tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332417412008-07-24T08:14:15.811-05:00Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comBlogger541125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-44154732165007400172008-07-24T07:57:00.004-05:002008-07-24T08:14:15.844-05:00

Microbiologychick went to Jesus Camp. It's not precisely the same kind of Jesus Camp that was on display in the movie (which we saw in 2006); this one was for teens and young adults instead of really little kids. As a result, they needed to use somewhat more devious cultish tactics like sleep deprivation and repetitive chanting to keep all the sinful teens mindful of the fact that abstinence

Kazimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-36292561494063352582008-07-23T21:13:00.007-05:002008-07-23T22:03:06.695-05:00

Today a gentleman whose privacy I'll respect by not revealing his name sent an email to the TV show address with the subject line "Victory for atheists." I'm afraid it's anything but. Indeed, it's a textbook example of how to fumble the ball.The fellow in question had sent an irate letter to the Laurel and Hardy apologetics team of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, complaining about an insulting

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-31764557127375168382008-07-23T00:32:00.004-05:002008-07-23T00:37:15.743-05:00

Latest nugget of 40-carat irony from the irrational world (emphasis added):A woman accidentally stabbed herself in the foot with a 3-foot-long sword while performing a Wiccan good luck ritual at a cemetery in central Indiana.Better luck next time...

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-52650100317918494802008-07-22T14:59:00.003-05:002008-07-22T15:19:43.227-05:00

We’re sorry that the Pope just doesn’t know what a proper apology looks like. An apology is a request for forgiveness for harm done. However, a proper apology requires that the person apologizing admit to the harm he has caused and display an understanding of the impact on the victim. A proper apology requires a demonstration of learning to show that the perpetrator has changed his ways and

Don Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10302148810311676426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-67823544603285474312008-07-22T12:48:00.003-05:002008-07-22T13:40:37.038-05:00

When I first recognized I was an atheist, I hadn’t read any atheist literature. I studied and came to my own conclusions about god after being brought up as a fundamentalist (and for many years accepting the Bible as the inerrant word of god). After a few years as an atheist, visiting atheist forums and debating and dialoging with atheists and theists alike, I stumbled upon ACA in my community. I

traciehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13375806982865487478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-84349022338852141822008-07-21T17:43:00.001-05:002008-07-21T17:44:37.224-05:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-25999183869070742362008-07-16T15:08:00.007-05:002008-07-17T14:09:57.508-05:00

Via Brayton, I come across this awesome piece over at OneNewsNow, the "news" site of the fundamentalist hate group American "Family" Association. You know, the same people who had that hilarious editorial gaffe recently involving an Olympic track star.Wildmon has his knickers in a twist over the upcoming Proposition 8 vote this November in California, in which the haters hope to make gay marriage

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-3918204430413695352008-07-16T07:00:00.002-05:002008-07-16T07:05:14.076-05:00

There are days when I feel like this. We should get a photo of PZ wearing one, and forward it to Bill Donahue.NSFW, BTW.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-15081039583854013002008-07-16T03:35:00.006-05:002008-07-16T17:50:00.361-05:00

CFI-Austin, along with Texas Citizens for Science and the UT Section of Integrative Biology, is sponsoring a trio of talks this evening to be held at UT's Burdine Hall, room 108. I think I had some classes there back in the day. The general theme is "Science Education in Texas," which, as you may well know, is under a cloud due to the ideological machinations of the arch-conservative State Board

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-11869071451442657652008-07-15T14:55:00.004-05:002008-07-15T20:44:04.380-05:00

Chuck Colson has posted a response to my critique of his book at the Zondervan blog. I haven't read the whole thing in depth yet, but he seems to be polite and respectful, and take at least some of my points seriously. On cursory reading, he appears to have focused on my analysis of his prison group, with an impromptu lecture on how scientific studies are supposed to be done. This should be

Kazimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-12424971898753773822008-07-12T23:32:00.003-05:002008-07-12T23:45:19.081-05:00

Allow me to preface this by saying that I am not against gun ownership. But this sends a rather peculiar message, don't you think?An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.The church’s youth pastor, Bob

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-84257607404836669612008-07-11T03:46:00.004-05:002008-07-11T03:52:41.519-05:00

Don't know many details, except that it's an art installation somewhere in France, done by two fellows, *filthyluker and Pedro Estrellas. Either that, or it's the new digs for PZ Myers' Evil Atheist World Domination Headquarters.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-68616861091379760492008-07-10T23:09:00.003-05:002008-07-10T23:15:38.707-05:00

Richard Wiseman has posted the video of the spoon-bending stunt he performed at TAM6, with the assistance of 800 attendees in the crowd. It's funny to watch it again, but nothing like being part of seeing it done live. For one thing, the video is fairly shaky, and the shots from different angles of the crowd don't fully communicate that, yes, in fact, there are 800 people in that room, all doing

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-39238887590309899322008-07-09T11:59:00.006-05:002008-07-09T20:49:31.899-05:00

Within the last few days we've been emailed by two different atheist women who have just started their own blogs. The first was Kafir Girl, an ex-Muslim in originally from Pakistan, who has decided to read the Koran cover-to-cover and blog the entire experience. I don't know how far she'll get, but her first post is filled to the brim with humor, sarcasm, and profanity. Should be fun. The

Kazimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-57727546558638444892008-07-09T11:29:00.005-05:002008-07-10T09:48:12.690-05:00

I'm really not one to trash talk most of the time -- I'll leave that to Martin ;) -- or keep score. But I have to observe that it has been a bit over a month since I posted a message to Chuck Colson, and almost three weeks since my last correspondence with Mike, who wrote: "They have seen your post, so it is hopefully just a matter of scheduling time for Chuck to reply to it." I don't want to

Kazimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-39277778284012150952008-07-08T10:46:00.007-05:002008-07-08T11:23:57.492-05:00

Maybe you’ve seen the PhillyCOR billboard recently? Floaty clouds on a blue sky, with the text “Don’t believe in god?” on top, and “You are not alone,” on the bottom. It’s an invitation to disenfranchised atheists to get in touch with local humanist, atheist, free-thought or secular organizations in their areas. And it’s as inoffensive a message as I’ve ever seen from any atheist group. No attack

traciehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13375806982865487478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-60430277409943003992008-07-08T08:14:00.013-05:002008-07-08T11:47:27.518-05:00

I saw "Wanted" over the weekend, and it was more or less what I was expecting: dumb action movie, neato "Matrix"-like special effects, pretentious effort to hammer home some kind of deep pop-philosophical message. Unfortunately, since this is a relatively new movie, I'm frustrated by my desire to talk about the things that bugged me about it. So here I am, blogging it. So, this post is going to

Kazimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-69976649427172430732008-07-05T15:16:00.005-05:002008-07-05T15:26:53.168-05:00

From the odious Billy Graham:Jesse Helms, my friend and long-time senator from my home state of North Carolina, was a man of consistent conviction to conservative ideals and courage to faithfully serve God and country based on principle, not popularity or politics.In the tradition of Presidents Jefferson, Adams and Monroe -- who also passed on July 4th -- it is fitting that such a patriot who

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-80643869555627288362008-07-04T23:20:00.004-05:002008-07-04T23:33:12.542-05:00

Christians often ask atheists the above question. What kind of evidence would it take to convince us of God's existence? I'd like to turn the question back to them. What would it take to convince them that maybe God is just a product of their imaginations and wishful thinking?Allow me to preface this with an unambiguous statement. People dying is never funny (well, okay — except for Pauly Shore),

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-60613854178373490472008-07-04T16:44:00.007-05:002008-07-04T22:58:22.294-05:00

Young-earthers are just about the most reality-challenged folks around. But over at the RememberThyCreator.com site — you know, the one with the silly poll that got spiked recently by Pharyngulites, hopefully teaching the RTC team a thing or two about what and what not to do on the intarweebs — they have just about the silliest set of reasons why people should "not accept millions of years," but

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-11151962313170204862008-07-04T01:18:00.002-05:002008-07-04T01:20:49.947-05:00

OnePlusYou Quizzes and WidgetsNow, I don't take credit for all of these, but I wonder just how far we've gone beyond the bounds of civility here. Maybe I should just try to be a lot fucking nicer.Hey, that wasn't so hard!

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-61562727169817063682008-07-03T00:49:00.004-05:002008-07-03T00:57:24.709-05:00

While Chris Comer is busy taking on the creos in court, back here on the intarweebs, some dippy YEC website with the delightful name of RememberThyCreator.com made the silly mistake of posting an open poll asking if creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. The sheep were toeing the party line pretty reliably, if in very small numbers, until the day the poll came to the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-23878526988031181182008-07-03T00:37:00.004-05:002008-07-03T00:45:29.507-05:00

Chris Comer has sued the Texas Education Agency and its commissioner Robert Scott in federal court, on the grounds that the agency's idiotic "neutrality" policy as regards "intelligent design" is unconstitutional and that her firing was thus illegal.The policy was in force even though the federal courts have ruled that teaching creationism as science in public schools is illegal under U.S.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-59589987981500922772008-07-01T01:02:00.004-05:002008-07-01T01:21:32.589-05:00

In case you hadn't caught this: Donald Wildmon's anti-gay hate group the American "Family" Association has its very own "news" site, OneNewsNow, which may or may not be as thoroughly bugnutty as WorldNetDaily, that repository of pure, unbridled right-wing parallel-universe lunacy. I can't be bothered to read it regularly enough to make comparisons.But ridicule made the rounds of the blogosphere

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-32965699576071919742008-06-30T00:34:00.003-05:002008-07-12T19:08:01.946-05:00

The Texas State Supreme Court last week ruled that a church member had no right to sue a church for damages inflicted to her in the course of “church activities for which members adhere.” The case involved a 17-year-old girl who happed to be a victim of a “spiritually charged” garage sale preparation in which fellow believers became convinced she was possessed by a demon. She was forcibly

Don Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10302148810311676426noreply@blogger.com