Subtle Creationist Propoganda

Creationists have taken to handing out edited copies of Darwin's On the Origin of Species for free to people as a way to argue for creationism. This is just plain dirty. Is it time for us to hand out edited copies of the Bible as evidence for how flawed their religion is?

The (Lack Of) Power Of Prayer

Do you believe prayer can cure a sick person? Don't be like this guy and let your sick daughter die. I feel terrible for the little girl and I hope her parents enjoy prison.

U.N. Attacks Freedom of Speech?

The United Nations has sunk pretty low by passing a resolution urging nations to pass laws outlawing the criticism of religion. Obviously, the U.N. can't dictate the laws of sovereign nations, but this certainly makes a major statement about how blindly religious the world is.

The right resolution to pass would be one that encouraged member nations to pass laws protecting the criticism of religion. Encouraging people to be closed-minded is horrible because people being closed-minded is what leads to wars.

An Atheist Meets God

Cute little animation depicting an atheist meeting god. It raises a lot of really good points, of course, too:

Intelligent Design As Science

Apparently Ben Stein has a movie coming out discussing the persecution of intelligent design by scientists. There really shouldn't be such a huge fuss over intelligent design.

1. Should intelligent design be taught in basic science classrooms? No. The theory of evolution is the theory that is generally accepted by the scientific community. There is no more room for intelligent design in classrooms than the theory I just made up about how people are on earth because we were painted into existence in a giant piece of canvas by a crazy artist in another dimension.

2. Should scientists be permitted to write papers that consider intelligent design? Sure. They better have good scientific evidence supporting their theories. There was a time when evolution was the minority opinion and was greeted with hostility as well. Scientific progress comes from people coming up with new ideas and testing them.

3. Is evolution "just a theory?" Yes. However, theories studied through the scientific process carry a lot more weight when they have a huge body of evidence backing it from the work of countless scientists working to find the truth. Evolution has a lot of scientific research supporting it. Intelligent design is also "just a theory." However, the very nature of this theory is nearly impossible to support scientifically, so it will likely not be a seriously considered scientific theory in the foreseeable future.

4. Why is everyone so upset? A lot of the bad taste in people's mouths about this issue come from the notion that some religious people may be using intelligent design as a way to sneak religion into science classrooms. Religion should not be a part of public school education since our country grants religious freedom. Religious people need to clear their heads and accept this.

5. Is there room for religion to peacefully coexist with science? Sure. It is pretty much impossible for science to ever answer all our questions because every question that is answered inevitably leads to more questions. Furthermore, religion gives people answers to questions beyond science, like morality.

Bush's Crusade

The war in Iraq has always seemed to be a bit of a "crusade" as Bush inappropriately called it early on. Apparently even among our soldiers, there is some religious discrimination against non Christians. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? Under Bush's reign, the line has gotten more and more blurred.

Religious freedom should be one of our nation's basic tenets. The virulent and intolerant nature of most religions must be held in check by our government or we risk becoming a theocracy.