Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
No, Christopher Hitchens has not had a sudden conversion, but he has indeed written an article within the May edition of vanity Fair in full support of the Bible. He argues that our language and culture are incomplete without this 400-year-old book—the King James translation of the Bible. It was spurned by the Establishment, so it really represents a triumph for rebellion and dissent.
Here are a couple of extracts …
With specific beliefs it is oh so easy to be 100% sure that you have irrefutable proof that you are in possession of the truth. Anybody who cannot see it simply does not have all the information you have. Its funny because that truly is the way logic works for some, and I should know.As … Read more
Paula Kirby has written an article you should read, its important. I point you towards it, not just to marvel at how well it is written (it is), and to skim it for all of thirty seconds, then promptly wipe it from memory, but instead suggest you seriously digest it and give it some thought.
It very much relates to half the human population on this planet being deemed to be inferior.
“The discrimination against women on a global basis is very often attributable to the declaration by religious leaders in Christianity, Islam, and other religions that women are inferior in the eyes of God,” former President Jimmy Carter said last week. Many traditions teach that while both men and women are equal in value, God has ordained specific roles for men and women. Those distinct duties often keep women out of leadership positions in their religious communities. What is religion’s role in gender discrimination?
Whenever engaged in a debate with believers a common question that often arises is, “How do you explain life, what started it all?”
OK then, lets step back see where we are today. To start off, here is an interesting article on the origin of life on The Daily Galaxy here …
It’s paradoxical that as our leading microbiologists look to create the building blocks of life in Earth-bound labs, our Universe is alive with the building blocks for DNA and RNA. The giant gas nebula in outer space are rife with sugars that form ribose –the backbone of RNA. There’s no rational reason why the system of DNA and RNA that shaped life on Earth should be limited to our remote biosphere.
They appear to have been having a bit of fun at the Edinburgh Science Festival. As a side note, thats running from 8-22 April, so if you are in the area, then you might like to check it out, details can be found here.
Anyway, so what happens when you get a bunch of science folks together? Well, they came up with an idea for a blind test to see if Wine costing less than £5 a bottle can have the same effect on the palate as those priced up to six times as much. Now since this is a psychological taste challenge you just know that Professor Richard Wiseman has got to be in the mix somewhere, and sure enough he is, his students ran the test and he announced the results. [As another side note, Richard is not only a truly cool bloke, and a leading skeptic in the UK, but also has some very well-written books you might like to check out, I’ll give you a few links later].
Two Catholic Related news items caught my eye today …
There is a news report here, that the number of Catholic priests accused of child sexual abuse and the number of victims rose significantly in 2010 …
The bishops’ report said there were 426 victims last year, up from 398 in 2009, while the number of priests accused went up from 286 to 345. Those numbers are down from highs of 889 victims and 622 offending clergy members in 2004.