Truth and the Devil

Looks like Expelled really isn’t going to provide anything new under the sun. An article on Beliefnet gives us a little more information on what the film might include.

Let the buzz begin. Not that “Expelled’s” intentionally incendiary tone will need much help from the pastors and religious-school teachers in attendance at yesterday’s meeting. From the clips and trailers they showed, the film presents a world of–to use a quote I heard repeatedly yesterday–”the new scientific movement” (Intelligent Design, in case you weren’t sure) vs. the tired, old “theory” of evolution. Relying on news-clip montages, interviews, even cut-away shots of concentration camps, “Expelled” talks of faithful scientists and other believers losing jobs, losing grants, even losing friends in defense of ID. And, relying on footage of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and other atheists du jure, it sets up a worldview of ID vs. atheism, with no gray areas in between.

This week’s Newsweek has feature debating the existence of God. It begins with an article introducing some theistic and atheist concepts, which leads into a several page debate between Rick Warren and Sam Harris. Overall I perceive it as a fairly generous portrayal of the arguments against theism (I’ll let theists judge if it was a beneficial portrayal of theism). There were, however, some interesting parts to take note of.

It’s interesting how insecure some people can be when they perceive their safety blanket being taken away from them. As is typical with some religious thought, an op-ed to the Lawrence Journal-World today bemoaned those who wish to remove the motto ‘In God We Trust’ from our money.

“In God We Trust.” To have this on our currency is to say that we trust in something higher than ourselves, namely God. For those who wish its inscription removed, I would ask them where we should put our trust and most importantly, to whom we are accountable.

PZ Myers found this picture. It really is perfect.

I would imagine that many people might expect some of a secular persuasion like myself might be inclined to jump all over new ‘evidence’ that the tomb of Jesus might have been found. I’m not so inclined. My interest in secular values as well as the study of religion has everything to do with evidence and a search for the truth, not trying to make religion look bad.

With that philosophy, I try to treat all fantastic claims with the same skepticism I would any other. Just as I find the claims of any conspiracy about UFOs or 9/11 or even The Da Vinici Code lacking in evidence, so do I James Cameron’s claim that he has found the tomb of Jesus Christ.

In Bakersfield, California, a pediatrician turned away a little girl because her mother had a tattoo. He said it was because of his ‘Christian’ beliefs. Personally, I don’t ever remember hearing a commandment of “thou shalt not help anyone who might be related to someone who has a tattoo.”

“I felt totally discriminated against, like I wasn’t good enough to talk to,” Tasha Childress said, “like he didn’t have to give me any reason for not wanting to see my daughter because I have tattoos and piercings.”

The little girl had to suffer through the night because her insurance policy referred her to this man.

When it comes to matters dealing with religion, overreaction seems the name of the game, doesn’t it?

Three CD players hidden under a cathedral’s pews blared sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass, leading a bomb squad to detonate two of the devices.

Authorities determined the music players were not dangerous and kept the third one to check it for clues, said police Capt. Gary Johnson.

Oh really?! A CD player wasn’t dangerous?

The recordings, made on store-bought blank discs, featured people using foul language and “pornographic messages,” Johnson said. He would not elaborate because of the ongoing investigation.

It appears that allegations are emerging regarding pedophiles within the Southern Baptist churches similar to the Roman Catholic scandal of recent years. Organizations such as Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and websites such as Stop Baptist Predators are organizing campaigns for Southern Baptist conventions to police their own.

Josh Rosenau is a fellow KU student who writes on ScienceBlogs. It has been interesting to read his arguments against the views of Sam Harris. It interests me most because they both seem to share a similar worldview and have disdain for fundamentalism and dogma, and yet Josh fervently disagrees with what much of Harris has to say. To me, Josh’s arguments are quite well thought out, but yet don’t quite cohere into a valid criticism of Harris. I do not write this as a criticism of Josh, as much as I feel that his criticism of Harris doesn’t take into account some of Harris’s own nuanced views. Ironically, I have some of my own small criticisms of Harris which I wish to share. I’ll use Josh’s post as a jumping off post from time to time.

Just watched Deepak Chopra on the Colbert Report. I really can’t understand how the man can be so popular. He said very little of substance, and a little bit about the “you” being the user of your nervous system, and how everything that exists is an illusion created by consciousness. What boggles my mind is how he can speak with such confidence about utter nonsense, and then that he can be taken seriously by anyone.