They don’t like it. But they love Jesus. At least, that’s the message I get from this interview with Dahmer and Chuck Colson’s fear of Richard “Maddog” Dawkins.
Are these the best celebrity endorsements of Christianity around?
Squeeeee! I like totally love Robert Hooke, and now you can read Hooke’s notebooks online. The broadband version is phenomenal — it’s like leafing through the 17th century.
I have arrived in beautiful Northfield, MN (motto: “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment.” I expect a placid audience for my talk tonight). My first impression, right after passing St Olaf College, was an odd one: what is that strange chocolatey aroma I’m smelling everywhere? Shortly afterwards I came upon a gigantic Malt-O-Meal plant, and all was explained. I guess smelling like Malt-O-Meal isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a college town, although there is one better: the UO campus at Eugene used to occasionally smell intensely of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, thanks to a bakery down the street from it.
I have to mention one of the unfortunate things about Morris. It used to occasionally reek like yeasty sour beer, from the ethanol plant on the edge of town. They seem to have cleaned up their act in the last few years, and we rarely get that odor anymore. There were a few days this summer, though, where the wind was just right and we got treated to the stink of the local pig farms, which is not at all pleasant.
I think I’ll take the scent of breakfast cereal any day.
It’s another weekend of travel for me. Tonight, I’m off to St Olaf, that fine Lutheran institute of higher learning, to rail against the corruption of science by religion. I’ll be speaking at 6 at the Lion’s Lair, Buntrock Commons, out there in Northfield, MN (wait…”lion’s lair”? Do they mean that literally?)
The really exciting news, though, is that the Minnesota Atheists are hosting a talk by Hector Avalos tomorrow afternoon. This is extremely convenient for me — drive in to give a talk, stay and get to listen to another — so yes, I’ll be there, too! It’s just fun, fun, fun for this lovely October weekend.
The Sunday, October 21 meeting of Minnesota Atheists will take place in a new location: Ridgedale Public Library, 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55305 (see attached map).
The meeting will be 1:00-3:30 p.m.
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. – Social time.
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Presentation.
2:30 – 2:50 p.m. – Book sales/signing.
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. – Business meeting.It will be followed by dinner at 4:00 p.m. at Wanderer’s Garden, 13059 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55305 (Menu or $10.50 Buffet)
Our special guest, Hector Avalos, will speak on “How Archaeology Killed Biblical History”
Hector Avalos is professor of religious studies at Iowa State University and the author or editor of six books on Biblical studies and religion, including his recently published work, The End of Biblical Studies. Join us for a fascinating presentation detailing how the more we discover about the ancient world, the less reliable we find the Bible.
From the dust jacket of The End of Biblical Studies: Hector Avalos calls for an end to biblical studies as we know them. He outlines two main arguments for this surprising conclusion.
First, academic biblical scholarship has clearly succeeded in showing that the ancient civilization that produced the Bible held beliefs about the origin, nature, and purpose of the world and humanity that are fundamentally opposed to the views of modern society. The Bible is thus largely irrelevant to the needs and concerns of contemporary human beings.
Second, Avalos criticizes his colleagues for applying a variety of flawed and specious techniques aimed at maintaining the illusion that the Bible is still relevant in today’s world. In effect, he accuses his profession of being more concerned about its self-preservation than about giving an honest account of its own findings to the general public and faith communities.
Copies of The End of Biblical Studies will be available for sale for $30 (price includes sales tax). After the presentation we will have book sales and signing. This will be followed by our business meeting. Finally, those who wish can join us for an early dinner at the Wanderer’s Garden, a Chinese restaurant.
My next lecture in my neurobiology course is going to be about metabotropic receptors and how modulating internal cGMP levels is one way neuronal activity can be affected. I was planning to use the eye as an example of this process — but now Revere has inspired me to add a bit about the penis and viagra to the lecture. Here at UMM, we’re all about giving students information they can use.
But of course! When a group of people express a similar behavior pattern, such as defending racist conclusions or making ev-psych style explanations, there can only be one possible explanation: there must be a genetic basis for the behavior. I can’t imagine any other reason.
I was just turned on to this recent issue of the McGill Journal of Education which has the theme of teaching evolution. It’s a must-read for science educators, with articles by UM’s own Randy Moore, Robert Pennock, Branch of the NCSE, and Eugenie Scott, and it’s all good. I have to call particular attention the article by Massimo Pigliucci, “The evolution-creation wars: why teaching more science just is not enough”, mainly because, as I was reading it, I was finding it a little freaky, like he’s been reading my mind, or maybe I’ve been subconsciously catching Pigliucci’s psychic emanations. I think I just need to tell everyone to do exactly what this guy says.
So one of the questions on our Neurobiology test due today was to see if there were any heritable diseases in humans that are caused by defects in ion channel genes. I discovered that mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene have been linked to Cystic Fibrosis (CF).
CF is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of its victims. The defective CFTR gene produces a thick, sticky mucus that provides an environment for life-threatening pathogens to establish an infection, and can clog the lungs. This unusually thick mucus also interferes with the pancreas, and impairs the enzymes that help to break down food and allow the body to absorb it. The symptoms of CF include frequent lung infections; persistent coughing, oftentimes accompanied by phlegm; wheezing or shortness of breath; poor growth or weight gain, despite a healthy diet and appetite; salty tasting skin; and difficulty in bowel movements or greasy, bulky stools. The incidence is about one thousand new cases a year.
With so many delightful and extensive conversation examples lately, this must be the perfect opportunity to mention that it is time to select the new Molly winner for October! Leave a comment here naming names of the people you like to read in the comments, and I’ll tally them up at the end of the weekend.
Since there is a wee bit of acrimony going on right now, I’ll remind everyone that this is to be a positive process — no howling against any nominee. If you think someone mentioned is just awful, please instead of trying to cast negative votes (I don’t count them), get behind someone you do like.
Now this is the kind of thing I’d like to have on my lawn…
…except, unfortunately, that I have to miss Halloween this year. Halloween is a Ray Bradbury-esque holiday best celebrated in the midwest, and I’m going to be spending that day in the sunny, cheery, less-than-autumnal climes of Southern California, dispelling ghosties, I hope.
