The scientist in the white coat

I am genuinely amused at this caricature of scientists from a creationist site. How many of you believed these things?

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  • Everyone is biased. Scientists just happen to be biased in favor of reality, and have a set of tools that help them overcome predispositions that might lead them into error (Non-scientists have the same tools. Creationists just prefer not to use them.)

  • Again, they try to be objective.

  • Hah! Anyone who has done any science at all knows that a good part of the process is spent winnowing out sources of error.

  • He wears a…wait, what? In a list containing such grand and unattainable virtues as lack of bias, objectivity, and infallibility, this joker throws in choice of attire? Something doesn’t fit here.

    Need I add that the title is about “the scientist in the white coat,” so by definition he or she would be wearing a white coat?

Now watch as our creationist tries to correct these myths:

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Jack Chick explains the cracker

Did you know the Catholic church was established by Satan? You would if you read Chick comics. We also get the communion ritual explained for us.

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You know what will happen if he doesn’t. He will burn in hell for all eternity!

I do rather like the idea of an itty-bitty Jesus taking a dive off a cloud to land in a cracker, though. Wham!

Poor Casey

Casey Luskin once again complains about the fact that the propagators of intelligent design creationism are not regarded kindly, and in fact, are frequently disparaged. He takes it very personally, even.

On a personal note, I am familiar with these kinds of attacks. In one single forum at Antievolution.org, created and owned by a former National Center for Science Education staff member, I have been called no less than “Bizarre ignoramus,” “retarded,” “suck-up,” “Pathetic Loser,” “attack mouse, gerbil, rat, or clockwork powered plush toy,” “an orc,” “Annoying,” “a miserable loser with no life,” “an idiot,” “dishonest,” “ignorant cheap poxied floozie,” “fanatic and lunatic,” “A proven liar,” “incompetent,” and many other far more colorful attacks which are probably best left unprinted here on Evolution News and Views.

Well, Casey, I will concede this: I don’t think you’re retarded at all. The rest…heh. Those are pretty darned accurate, especially “incompetent”. You might want to consider that when someone like you, who knows nothing at all about biology, stands up and makes ignorant comments about the subject and sends them out as press releases all over the country, you’re going to get noticed, and you are going to get assessed. And, Casey, I’m sorry to say — you fail.

I’ll note that I also stand up and say what I think (with rather better qualifications as a biologist than you), and I also get a lot of flak, including many exceptionally insulting characterizations from your side of the fence. Here’s another difference between us, though: I don’t keep a running tally of all the names, adjectives, and adverbs applied to me.

So, what have you got? A great big Oracle database with urls and citations and photographs and addresses, tracking everyone who insults you? It would have to consume a substantial chunk of the resources of the Discovery Institute to store them all.

I get email

The outraged email from creationist fans of Ken Ham and the Creation “Museum” continues apace. Most of it is forgettable and repetitive — I’m usually accused of being against free speech, as if I had somehow barred the doors of that temple of foolishness in Kentucky, or had personally gagged Ken Ham — but this one stands out for it’s opening insult. I am deeply offended. But then I read further, and it seems this poor man is simply incoherent and deeply confused, instead.

Mr. Myers,

I understand that you are creationist – that loves God and real authentic science….right!

Since you so love to spend your time tearing others down (like a coward – that can’t handle an open and honest discussion) – so you can exult yourself as God. I am sure God has a special plan in store for you. You can’t ignore the truth Mr. Myers & most people are not fooling enough to take your DOGMA as “gospel”. You are following right after the Devil himself. I can’t believe that you are so AFRAID to allow others to hear an open and honest debate.

Your type of thinking is exactly the stuff that Adolf Hitler is made of. I hope that end up in better place than him – because he is going to be burning in Hell forever, and ever, and ever.

BTW — Don’t be surprised if you have a lot of challenges ahead of you. You are messing with the Lord God Almighty.

Kind Regards,

<Name deleted to protect the ignorant>

They crack me up every time when they accuse me of being just like Hitler, and then close with some cliched farewell, like “Kind Regards”.

I think that metaphor is a bit stretched

So a wingnut gets a cartoonish version of religious history:

Ritualistic Baal worship, in sum, looked a little like this: Adults would gather around the altar of Baal. Infants would then be burned alive as a sacrificial offering to the deity. Amid horrific screams and the stench of charred human flesh, congregants – men and women alike – would engage in bisexual orgies. The ritual of convenience was intended to produce economic prosperity by prompting Baal to bring rain for the fertility of “mother earth.”

And what do you think that reminds him of? I think I’m wrong: he’s not making a metaphor, he’s saying that modern-day liberals are the direct descendant of Baal worshippers.

Modern liberalism deviates little from its ancient predecessor. While its macabre rituals have been sanitized with flowery and euphemistic terms of art, its core tenets and practices remain eerily similar. The worship of “fertility” has been replaced with worship of “reproductive freedom” or “choice.” Child sacrifice via burnt offering has been updated, ever so slightly, to become child sacrifice by way of abortion. The ritualistic promotion, practice and celebration of both heterosexual and homosexual immorality and promiscuity have been carefully whitewashed – yet wholeheartedly embraced – by the cults of radical feminism, militant “gay rights” and “comprehensive sex education.” And, the pantheistic worship of “mother earth” has been substituted – in name only – for radical environmentalism.

Well, I think modern conservatism is descended from ritual cannibalism, so there.

Jack Chick on Santa

Lack of self-awareness is a tragic disease running rampant in the fundagelical community. Here’s an amusing instance: what happens if you tell children about Santa, and then they find out the truth? Why, they go on a terrorist rampage of murder and mayhem, of course.

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Right. I’m sure you all remember that day when you discovered Santa Claus was just-pretend, maybe when you were 4 or 5, and you right away ran out and burned down the pre-school and strangled the cat. Funny, isn’t it, how everyone reading this figured out that Santa isn’t real and managed to survive the trauma without committing any felonies.

Not this poor kid, though. Look how he ends up.

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Guess what? I bet Osama bin Ladin doesn’t believe in Santa Claus either.

Alas, this Chick comic has a very muddled message. It seems to be that you shouldn’t teach kids to believe in fairy tales, because they’ll be disappointed when they find out the truth…but somehow, he thinks the fairy tale of Jesus is different.

Jingo bells

Oh, no — more hysteria over Christmas from Bill O’Reilly, joined now by Gretchen Carlson, the blinkered bigot host of some other Fox program. The dialog is hilariously stupid.

Billo blows it early, claiming that Christmas marks “the birth of Jesus Christ, which is what the holiday is based on”, which is simply not true. Midwinter festivals have a long history predating Christianity, and Christianity simply coopted this one, right down to the date and many of the pagan traditions that go with it. The name is taken from Christianity, but so what?

Then the two begin a duet of historical revisionism. Carlson is upset because public spaces contain a multitude of different displays, and she complains that her children won’t be able to see “the thing I was able to see growing up”, which seems to be a complete lack of diversity — the only displays she remembers seeing as a child were entirely Christian, and to her this is a good thing.

Billo claims “there was no controversy over Christmas … everybody said Merry Christmas”, again as if this were a good thing, and completely ignoring that this controversy is one he invented. Yes, people said “Merry Christmas”, and they also said “Happy Holidays”…and we still do. Even atheists.

I like Carlson’s next suggestion, made while completely oblivious to what she is saying: “People can have their right to free speech, just don’t pick December 25th to do it”. Right. You can speak freely, except on 25 December, and, ummm, the days around Christmas, which nowadays spans the period from shortly before Halloween to sometime around New Year’s Day. And Easter is off limits, too. And St Crispin’s Day. And Shrove Tuesday. And Pentecost Sunday. Oh, and the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus…

Oh, OK — you get 3 hours of free speech on the second Tuesday in July, at 2am, as long as you don’t say it anywhere outside of your house. And only if you have a house — no poor people.

Billo makes a prediction: “They’re going to try to revoke the federal holiday … you can’t have a federal holiday based on religion”. The first part is wrong, the second part is right. You can’t have the state endorsing a religious holiday. However, atheists aren’t at all interested in revoking our midwinter holiday, and I haven’t heard of anyone lobbying to get the day off the calendar. We also have a clear-cut court decision from the federal judicial system, Ganulin v. United States. O’Reilly is going to be pained to learn this, but legally, he isn’t getting Christmas off because he’s a Christian. It’s a secular holiday in the US.

Courts have repeatedly recognized that the Christmas holiday has become largely secularized. …By giving federal employees a paid vacation day on Christmas, the government is doing no more than recognizing the cultural significance of the holiday.

Maybe they’re protecting us from the threat of the Grinch

In these times of economic crisis, war, and uncertainty, it is reassurring to know that our diligent representatives are hard at work in congress to make the country a better place.

Behold, House Resolution 847.

H. Res. 847
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
December 11, 2007.
Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world;
Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population;
Whereas there are approximately 2,000,000,000 Christians throughout the world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world and the religion of about one-third of the world population;
Whereas Christians and Christianity have contributed greatly to the development of western civilization;
Whereas the United States, being founded as a constitutional republic in the traditions of western civilization, finds much in its history that points observers back to its Judeo-Christian roots;
Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ;
Whereas for Christians, Christmas is celebrated as a recognition of God’s redemption, mercy, and Grace; and
Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives–
(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;
(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;
(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;
(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;
(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and
(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

If you want to know who to credit for this lovely bit of significant legislation, here is the sponsor and co-sponsors.

Sponsor:
Rep. Steve King [R-IA]
Cosponsors [as of 2008-11-07]
Rep. Jeff Miller [R-FL]
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-WA]
Rep. Paul Broun [R-GA]
Rep. Lamar Smith [R-TX]
Rep. Ray LaHood [R-IL]
Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC]
Rep. James Forbes [R-VA]
Rep. John Doolittle [R-CA]
Rep. John Gingrey [R-GA]
Rep. Randy Neugebauer [R-TX]
Rep. Geoff Davis [R-KY]
Rep. Clifford Stearns [R-FL]
Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA]
Rep. Walter Herger [R-CA]
Rep. Henry Brown [R-SC]
Rep. Nicholas Lampson [D-TX]
Rep. John Boozman [R-AR]
Rep. Michael Burgess [R-TX]
Rep. Rob Bishop [R-UT]
Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX]
Rep. Addison Wilson [R-SC]
Rep. Todd Tiahrt [R-KS]
Rep. Sue Myrick [R-NC]
Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN]
Rep. David Weldon [R-FL]
Rep. Jim Jordan [R-OH]
Rep. Thelma Drake [R-VA]
Rep. John Kuhl [R-NY]
Rep. John Kline [R-MN]
Rep. Jeffrey Fortenberry [R-NE]
Rep. Samuel Johnson [R-TX]
Rep. John Carter [R-TX]
Rep. David Davis [R-TN]
Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite [R-FL]
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave [R-CO]
Rep. Robin Hayes [R-NC]
Rep. Tom Feeney [R-FL]
Rep. Michele Bachmann [R-MN]
Rep. Michael Conaway [R-TX]
Rep. Lee Terry [R-NE]
Rep. Joseph Pitts [R-PA]
Rep. Jeb Hensarling [R-TX]
Rep. John Shadegg [R-AZ]
Rep. Virginia Foxx [R-NC]
Rep. Bill Sali [R-ID]
Rep. Patrick Mchenry [R-NC]
Rep. Mike McIntyre [D-NC]
Rep. Todd Akin [R-MO]
Rep. Daniel Lungren [R-CA]
Rep. Jack Kingston [R-GA]
Rep. Donald Young [R-AK]
Rep. Timothy Walberg [R-MI]
Rep. Richard Baker [R-LA]
Rep. James Barrett [R-SC]
Rep. Louis Gohmert [R-TX]
Rep. Kevin Brady [R-TX]
Rep. Michael McCaul [R-TX]
Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ]
Rep. Todd Platts [R-PA]
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R-CO]

Democrats must hate Christmas and Christians — there’s only two on that list.

It just gets better and better

The skirmish over Christmas in Washington state just gets funnier every day.

Now someone wants to put up a Festivus pole in the capitol. That’s hilarious enough, but it gets better.

The Westboro Baptist Church has demanded to be allowed to put up a sign that says, “Santa Claus will take you to Hell”. I never thought I’d laugh at Fred Phelps and his gang of hateful loonies, but there you go.

We aren’t done yet! Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has to butt in and bray, too.

Gov. Gregoire is responsible for this mess. Having first acceded to the requests of atheists to attack Christmas, she is now confronted with the likes of the Westboro Baptist Church, a viciously anti-American, anti-Catholic and anti-gay group. There is a way to deal with this situation in a manner that is legally acceptable and morally defensible, but neither the Washington governor, nor her lawyers, have figured it out.

I know, I know! How about keeping the government entirely secular, throwing all the Christmas kitsch out of the capitol, and admitting that government has no business promoting any religious beliefs at all? That would be my solution. I think it’s clear by now that in a country with a crazy plurality of religious ideas, each one demanding equal recognition, the only fair decision is no recognition at all.

Unfortunately, Bully Donohue can’t figure that out. His solution is some pointless shuffling of signage around to keep the atheists separate from the nativity scene.