Badass infographics demonstration cross-references and the social graph of the Bible. Really, really cool. Visit site »
“In the world of evolutionary biology, the question is not whether God exists but why we believe in him. Is belief a helpful adaptation or an evolutionary accident?” Interesting stuff. Are humans hard-wired to believe in God (or something beyond what we can rationalize)? If so, why? Could it be that evolution is actually responsible for people believing in God? Visit site »
53% of those surveyed said that evolution (when defined as “the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life”) is either “definitely true” or “probably true.” However, 66% said that creationism (“the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years”) is true. That seems contradictory, to me. I believe creation and evolution can co-exist, but not when they’re framed with those definitions.
38% said “man developed, with God guiding,” and 43% think “God created man in present form.” Only 14% think “man developed, but God had no part in (the) process”.
24% of Americans believe that both the theory of evolution and the theory of creationism are probably or definitely true. This also proves that 24% of people are either idiots or didn’t read the definitions of evolution and creationism the survey uses. Again, I do think it’s possible for one to believe in both evolution and creationism, but you would have to define creation differently than they have done with this survey.
Finally, I find it astonishing that 19% of those who don’t believe in evolution chose “I believe in Jesus Christ” as their justification for it (this was the most popular response). I don’t think much of anyone, including evolutionists, doubt the existence of Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus Christ is no reason to not believe in evolution. Every other choice on the list is reasonable, but “I believe in Jesus Christ” is just a laughable response to “Why don’t you believe in evolution?” Visit site »
BBC2 did a video piece on the Phelps family of Topeka — the most hated family in America. I have a good deal of personal experience with the Phelps family. I lived in Topeka for almost 10 years, where one hardly goes a day without crossing paths with one of them or their protests.
For those who don’t know, the Phelps run a Baptist church near Topeka whose mission is to spread God’s message of hated towards not only homosexuals (or “fags,” and the Phelps would call them), but also anyone who tolerates the presence of homosexuality. They insist that God hates America, that America is doomed, and that pretty much everyone is a fag and everything is a “Fag whatever.”
Back in my early days with the Phelps, they spent most of their time picketing things that seemed directly tied to homosexuality. For example, they picketed the funeral of Kansas City composer Kevin Oldham (who was gay and died of AIDS) and that of Matthew Shepard, who famously died after an anti-gay hate crime against him. I remember them picketing nearly every musical performance I ever gave in Topeka, because inevitably someone that was performing was gay. Today, they don’t seem to make much association between homosexuality and what they protest. They protest everything. Lately, they’ve been making headlines picketing at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.
Not all of my experiences with the Phelps family were bad. I actually become sort of friendly with Sarah Phelps in college — I believe she was one of Fred’s granddaughters, and when she wasn’t picketing and singing songs of hate on the street corners, she was actually quite nice. She was a vocal major at Washburn, and the two guys she spent most of her time with at school were — you guessed it — gay.
One of my proudest moments was when I nearly scared Fred Phelps out of his skin. I pulled up to a stop light on 17th and Gage in Topeka, a semi-busy intersection where his family (which is extremely large, by the way) used to (still does?) protest almost daily. As I waited for the light to turn green, “Gramps,” as he’s called, crossed at the crosswalk in front of my car. I couldn’t resist. I put my car in neutral and stepped on the gas as hard as I could. Phelps dropped his picket sign, jumped sky high, and almost fell over. Most of the cars around had their windows rolled down on the hot summer day, and my scare tactics elicited cheers and horn honking. It was great.
The thing that bothers me most about my experiences with the Phelps is how much I grew to tolerate them. Seeing them every day for nearly 10 years, I because desensitized to their hatred. Oh, I spent the first couple of years getting in arguments, flipping them off, and generally letting them know how much I disapproved. But after I while, I gave up. I find that sad, though. If there’s anyone in the world that deserves my hate with pure, unbridled passion, it’s these guys. And I just didn’t care. I drove by them daily, pretending like they weren’t there.
I should have ran that bastard over when I had the chance. Visit site »
The burial site of Jesus has been found and suggests he had a wife and son, according to highly sensitive claims in a documentary by “Titanic” director James Cameron and Israel-born Simcha Jacobovici. If this is accurate (and it’s really hard to tell at this point), it basically puts forth a real-life Da Vinci Code situation, challenging the basic tenants of Christianity as we know it. Interesting stuff. Visit site »
I enjoy reading Richard’s responses. The guy is clearly a bit of an ass, but I’m amused nonetheless. I find him to be a bit too intolerant and unsympathetic for my tastes, even though I agree with many of his thoughts. Bottom line: he makes people think, and I see that as a good thing. Visit site »
“Let me emphasize that no one — including adults— should have a blog or personal website. … Blogging has become a socially accepted practice — just as are dating seriously too young, underage drinking and general misbehaving. But just because someone else “jumps off the cliff” does not mean you should do the same.” That’s right, folks. blogging is just as evil as underage drinking! I had no idea — did you? Visit site »
Interesting list. Thomas Edison, reppin’ us agnostics! Visit site »
Nice blog post on why The Da Vinci Code is successful — for many of the same reasons that other popular book is. Visit site »
Larger versions of the maps I just linked to. Visit site »
Really fascinating view of various religions and their adherents in different parts of the country. I wasn’t surprised to find that Kansas is the most methodist state of all, and Douglas County (where I live) falls into the lowest bracket, with less than Visit site »
“In this version, Jesus asked Judas, as a close friend, to sell him out to the authorities, telling Judas he will ‘exceed’ the other disciples by doing so.” Pretty facinating. Visit site »
An interesting article on Darwin and his views of religion. Many will find it surprising that Darwin was not entirely non-spirtual and also didn’t give up Christianity until 13 years after he discovered natural selection. In other words — it was not his Visit site »