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
Accommodationism Why do believers believe silly things? The function of denialism 26 Jan 201420 Feb 2014 Bishop Butler wrote in a sermon in 1729: Things and actions are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be: why, then, should we desire to be deceived? [Sermon 7] It’s an interesting question. Why should we seek to be deceived about the consequences… Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design Does science lead to atheism? Not really 2 Jul 2009 Occasionally one’s sole impact on things is the ability to get other people to do good work by threatening to do it badly. I was set to do a review of survey’s on scientists and religious belief, but the literature got out of hand rather quickly, so I emailed Matt… Read More
Freedom Look over here – “terrorism” 13 Jun 2017 The notion of terrorism is not well-defined.There are over 150 legal definitions in the US and more in international law. Here is the UN’s definition: Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance… 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.