Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
I’ve blogged about these folks before here … what prompts me to return to the subject is an article in today’s UK Guardian. It is actually a reprint from the New Yorker, they have re-printed it because they felt it was that good, and I agree, so I’m pointing you at it. Should you be … Read more
Yep, its that time of year again folks …
Once upon a time long long ago … there existed a magical garden that had been created by a supernatural entity, and into this garden it put the first man and first woman that ever lived. Sadly the woman was tricked by a talking snake into eating some fruit, and so the magical super-entity became angry and tossed the pair out.
[roll forward in time to about 2,000 years ago]
Now this little post is to simply amuse you, and is not designed to actually inform, except to perhaps enable you to laugh and my foolish attempts to engage with an utterly irrational believer on a rational basis.
The context here is that I’ve been attempting to explain to him the historical facts regarding the four gospels and that the only actual claim that jesus = god emerges in the Gospel of John (written about 95 CE). I’ve also explained that the phrase “son-of-God” does not in any way imply that Jesus = God, but rather that it is a Jewish belief that an individual is simply claiming to have been adopted by God as a son (like King David was).
However, what truly astonished me is that the sticking point was his claim that Jesus was Worshiped, hence he was God.
All parents will strive to do what is best for their kids, so when faced with a photograph of a mother cradling her naked baby accompanied by the words: “Vaccines: Know the risks.” it gains some attention. The image is faded out, and then replaced by the Statue of Liberty and “Vaccination. Your Health. Your Family. Your Choice.”, how would any parent react?
The ad links to Mercola and NVIC websites full of articles blaming common ingredients in vaccines for a number of health problems from breast cancer to infertility. The very seed of doubt is enough to cause any concerned parent to pause and opt not to vaccinate.
The only problem is that it is all an outright lie.
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?