the facts that Intelligent Design is A) not science, B) a clumsy repackaging of Creationism, and thus C) illegal to teach in public science classrooms, is now available in full on YouTube. It’s a must-see, particularly as it beautifully exposes those sneaky Creationists for what they are. (Watch it before sniveling god-bots inevitably get the video yanked.)

The full thing, below:

As a sidebar, isn’t it odd how Creationism/ID proponents criticize Evolution for being “just a theory” – and then present their own replacement as being another scientific theory? It’s almost as if they didn’t have any real consistent definition or standing on the issue.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Tags: Kitzmiller v. Dover School District • Dover trial • Creationists