Via Ed Yong on twitter, the blue roses I wrote about 2 years ago are soon to be available in the US. As Ed notes… no, they don’t look blue. But they do give me a chance to post one of my favorites–and you can try to remember where you saw it, when Halloween rolls around. After the jump:
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Our daughter’s getting married!
What a joyous, joyous day!
But we’re going to skip the wedding,
Cos you see, our daughter’s gay.
We love her more than life itself
And love her wife-to-be;
We’d never be judgmental, but
We simply can’t agree!
I mean no disrespect, of course,
I love her to the core—
It’s just that, when it comes to this,
I love religion more.
comments, after the jump:
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It’s the day the world changed
When we learned who we are,
And united in strength and in sorrow
When we opened our eyes
And the lessons we learned
We will never forget… till tomorrow.
The memorials are indeed moving, and even the Sunday comics section has brought tears to my eyes, but I can’t help but notice that “the lessons of 9/11” have an uncanny tendency to be “I was right”, no matter what political or social position “I” happened to hold on 9/10.
If you look at all the evidence
There’s only one conclusion:
A government conspiracy
And not just mass confusion.
The seeming contradictions are
Quite easy to condemn;
You say that they’re convincing? Why,
You must be one of them.
Podblack just sent me a link to a series of stories on Slate on 9/11 conspiracy theorists (“Truthers”). I find these people fascinating–I know a handful of them personally–and a wonderful example of belief perseverance in the wild. The linked story is quite unusual (but see below*) in that it reports, in part, on truthers who have come to doubt the consipiracies they have long supported.
More after the jump:
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I thought I saw an atheist, once, walking down the street.
I checked for horns, I checked for tail, I checked for cloven feet;
Began to tremble frightfully—my heart was in my throat—
Then sighed in happy recognition, for ‘twas but a goat.
I thought I saw an atheist, down near a swollen stream
With scaly skin, and blood so cold, I couldn’t breathe to scream!
I looked into his bulging eyes, and prayed “God, grant my wish”
Then laughed in my embarrassment—it only was a fish.
I thought I saw an atheist, with fur and pointed claws,
And wicked teeth for chewing up Judeo-Christian laws,
I ran, and tripped, and fell to earth, then hid behind a log—
It caught me, though, and licked my face—of course, it was a dog.
I thought I saw an atheist, though cleverly disguised
Not giant and reptilian, but human, normal sized,
It looked to be engaging in productive, useful labor;
But no, this was no atheist—this person was my neighbor!
I thought I saw an atheist; in fact, I saw a few!
My neighbor, and the grocer, and the cop, and maybe you!
I even found some in the church, right there beneath the steeple;
It turns out, to my great surprise… that atheists are people.
A few comments after the jump:
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If you’re looking for salvation, you don’t have to go to church
It’s the age of the computer, you can type it in and search
And you’ll find the words of Jesus from the comfort of your perch
Whether honest absolution, or you’d rather just pretend
Go to Facebook, and get Jesus as your friend
In a time of pain and trouble, one occasionally seeks
Words of comfort and support—the sort of thing that Jesus speaks
Wrapped in widdle kitty pictures! Hey, it’s marketing techniques
Cast your troubles to the internets, just close your eyes and “send”
Go to Facebook, and get Jesus as your friend
It’s a service to the people, and now millions daily try it
You would have to be a cynic to condemn it or deny it
And of course they’ll sell you supplements to help you with your diet
If you need someone to help you, and on whom you can depend
Go to Facebook, and get Jesus as your friend
It’s the minimum of effort; you can “like” Him with a click
He will comfort you in sorrow; maybe heal you if you’re sick
Or his answer might be “not today”—remember, that’s his schtick
It’s a saccharine collection of the worst stuff ever penned
But on Facebook, you’ve got Jesus as your friend
You are battling with cancer; you have bills you need to pay
You’ve been laid off at the factory; your spouse just ran away
There’s a list of looming problems, growing longer every day
Your relationships are rocky and your marriage at an end
But on Facebook, you’ve got Jesus as your friend
Thoughts, after the jump:
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Ed has a post up on the predictable online reactions to the new Atheist billboard in Grand Rapids. In the comments, there was a prediction of billboard vandalism, and the (surprising, to me at least) revelation that such “vandalism is actually pretty rare”. Count me among those who expects vandalism, but very willing to be proven wrong.
The story reminds me of a previous billboard campaign by an outgroup that had the temerity to remind us that they exist. Story below the jump:
The church that runs the boarding house where little girls are beaten
Finds the media attention rather odd
It exemplifies the problem with America today—
We put little children’s safety over God.
The republicans out courting votes, to energize their base
Call the global warming scientist a fraud
“We are taking back the country from the liberals, because
They trust scientific findings over God.”
A polygamist in prison, on a hunger strike for days
Thinks his trial was a ludicrous façade
And the problem with humanity is obvious to all
We’ve been following the law instead of God.
As I look through all the stories I see daily in the papers
I see we use our language rather oddly
To describe the sick behavior that religions may engender
We too often use the adjective “ungodly”
thoughts, after the jump:
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Wish me luck–except that wishing works as well as prayer
I guess it doesn’t matter much for you to say you care
So think the thoughts you want to think, and sit there on your asses
I’m much too rushed to care right now… I’m heading off to classes.
(Best of luck to my student, faculty, staff, and any who are in the midst of the semester ramp-up. For the rest of you, just have a great day. Or not; it’s not like I’m the boss of you.)
Apologies for the pun, but a bit of prose for you. The power was out, so I just collected some recent thoughts. They don’t rhyme, but I hope they reason.
How Do You Know? (bulk of essay after the jump)