Monday, May 17, 2010
Super Women Writers!
Oh, if only my parents had bought me these when I was a kid! Thanks, Jen, for the link.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
More Glenn Beck craziness!
Now he thinks he's on par with Martin Luther King! Check out Lewis Black's take on Glenn's Nazi Tourette's too, if you haven't already.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Glenn to the Mountaintop | ||||
| ||||
The day I found out evolution was true
My mother had always taught me that sometimes science and religion disagree, but that's only because scientists don't yet have enough information. Sooner or later, scientific research always converges to confirm scripture. And I believed her.
Many of you have probably seen the news that came out this week of a study that seems to confirm that all life on earth evolved from a common single-cell ancestor. Nowadays, I read an article like that and my reaction is to smile, think about how cool science is, and marvel at our place in the vast, interconnected web of life on earth. The linked, related article at the bottom of this report, though, made me remember a time when I would have reacted very differently.
In the fall of 2004, I was sitting in a dentist's office. I had been re-baptized four or five months prior and I was attempting to regain faith in an institution that had severely maligned me, but that I still believed I was supposed to be a part of. (Part of a longer story, which you can read here.) My neighbor at the time, a fellow church member, had a phobia of driving and had never gotten a driver's license. Her daughter had a dentist's appointment and as part of trying to prove my Christlikeness and regain my testimony, I had given them a ride. In the waiting room, I came across an issue of National Geographic with the cover story titled "Was Darwin Wrong?"
I'd been raised in a church that tells its members they are "duty bound" to accept the biblical account of creation. This was reinforced by my mother's explanation of science's need to "catch up" with scripture. I picked up the article expecting to find out that Darwin was wrong, because, you know, scripture is always right and sooner or later those silly scientists come around and figure that out.
Instead, the article laid out Darwin's case and all the overwhelming evidence supporting it. Reading that well over a hundred years of research was still backing up Darwin was shocking to me.
A major support beam in an already-rickety scaffolding had just been knocked out of place. You mean Mom was wrong? Wow. What else was she wrong about?
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
Many of you have probably seen the news that came out this week of a study that seems to confirm that all life on earth evolved from a common single-cell ancestor. Nowadays, I read an article like that and my reaction is to smile, think about how cool science is, and marvel at our place in the vast, interconnected web of life on earth. The linked, related article at the bottom of this report, though, made me remember a time when I would have reacted very differently.
In the fall of 2004, I was sitting in a dentist's office. I had been re-baptized four or five months prior and I was attempting to regain faith in an institution that had severely maligned me, but that I still believed I was supposed to be a part of. (Part of a longer story, which you can read here.) My neighbor at the time, a fellow church member, had a phobia of driving and had never gotten a driver's license. Her daughter had a dentist's appointment and as part of trying to prove my Christlikeness and regain my testimony, I had given them a ride. In the waiting room, I came across an issue of National Geographic with the cover story titled "Was Darwin Wrong?"
I'd been raised in a church that tells its members they are "duty bound" to accept the biblical account of creation. This was reinforced by my mother's explanation of science's need to "catch up" with scripture. I picked up the article expecting to find out that Darwin was wrong, because, you know, scripture is always right and sooner or later those silly scientists come around and figure that out.
Instead, the article laid out Darwin's case and all the overwhelming evidence supporting it. Reading that well over a hundred years of research was still backing up Darwin was shocking to me.
A major support beam in an already-rickety scaffolding had just been knocked out of place. You mean Mom was wrong? Wow. What else was she wrong about?
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday Funny: Lewis Black says Glenn Beck has Nazi Tourette's
Warning: Viewing this video may cause side-splitting, snorting laughter. Stephen Colbert has a few words about Beck, too.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's | ||||
| ||||
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
"Faith" is fine invention
I <3 the Poetry Foundation.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
“Faith” is fine invention (202)
“Faith” is a fine invention
For Gentlemen who see!
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
TED Talk Tuesday: Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks
No man or woman is an island. Your influence in the world is greater than you might realize. You can't not affect others; you can only choose whether your influence is positive or negative. This talk made me want to be more conscious about what I'm putting out there.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Looking for more atheist friends?
There's a new fan page (or I guess they're "like" pages now) on Facebook: You're an Atheist? add me & let's be friends!
Have fun with it!
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
Have fun with it!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Christianity: Not appropriate for children.
There's a Baptist church a few blocks from my house that we drive past pretty frequently. A couple of years ago when my oldest son was first learning his letters, he would point at the cross on the church's sign and say, "T!" Dad and I thought it was cute and let it go at that.
We left the LDS church when this boy was about six months old. His exposure to religion since then has been minimal. I dabbled in Protestant churches off and on for a couple of years after leaving Mormonism and would sometimes take my son with me. He's been to churches for some weddings and funerals of extended family members. That's about it. We haven't "pushed" atheism on him (nor do we intend to), but our son is currently non-religious by default.
Last week, we were driving by aforementioned Baptist church when my son--who turns six next month--asked, "What does the 't' mean?"
"That means it's a church," I said.
"But 'church' starts with 'c-h'." Smart, that kid is.
"Well, the 't' is actually a cross and that means it's a Christian church. That means it's for people who believe in Jesus."
"Jesus died in Fargo?"
I couldn't help giggling at this, but I was also curious. We live in a heavily Christian part of the country and my son has Christian friends. I wondered what he may have heard. "What do you know about Jesus?" I asked.
"Nothing," he replied. (Though I can't be sure that's entirely accurate. "Nothing" is also his response to "What did you do at school today?")
I thought about telling him the Christian story, just so he knows what it's about and why Christian churches have crosses. But then I paused as I realized that this would involve telling him about a man who was whipped and beaten and then had nails driven through his hands and feet and hung on a cross for several agonizing hours before dying. Sure, I wouldn't go into that much detail, but it's kind of hard to explain the cross without explaining the crucifixion, which is brutal and graphic. My son is very sweet and gentle. I want to preserve that innocence a bit longer.
Nope, I think he's too young to hear about the crucifixion of Christ, just like I think he's too young for Batman or James Bond. Maybe when you're older, son.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
We left the LDS church when this boy was about six months old. His exposure to religion since then has been minimal. I dabbled in Protestant churches off and on for a couple of years after leaving Mormonism and would sometimes take my son with me. He's been to churches for some weddings and funerals of extended family members. That's about it. We haven't "pushed" atheism on him (nor do we intend to), but our son is currently non-religious by default.
Last week, we were driving by aforementioned Baptist church when my son--who turns six next month--asked, "What does the 't' mean?"
"That means it's a church," I said.
"But 'church' starts with 'c-h'." Smart, that kid is.
"Well, the 't' is actually a cross and that means it's a Christian church. That means it's for people who believe in Jesus."
"Jesus died in Fargo?"
I couldn't help giggling at this, but I was also curious. We live in a heavily Christian part of the country and my son has Christian friends. I wondered what he may have heard. "What do you know about Jesus?" I asked.
"Nothing," he replied. (Though I can't be sure that's entirely accurate. "Nothing" is also his response to "What did you do at school today?")
I thought about telling him the Christian story, just so he knows what it's about and why Christian churches have crosses. But then I paused as I realized that this would involve telling him about a man who was whipped and beaten and then had nails driven through his hands and feet and hung on a cross for several agonizing hours before dying. Sure, I wouldn't go into that much detail, but it's kind of hard to explain the cross without explaining the crucifixion, which is brutal and graphic. My son is very sweet and gentle. I want to preserve that innocence a bit longer.
Nope, I think he's too young to hear about the crucifixion of Christ, just like I think he's too young for Batman or James Bond. Maybe when you're older, son.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
TED Talk Tuesday: Eve Ensler: happiness in body and soul
The creator of the Vagina Monologues shares where the project took her, what she learned about women's experiences, finding happiness in spite of all the suffering in the world, and gave me a newfound appreciation of vanilla ice cream.
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.
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