Posted on September 13, 2009 by Michael
Maureen Dowd has an op-ed in The New York Times. It’s about that whiny little brat who cannot apparently read or understand any legislation relating to the health care bill, Joe Wilson. You know the guy, he yelled “You lie!” when Obama said illegal immigrants wouldn’t be covered by any reformed health care. Yeah, he’s a full-fledged moron. But his problems with intelligence may run deeper than that.
Now [Obama’s] at the center of a period of racial turbulence sparked by his ascension. Even if he and the coterie of white male advisers around him don’t choose to openly acknowledge it, this president is the ultimate civil rights figure — a black man whose legitimacy is constantly challenged by a loco fringe.
I have to disagree with one point: the majority of the racist, bigoted, poorly educated Republican party which cannot accept being led by a black man isn’t exactly the “fringe”.
Filed under: Politics and Social | Tagged: Health care, Joe Wilson, Maureen Dowd, Obama, Republicans are morons, The New York Times, You lie | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 13, 2009 by Michael
What happens when the same number of people pray for something as pray against it? How does God decide whose prayer to answer? Does the total number of people praying for or against something matter? How about the righteousness of the supplicants? Are positive prayers answered more frequently than negative ones? Does God take the positive ones and Satan the negative? Does the intensity of the praying have any effect on the outcome? Does the length of time one devotes to praying have any effect on the frequency with which one’s prayers are answered? Do the words and phrases used in the prayer — either positive or negative — have any bearing on the success rate? Does the nature of the thing or things prayed for have any bearing on the prayer’s success rate — either positive or negative prayers? Why or why not??
~Robert A. Baker
Unfortunately for the bankrupt ‘field’ of theology, there is no way to internally resolve these issues. Of course, science could go ahead and make various measurements – afterall, the claim being made by most people who believe in prayer is that prayer has an affect on the real world. That places it firmly in the purview of scientific study. And indeed, science has studied prayer, so it can actually provide more answers to these questions than religions can. And the answer? Prayer produces no effect on the real world. Some studies show statistically insignificant positive results, other show the opposite, and many show that prayer is no more effective than pure chance.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Prayer efficacy, Robert Baker | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 