Beginning of a new chapter
I have obtained employment. Details to follow (eventually) but I will be moving sometime in August. Please send tweed jackets with elbow patches to my Portland address.
I have obtained employment. Details to follow (eventually) but I will be moving sometime in August. Please send tweed jackets with elbow patches to my Portland address.
Neal Pollack has some always-insightful thoughts on the current state of things, in this case as they relate to trying to raise a child capable of critical thought.
My son, on the other hand, came down the birth canal into a brave new world, where school boards debate spurious intelligent design curricula, where 66 percent of Americans surveyed by USA Today believe that God created the world in seven days, and where the President of the United States thinks evolution is just one theory. This summer saw the opening of Kentucky’s Creation Museum, a $27 million high-tech “educational” institution determined to teach our children that there were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark. Now the Scopes Monkey Trial is 90 years in the rear-view, and in some parts of America, it’s like Clarence Darrow never existed.
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This isn’t about an ideological struggle between democratic socialism and unfettered free-market economics. And though I’d argue that there’s a deep sexist component to religious fundamentalism, it’s not really about race or gender issues either. It’s about keeping alive the spirit of discovery, and also preserving essential notions of truth and freedom of thought.
Great stuff. Link to article at Jewcy.com (via Greg; thanks!)
“The Human Variation project is an art blog designed to discover and celebrate the beauty inherent in diverse human bodies. The project is based on the simple premise that every body is beautiful by virtue of being human, and that every body has a basic aesthetic value that should be celebrated and appreciated. [...] Who may submit? Anyone! The Human Variation project is committed to celebrating human diversity. We welcome people of all ages, shapes, sizes, genders, and races. In particular we want to extend a special invitation to all those marginalized by contemporary beauty culture: people of color, disabled people, transgender people, people with scars, pregnant women, people with tattoos and body modifications, fat people, little people… all are encouraged to participate, including those who happen to fit contemporary standards of beauty as well.” Link to Human Variation Project
“the problem is governance by people who don’t believe in the possibility of governing democratically and well, not a problem inhering in the very idea of government”… Dale’s comments are as good as his posts. Get thyself to Amor Mundi! Link
I’ve rarely found great value in articles in Psychology Today. My mother subscribed to it when I was growing up, and I always felt as if it was Cosmo for people vaguely interested in human motivations. I don’t know if I was simply mistaken, if the articles have evolved to contain a great deal more substance in recent years, or if this article is just a spectacular anomoly. But damn, this is a fantastic article. Long but worth it:
“For my whole life there had been this giant eyeball looking at me, this god, this holy spirit, this church history, and this Bible. And not only everything I did but everything I thought was being judged: Was God pleased? I realized that that wasn’t there anymore. It occurred to me, ‘I own these thoughts. Nobody knows what I’m thinking right now. There’s no fear of hell, no fear of judgment, I don’t have to be right or wrong, I can just be me.’” It felt as if charges had been dropped for a crime for which he had been falsely accused. It was exhilarating and frightening all at once.
And this, from a Roman Catholic priest from Mississippi:
For Reed, deconversion was almost as quick and binary as the flick of a switch. At a certain point, he says, “it was suddenly clear that the courageous thing to do was to just admit that this is all made up.
Link to article in Psychology Today: “An Atheist in the Pulpit”
The abusive supervisor in this case regarded gay people as an abomination in the eyes of God. “The evidence from our 24-hour help-line is that the majority of people who suffer discrimination are treated in that way because their abuser is religious,” says Lyle. “It’s a mix of different religions, but is predominantly people who claim to be evangelical or fundamental Christians.”
Link to article in Scotland on Sunday, via the Daily Atheist.
The whole article is actually refreshing, with just a few depressing bits about the religious oppression of gay individuals in the police force.
Courtesy of my friend Wayne, who really knows his audience:
A non-profit organization in Baton Rouge — the Science & Engineering Education Foundation — is trying to put a small nest egg in order to further their goals: using science fiction to promote science education. As such, they have joined with H&R Block in their “Send-A-Friend” program. For everyone who goes to H&R Block to get their taxes done and brings a SEEF coupon (located for print here. H&R Block will make a donation. For those of you who work closely with students, there is a special coupon just for them.
Today is the 199th birthday of Charles Darwin.
In an ideal world, I would’ve had something substantive to blog about, but I’ve got four running “to-do” lists and blogging about Darwin is unfortunately low on those 4 lists. Keep in mind, this is only because I blog about evolution all the time, so I don’t feel as if I’m dropping the ball here. I’d love to actually say something about Darwin himself (because, as much as the creationists would like to believe it, studying evolution does not have anything to do with studying Darwin. They don’t get this because creation “science” is the same as theology.) Since I’m putting off my Darwin blogging, I’ve at least made a promise to read Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos as my next pleasure-reading book (as soon as I’m done with Murakami!) So go read what is probably a rich eruption of posts about Darwin on the other blogs. I probably won’t even get a chance to look at them for a few days, so feel free to point me to your favorites in the comments here!
“So the guy is wired. There’s just one problem with the Ron Paul story: Ron Paul.”… article about the internet and presidential candidacy via Wired.com