Friday, June 8, 2012

Friday Link Dump 6/8/12

Faith is a Locked Door “...the process is not about finding or rejecting God, it's about finding truth.”

Above All…Faith My guest post for Martin Pribble’s blog. Thanks again to Martin for allowing me to reach some new readers. I hope I held the fort down adequately for a few hours.

Religion For Atheists – Alain de Botton Martin takes the bullet for us and reads and reviews de Botton’s book so we don’t have to. Godspeed, Martin. Godspeed.

You v. Satan: Why People of Faith Do Not Consider Themselves “Bad”

Reasonable Doubt: What’s it Really Mean?  “We rationalists, freethinkers, skeptics, agnostics, atheists, or however else we self-identify certainly don’t own reason or rationality, but we tend to respect and value these things highly and for what we consider good reasons indeed.”

The Fine Art of Pentecostal Snake Fondling “Pentecostal snake handlers - They actually prefer the term serpent handlers, but, I have long standing tradition of not respecting the wishes of stupid people.”

Tribute to Christopher Hitchens - 2012 Global Atheist Convention

Nonbelievers who aren't atheists?

Sam Harris - Death and the Present Moment I think this is the best talk that I have seen from Sam Harris. I really do.  

Primate Fossil Suggests Human Ancestors Originated In Asia, Not Africa Another example of why the Huffington Post is shit (screw providing a link to them). The fossils do not indicate human origins in Asia. They indicate the origins of anthropoid primates. There is a difference. Here is a an accurate article on this subject.

Preachers in Alabama Bully an Art Theater

Mysterious radiation burst recorded in tree rings

Ancient Suburb Near St. Louis Could Be Lost Forever This is what I do for a living. The difference being that I rarely get to work on anything nearly as significant as a Cahokian suburb. Archaeologists realize and consciously try to mitigate the fact that it is a destructive science, but this type of archaeology is considered “preservation archaeology.” The other option is just pure destruction and loss of of the resource. Care to guess what happens when the funding isn’t there?

Good News: People Eat Other People on a Pretty Regular Basis

EVOLUTION TO FALL IN 2012? Kept in all caps from World Nut Daily so you know it’s, like, super serious!

Richard Dawkins & Daniel Dennett. Oxford, 9 May 2012 Interesting as always.

Atheism to Defeat Religion By 2038 There are too many assumptions of affluence and progress with this. The world economy could just as easily collapse, climate change could exacerbate resource needs and therefore fundamentalism may rise.

Boy Scouts to Consider Allowing Gay Scouts and Leaders "I love the organization and I refuse to stand by idly as it forfeits its cultural relevancy at the very moment this country needs it most," said Wahls, author of My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family.

Do You Believe In...

That Condescending Feeling You Get From Dudes in the Office? Yeah, That’s Real

President Obama Says Green Lantern Has To Be A Gay Now Can’t we straights have anything anymore?? When I pick up a Green Lantern comic, I expect to read about a hot buff dude in tights who wears a magic promise ring he got from a purple-headed alien for being without fear, not something gay.”

I love you, Filmdrunk. Don’t ever change.

Jason Alexander offers the greatest apology in history for ‘gay cricket’ joke I don’t know if it is the greatest apology ever, but I thought it was sincere and that he actually thought about it. Basically, it doesn't sound like his publicist wrote it. As always, don’t read the comments. They will just ruin your fucking day.

Hagee Tells Atheists to Leave the Country; They Are Not Wanted and Won't Be Missed This is the exact type of thing I would normally make a “Random Quotes” post about, but I don’t know. The hate is getting boring and predictable. Also, there is no “god of heaven.” Grow up.

Storm Corrosion 'Drag Ropes'

In the US, belief in life after death is linked to belief in a just world and lower anxiety

North Carolina Republicans Add Discrimination Against Gays To Party PlatformArticle III: Individual Liberty states ‘Government should treat all citizens impartially, without regard to wealth, race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sex, political affiliation or national origin. We oppose all forms of invidious discrimination. Sexual orientation is not an appropriate category.’”

Fungal fidelity: some ants have been eating the same meal for 5 million years!

Meet the two newest additions to the Periodic Table of Elements




Science!

Allergy vaccine a reality?

How A Radical North Dakota Ballot Initiative Could Allow The Religious Right To Ignore Traffic Lights  Define "Sincerely held religious belief."

What if one's religion requires them to stone adulterers. Oh wait...bad example. OK, what if one's religion required a woman to marry her rapist. Hmm...wait...ummm....let's see. What if one’s sincerely held religious belief was that God required a man to kill his son. Oops. What if….

Measuring the Universe A nifty and informative video explaining how we—well—measure the universe.

Plagiarism And Racism Force Top Religious Group To Cancel Top Ethicist’s Show

Atheists with 'atheists in foxholes' banner again booed in Memorial Day parade Annville is about 15 minutes from my house. This is the second year they have been booed.

IRS Warns Churches About Political Activities, Tax-Exempt Status If the IRS really went after this it would be a shitstorm beyond all shitstorms. That’s why religious tax exemptions should just be revoked altogether. See? A nice, clean and simple fix. Nope, there wouldn’t be gnashing of teeth and tearing of shirts anywhere. Easy peasy.




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