Can Christianity be rescued from the crazies? 17 Sep 2009 Asks Frankie Schaeffer, son of Francis J. Schaeffer, the famous evangelical leader who is in part responsible for this mess, in this excellent piece by Rachel Maddow. Schaeffer starts around 6 minutes, but the entire piece is worth watching. Can’t embed, for some reason. Politics Religion
General Science Crunchy goodness 20 Oct 2008 So, as many of my readers and all of my friends know, I am a moral vacuum. I routinely brush those earnest young folk aside who seek my signature on their morally worthy petitions with that statement – they usually stand there blinking. I mean, what do you do? Run… Read More
Evolution Sociobiology 5: What is at issue 22 Nov 200718 Sep 2017 So now, I think it’s worth asking what we really can achieve by doing sociobiological investigations, and some of the traps in previous attempts. Read More
Evolution Dawkins’ lecture in Phoenix 7 Mar 200818 Sep 2017 I (and apparently Jim Lippard) went to see Dawkins’ talk based on his The God Delusion, which I have critiqued before. I was impressed at the technique. It was definitely the very best Revivalist Sermon I have seen. I was not impressed by the content, nor by the fact that… Read More
You watch Rachel Maddow? Unlikely that MSNBC is on the Australian tube (don’t everyone start sending me messages about the intertubes). Anyway, I saw that and was very pleased to see someone on national TV calling the lunatics crazy. Over and over.
I love Maddow, so I watch her online when I can. Also, I have spoken about Frankie before, and he kindly sent me his book. Search for that post here or at the Scienceblogs incarnation.
Anyway, I saw that and was very pleased to see someone on national TV calling the lunatics crazy. Over and over. Indeed…very refreshing. Rather than tiptoeing around the subject and its supporters, that is what should be repeated every time someone from Fundieland raises another delusional claim. — Martin PS It seems as though T.O. is migrating to blogs. Even Sean Pitman M.D.
He did miss the answer to the question “Whatever possessed these people to ask if the interviewees thought that Obama was the anti-Christ?”. The correct answer is, naturally “The Devil”.
BTW, in case you were wondering, (a) I will be here all week (b) Tip the waiter (or at least buy his book) (c) Don’t try the veal. It’s bloody expensive.
Oh, that was delicious to see someone — especially someone coming from that side of the spectrum — telling it exactly like it is, with no waffling or compromise: these people are collectively the village idiot of America, and ought to be ignored and marginalized. Enjoyed every second of the smackdown. I’d be fascinated to see the reaction from the fundy right. Many will denounce him as a Traitor to the Cause. But I’ll bet there are also many not so brain-washed, who will take it as a whack upside the head, and forced to question the movement they find themselves in. To drop back into religious language: Scaeffer’s spiel there is prophetic, in the best sense of that word.
“You don’t change village life to suit the village idiot.” Ouch! If someone like Dawkins or PZ Meyers said that, you’d have everyone from Fred Phelps to the Archbishop of Canterbury demanding apologies and new laws to beat on atheists.
You may already know this, John, but you can get Rachel Maddow’s show (well, the individual clips) as an RSS feed, and if you are using Firefox, there is an add-on that, with Google Reader, at least (not sure about other readers), opens up the web page in the reader, itself, as opposed to another tab, allowing you to watch videos in the reader. The add-on also allows you to read and comment on blogs, or any other site, without opening new tabs.
Thanks Damian (are you the anti-Christ, by the way?), but I use Safari and NetNewsReader for RSS. Anyway, the “when I can” refers to my total lack of time…
I’ve never seen so much verbal upchuck attempting to refute the idea that no intellect gave rise to intellect. Your thinking is so mainstream it’s boring. You’re like cattle chewing the cud. Try stretching that mind beyond the end of your nose. Your God is your stomach.