But it’s the only good song on the whole CD!

It’s almost Thanksgiving, and you know what that means: the deluge of Christmas carols is about to commence. This is the time of year when I dread turning the radio on, because I know I’ll hear the same sets of songs over and over again, and the kind of uniform anti-eclecticism characteristic of Top 40 AM radio gets amplified and expanded and starts to spread everywhere. I’m always pleased to see something new, especially since it doesn’t happen very often…Lennon’s Happy Christmas (War is Over), Minchin’s White Wine in the Sun?

Some people get cranky about anything that isn’t sufficiently antiquated or sufficiently reverent, though. Now some people are freaking out over the inclusion of a song they don’t like.

A Christmas CD aiming to raise funds for a Christian charity has been slammed for featuring an anti-Christian song.

Faith and family groups have labelled the song, which includes the lyrics “I get freaked out by churches,” and “I’m not expecting a visit from Jesus”, as “disrespectful” and a “sick joke”.

But the executive producer of Myer’s annual star-studded Spirit of Christmas CD has defended his decision to include the song, White Wine in the Sun.

The song, written by atheist entertainer Tim Minchin, features alongside traditional Christmas carols such as Joy to the World and Little Drummer Boy.

I don’t know. I’m offended by both of those traditional Christmas carols — should I scream at WalMart and demand they be pulled from the store? Or, maybe, I should just look at the CDs and buy the ones with music I like, and understand that other people might want to buy Elmo & Patsy’s Grandma Got RunOver by a Reindeer on the Country Christmas CD.

Minchin’s song is quite nice. Here it is, if you hadn’t heard it before:

There is one thing in this story I find objectionable.

Profits from CD sales go to The Salvation Army.

Uh, what? Tim Minchin’s work is now being used to prop up a notoriously anti-gay organization? That sounds wrong.

Student biologists blogging some more

You all want to know what is going on in the minds of my students, right? Here you go.

A notable lack of tentacles, firearms, and razor-edged weaponry

At last, I am safely home after an excessively long and annoying trip back from Skepticon. One of the pleasures of these trips, at least, is meeting ferocious Pharyngulistas who are otherwise just fierce pseudonyms on a page, and who usually turn out to be fun and interesting human beings. Here’s one nice photo of some familiar people:

i-df9328d02b06c9fb76ac9bc30d25bca1-thegangatskepticon.jpeg

From left to right, that’s:
Mattir, Tone of Death
cicely, Death’s Imaginary Friend
Reality Enforcer, Spawn of Death
The Floating Cheerful Head of PZ
Blake Stacey
KOPD, Death’s Chia Pet supplier
Jules, Bride of Death
Rey Fox, He who has nothing to do with Death

Now it’s almost noon here, and I’ve got a frantic quantity of work to catch up on, and a whole long evening of administrative duties.

Would you believe I’m still trying to get home?

It was a rough night—roads in Minneapolis were clear, so I managed to drive halfway home, but then they turned into glassy sheets of frozen slickness, so I stopped for the late night at a cheap motel. Now the journey resumes by daylight, at least. It’s still icy, but at least I’ll be able to see.

I’m relieved that there will be no more travel this semester.

This’ll settle the current atheist/skeptic argument: a poll!

The current silly Skepticon controversy is easily resolved: just vote on it.

How much of a so-called skeptic convention can be about religion?

None 0% (0 votes)

No more than 25% 0% (0 votes)

No more than 50% 0% (0 votes)

Just so long as it isn’t all of it 25% (3 votes)

All of it, why not? 75% (9 votes)

Nicely done. There’s only one choice that isn’t arbitrary and incoherent and unjustifiable; I’d like to see the complainers confront the specific details of their position.

Oh, and by the way, I haven’t escaped Missouri yet — I’m stuck in an airport, waiting to fly out, and facing the prospect of some fierce, nasty, icy weather in Minnesota. I might be holing up in a hotel waiting for the snow and ice to clear tonight.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Let’s see…where am I? Oh, yeah. Springfield. Skepticon. My talk went OK, it was an all-science talk, and maybe disappointed those who expected me to lasso a god out of the sky, set him on fire, and stomp on his smoldering carcass. Afterwards, the party went on for quite a while. I was supposed to referee a drinking contest between Rebecca Watson and Richard Carrier, but they both faded pathetically early, forcing me to continue on for both of them.

No sleep for me. I ended up shooting the breeze all night long with DJ Grothe and Amanda Marcotte and Bug Girl and a few others.

Now I’ve got a long day of travel ahead. I expect to simply sleep through it all.