The everlasting community thread is getting fractious and ugly: the prolonged association is beginning to chafe, I think. So as an experiment I’m temporarily splitting the thread.
This is the LOVE subthread. Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes. No mellow-harshing talk allowed here; if you must, take it to the HATE thread.
(Current totals: 11,768 entries with 1,258,505 comments.)
The everlasting community thread is getting fractious and ugly: the prolonged association is beginning to chafe, I think. So as an experiment I’m temporarily splitting the thread.
This is the HATE subthread. If there’s something you want to get off your chest, if there’s someone who has annoyed you, if you just want to make an angry howl of annoyance, this is the place to vent. No nicey-nice talk, either, just be brutal to one another within these confines. Can’t handle it? Go to the LOVE thread.
(Current totals: 11,767 entries with 1,258,505 comments.)
What a stupid, ignorant woman. She’s baffled by the phrase “Sputnik moment”; she reads it over and over; it makes her vaguely uncomfortable, with that Russian sound to it; and rather than asking someone or looking it up, she decides to invent her own totally wrong definition built on false premises (the Soviet Union was bankrupted by a satellite launch in 1957? Ha ha, screw you, Ronald Reagan!), and declare it on national television? It must be bad, that commie Obama said it.
Man, if I thought the American electorate cared at all about intelligence in its presidential candidates, I’d announce that Palin is toast and we can just scrape the burnt crumbly bits into the sink, try to salvage her with some butter, take a bite, decide she’s ruined, and throw her in the kitchen recycling bin for deposit in the compost heap once the snow melts.
Yeah, that metaphor ran away with me, but then I just watched the video, so I have an excuse for a little temporary brain damage.
Tom Ritter has a dream. It’s a grand dream.
Tom Ritter dreams of a day when people recognize that he’s more than just a cranky high school teacher, and they realize that all the scientists in the world have been completely wrong, while Truth lives in the sweaty cranium of a harumphing gomer in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
He dreams of a day when everyone sees that he fills an important niche.
He dreams of a day when people realize that evolution is an unscientific theory, while Jesus is our Principal Investigator.
Ritter dreams of a day when the kids get off of his lawn.
He dreams of a day when modern medicine finally figures out how to remove that stick from his butt. You know, the one with the pointy end pressing against his brain.
He’s had these dreams for a long time now, but at last he’s got a shot at glory, one chance to maybe have one of his dreams come true.
Tom Ritter is suing Pennsylvania public schools for teaching evolution. Surely this won’t make him look like a deranged looney from the sticks, unprofessionally bellowing his rage at a world he never made and never understood? This is his opportunity! Fate can’t be so cruel as to continue to foster his reputation as the crazy, creepy chemistry teacher, the Milton Wadams of the Blue Mountain School District who sees evolution as his red Swingline stapler, his object of desire? No, of course not. Because his logic is sound, as strong as anything any creationist has ever come up with.
Here is his professional, scientific argument. I’ve taken the liberty of footnoting it so that you can see how deep it is.
Evolution is Unscientific1
“The theory of evolution by cumulative natural selection is the only theory we know of that is in principle capable of explaining the existence of organized complexity.” — Richard Dawkins, famous Atheist2
Biology studies organisms. It can also explain how organisms got that way, but studying organisms does not require explaining how they got that way3, and the theory of evolution is bad science.4
Evolutionists cannot demonstrate that three critical points are even possible, let alone that they actually happened:
(1) No one has demonstrated that life can be created from non-life.5 (Reports of artificial DNA do not alter this fact. Life is still required.)6
(2) No one has demonstrated that a new “sexual species” can be created.7 (Since the definition of species is contested, for these purposes it is defined as an organism that can breed with its own kind and produce fertile offspring, but cannot breed with its ancestors.8)
(3) Evolutionists theorize the human brain evolved from lower forms.9 Over 50 years into the age of computers, machines can crunch numbers far better and faster than humans, recognize and use language and tools, and beat us in chess. Yet science has yet to build even a rudimentary computer that can contemplate its own existence, the hallmark of the human brain.10 (Contemplating your existence is best understood as imagining what will remain after your death.) And no animal, no matter how “intelligent,” can do this either.11
Ask anyone who espouses evolution if these three points are not true.12
If evolution is unscientific, why teach it?13 Because no Creator means no God.14 In other words, evolution taught without a possible alternative is Atheism.15
Now Atheism rests on an article of faith (A strong belief that cannot be proven but is nonetheless believed).16
Therefore Atheism is a religion.17
And it is illegal to teach religion in the public schools.18
(I am not defending creationism or intelligent design. But evolution has not proven its case, and until it does, saying it is the only explanation for present life is Atheism.)19
1Because Tom Ritter says so, and only about a million scientists know he’s wrong.
2And famous evolutionary biologist, but for purposes of Tom’s argument, that’s hardly relevant, where “relevant” is defined as “conflicts with my claim”.
3True Science™requires closing your eyes to questions that might produce answers contradicting True Faith™.
4See title.
5Except that we are pretty sure the world lacked life before it had life, therefore life had to come from non-life at some point. Or perhaps Mr Ritter is also arguing with the Old Testament?
6Similarly, any technology that allows life to be created doesn’t count. Therefore this statement is irrefutable! Huzzah!
7See previous unbreakable escape clause.
8Because that would be really icky. If they aren’t dead, they’re really old.
9For instance, I theorize that a small garden slug crawled into Tom Ritter’s ear one day, worked its way into his cranium, and is now rasping away at his motor nerves to evoke strange twitchy responses.
1050 years of computing certainly ought to be able to outperform 4 billion years of evolution.
11Well, obsessing over the imagined fate of a magic wisp of personhood that survives blunt force trauma (or cranial slug invasion) might be the hallmark of the Christian brain, but the rest of us…not so much.
12OK. They aren’t true.
13Aside from its explanatory power, the volumes of evidence in its support, its ability to guide further research, its practice by the overwhelming majority of biologists on the planet, and the necessity to understand the principles of evolutionary biology to understand taxonomy, physiology, development, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, etc., etc., etc.? Well, no, aside from those, there really is no reason to teach it.
14Unless you’re one of those wacky theistic evolutionists who think evolution is the mechanism god used to create life…but they’re all like Mormons or Scientologists, non-Christians, and therefore atheists.
15This is a sweeping principle that will be expanded to cover other disciplines as well. Teaching auto repair without mentioning a magic car factory in the sky is atheism; teaching agriculture without discussing the angels who tug the shoots out of the ground is atheism.
16Which is also true for every single science, which makes them, by this definition, religions.
17Just like chemistry, physics, agriculture, and auto repair.
18More simply, it is therefore illegal to teach, period, in the public schools. QED. Brains explode. Society melts down. Zombies stalk the streets while rains of frogs and blood predict the End Times. Mission accomplished.
19Wait a minute there…Christianity hasn’t proven its case, either. Therefore Christianity is atheism?
Yes, indeed, we’re all going to take Tom Ritter seriously from now on! Because filing a federal lawsuit is something only a True Genius™ could possibly do. Next step: Nobel Prize.
Here’s a great opportunity for a paid summer internship with the SCA. Apply!
SCA Summer 2011 Internship Program
The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) is pleased to offer one paid internship position for summer 2011. SCA is seeking a highly motivated undergraduate junior- or senior-level student with a demonstrated interest in being active in the nontheistic movement. The student must live and attend school more than 50 miles outside of the District of Columbia.
SCA is a 501(c)4 advocacy organization whose purpose is to amplify the diverse and growing voice of the nontheistic community in the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., our staff lobbies U.S. Congress about issues of special concern to our constituency and advocates for the separation of church and state. To learn more about SCA, visit www.secular.org.
The internship will provide activities and opportunities to learn about, assist with, and work with the four main areas of SCA’s office: lobbying and advocacy, grassroots and outreach, development and fundraising, and media relations and social media networking.
SCA will provide housing through the Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH) (www.internsdc.com). The intern will be required to share a townhome or apartment with up to three people of the same gender. The group living situation will allow the intern to meet other interns working in D.C. as well as provide social opportunities. WISH provides all housing necessities except a computer, personal items, cell phone, bedding, towels, and clothing.
The internship will be a 12-week program and will run from Monday, May 30, 2011, through Friday, August 13, 2011; work hours will generally be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be expected. The internship will pay $500/week = $6,000 for the summer (minus required district and federal taxes). Transportation costs to and from Washington, D.C. will not be provided.
To apply for the SCA Summer 2011 Internship Program, please fill out the following application and send the following documents to internship@secular.org.
Complete applications must be emailed by Feb. 18, 2011. A selection will be made by March4; only the selected candidate will be notified.
If you have questions, email them to internship@secular.org. Do NOT send applications by regular mail. No phone calls please. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Here is the application form in rtf and pdf formats.
He has sent me a response to my criticisms of his criticisms of the New Atheism. Look below the fold for what he sent me.
For many years now, Texas has been carrying out a great experiment: they’ve been pursuing Republican policies to a far greater degree than other states, and Texas is therefore a little glimpse into the American future, if we continue as we have. And that future seems prosperous, with a strong pro-business environment fostered by a government that would do anything to help a millionaire.
So why don’t I want to live in that future?
It turns out that the price Texas pays to prop up business is paid for with the dreams of children. Happy corporate income reports are gouged out of the next generation’s potential for prosperity.
“A sick, uneducated, unskilled work force does not propel a state forward,” Garcia writes in the report’s preface. “The devastating forecasts depict a Texas that few of us would want to visit, let alone call home.”
The bi-annual Texas legislative session opened this month to news of an estimated $27 billion budget shortfall. But even before legislators took their seats in the capitol, Texas lagged every other state in per-capita spending. Before considering budget-cutting proposals, Texas also ranked 50th among states in health care coverage for children, mental health services for children with diagnosed challenges, preventing childhood homelessness, preventing childhood food insecurity, and preventing obesity among adolescent girls, according to the report.
The cumulative impact of previous budget cuts has put Texas children behind the rest of the nation. When compared to children in the rest of the U.S., a Texas child is 93 percent more likely not to have access to health care, 33 percent more likely not to receive mental health care services, 35 percent more likely to grow up poor, and 16 percent more likely to drop out of school. Given that Texas is not a poor state — its citizens’ median wealth ranks 27th out of 50 — the dire status of its children is all the more startling.
Texas ranks third among the seven worst states in overall child well-being, according to the advocacy organization Every Child Matters; the other six states are the nation’s poorest.
In the area of child protection — a fundamental measurement of child well-being — Texas ranks last again. In the last decade, more children in Texas than in any other state have died as a result of abuse or neglect. The state invests far less in prevention than it does in child welfare services, which are provided after the abuse or neglect has been identified.
I’m glad to hear your banks are doing well, Texas; it’s too bad the kids are dying or lacking education, and that your economic well-being isn’t benefiting the actual people living in your state, but if the blood and sweat of of the people is needed to grease the Happy Fun Slide of bidness, well, that’s what it takes.
You can read the full report here.
Uganda is currently undergoing conflict over civil rights: a number of influential Christians in the country, under the influence of American evangelicals like Scott Lively and Rick Warren, have been pushing to have homosexuality condemned and people who love other people of the same sex arrested or executed. It’s an ugly place where the dreams of the Christian right are actually being realized, but of course our evangelical leaders are denying their responsibility. Just last night on CNN I caught a bit of a nauseating interview with Joel Osteen, the smirking prosperity gospel pitchman, and he came right out and smilingly declared homosexuality a sin…but his wife just loves Elton John, so it’s all OK. Rick Warren is also similarly a moral coward who will happily trigger the landslide, but refuses to involve himself in the consequences.
But Warren won’t go so far as to condemn the legislation itself. A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan anti-homosexual laws generated this response: “The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.” On Meet the Press this morning, he reiterated this neutral stance in a different context: “As a pastor, my job is to encourage, to support. I never take sides.” Warren did say he believed that abortion was “a holocaust.” He knows as well as anyone that in a case of great wrong, taking sides is an important thing to do.
Our good, kind, sinner-loving, sin-hating Christianist monsters have more blood on their hands now. David Kato, a Ugandan civil rights leader who fought for tolerance for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people, has been beaten to death. This event followed after many death threats, and after the publication of a hit list in a local magazine.
The fight against the bill has also pushed Ugandan activists to the fore, raising concern for their privacy and safety. These deepened in late 2010 when a local tabloid called Rolling Stone, unconnected to the US magazine, published pictures, names, and residence locations of some members of the LGBT community, along with a headline saying, “Hang Them.” Kato’s photo appeared on the cover, and inside another photo appeared with his name.
Couple religious certainty and an atmosphere in which religious leaders are assuring everyone that certain people are less than human, damned, or criminal, and this is what you get: vigilante injustice. And Uganda loses another force for justice and humanity.
According to Ken Ham, he will be appearing on Anderson Cooper tonight (10pm (9 Central time) on CNN), along with Barry Lynn of Americans United. It sounds a little odd — the day after the state of the union address, they bring on a creationist kook? — and they don’t say exactly what the topic is, although we can probably guess.
Ham is asking for prayers. They won’t help him much against Lynn, who is simply an awesome speaker. It could be fine entertainment.
Actually, prayers wouldn’t help him much if his opponent was Big Bird, either.
Barry Lynn was excellent, but then he always is. The best moment for me was after Lynn stated that what Ham was doing was getting subsidies for a ministry, Cooper turned to Ham and simply asked, “Are you trying to convert people?” Of course he is, but Ham can’t be honest about his intent, so he gulped and went into his spiel about how the Ark Encounter is run by a shell company as a for-profit endeavor. He didn’t answer the question at all.
And isn’t this game of separating the profit-making part of the park into a separate company rather devious? The profits will just go to Answers in Genesis, anyway.
Now you can watch it yourself if you missed it:
At the end of February, I’ve mentioned that a flack from Answers in Genesis will be appearing in Morris. I guess the local hosts of that event are a little worried that I might breathe fire over their little church, so they just sent me a note.
Professor Myers,
I am the local coordinator for the Answers in Genesis conference which will be held in Morris on Feb. 27 and 28 featuring Dr. Terry Mortenson. I realize that there is a lot of real estate between our opinions on this subject. My hope is that we create a respectful discussion about this issue which will be challenging.
I would like to meet with you, at your convenience, to discuss the conference, the schedule, and how we can make it a positive experience for all members of our community.
How odd and annoying. I’ve attended creationist events in town before, and they should know by now that I don’t cause grief, at least not during the talks. So I wrote this back to him. I always believe in being honest and straightforward with people, even creationists.
Hmmm. Well. I can guarantee you that I and the people I will be bringing along to the event will be quiet, polite, and entirely non-disruptive; we’ll do nothing but observe, take note, and possibly ask a few simple questions, and we’ll follow any restrictions you want to place on us. You can ask your friends at Answers in Genesis; I led a group of 300 students through the Creation Museum, and we did not run riot or create any real problems for the staff or other attendees. We’ll do the same here, although we definitely won’t have such a large contingent this time around.
But I have to be honest with you: there will be no respect for this nonsense, and I do not consider bringing in dishonest incompetents to miseducate and misrepresent science to be a positive experience for our community. We will respect your right to have discussions of this sort and will in no way impede your ability to present creationist dogma to your audience, but I will not agree in any way with any of it, and once I step away from your church grounds you can expect that my criticisms will be thorough and fiery and will not include any pretense of respect for Answers in Genesis or the Morris Evangelical Free Church.
I don’t quite see the point of meeting. You know my position, and I know yours and Terry Mortenson’s. It is your event and I do not expect any accommodation for actual, honest science in it, nor do I demand it. Since I have promised that I will create no obstacles to your agenda, there really isn’t any good reason to discuss anything about it.
I hope they weren’t misled by my prior instances of polite behavior into somehow thinking I’m nice, or something.
