Thought of the day

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Michael

I’m almost certain I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: In the same-sex marriage debate, it is often put forth that denying gays the right to marry is like when the majority was in the business of denying the right to interracial marriage. If that is true (and it is – it’s uncanny how much alike the arguments are), then we ought to find ourselves willing to commit to the terminology (or to like terminology) we would apply to anyone still against interracial marriage today. The most apt term is “bigot”. Let’s not shy from utilizing it.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Gay rejection stay in place

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Michael

As expected, a federal appeals court has issued a stay in regards to DADT.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily granted the U.S. government’s request for a freeze on a judge’s order requiring the military to allow openly gay troops.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed lawyers for the gay rights group that brought the lawsuit successfully challenging the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to file arguments in response by Monday.

This isn’t the worst setback in the world. It’s merely a matter of time before equality is granted to all U.S. citizens wishing to serve in the military. We’ll be a safer nation for it.

Filed under: News, Rights | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

Thought of the day

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Michael

Finally.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

U.S. military: Open to gays

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Michael

Finally.

The military is accepting openly gay recruits for the first time in the nation’s history, even as it tries in the courts to slow the movement to abolish its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

At least two service members discharged for being gay began the process to re-enlist after the Pentagon’s Tuesday announcement.

Unfortunately, there still exists the possibility of this policy changing (though probably only temporarily), so many civil rights groups for gays are advising that people don’t come out of the closet just yet. It takes time to tear down blind bigotry.

Filed under: News, Rights | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Thought of the day

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Michael

Facts:

1) The Bible is internally inconsistent.
2) The Bible is historically inaccurate.
3) The Bible was subjectively written by men.
4) The Bible has been and is poorly translated.
5) The Bible was subjectively put together by men.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

To play the miracle game

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Michael

Miracles do conflict with science. But we can still discuss them. Well, most of us.

1. All theologies that accept miracles admit they are exceptional events. That’s what “miracle” means. So if there’s a possible natural explanation of an phenomenon, we go with the natural explanation.
2. If you stand to gain from explaining something away as a miracle, you don’t get to play.
* If you’re from Enron, you don’t get to claim your documents disappeared miraculously. It only happened if the FBI and the SEC said it did.
* If you’re a defendant, you don’t get to claim your fingerprints miraculously appeared at a crime scene. Only the DA is allowed to say that.
* If you’re a bookkeeper, you don’t get to say money miraculously disappeared from your company. If the auditors conclude that’s what happened, all right, but not you.
* If your religion needs to postulate a miracle to keep some doctrine from going south, guess what? You don’t get to do that. Only someone with nothing to gain from claiming a miracle can say that.

Filed under: Religions | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

Hang gliding over Mt. Ascutney

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Michael

It was an awesome experience and I highly recommend it. Ya know, at least if you like flying 2500 feet over New Hampshire, looking into Vermont (the far side of the river in the picture), then I suppose you should do it.

Contact Morningside Flight Park and go.

Filed under: Atheism/Humanism | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Scale of the Universe

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Michael

There’s an amazing interactive application I just came across which shows the scale of the Universe. It ranges from strings up to the entirety of the Cosmos (i.e., beyond merely what we can observe). Give it some time to look through all the graphics; it’s pretty mind boggling.

via Starts With A Bang.

Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Religiously-based divide in Germany

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Michael

As usual, religion is spurring divide in the world. And, without surprise, Christianity is the aggressor.

Germany’s attempt to create a multi-cultural society has failed completely, Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, calling on the country’s immigrants to learn German and adopt Christian values.

Merkel weighed in for the first time in a blistering debate sparked by a central bank board member saying the country was being made “more stupid” by poorly educated and unproductive Muslim migrants.

“Multikulti”, the concept that “we are now living side by side and are happy about it,” does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam near Berlin.

“This approach has failed, totally,” she said, adding that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany’s culture and values.

“We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don’t accept them don’t have a place here,” said the chancellor.

Hitler’s (creationist) Christian values didn’t work out too well for Germany. Nor have Christian values led to better nations, families, or individuals in general. The fire of this religiously-based divide that Merkel is stoking isn’t going to lead to a better world; homogeneity is a concept foreign to the religious realm. Every attempt to attain such a state has led to death and suffering and evil.

Oh, and the “Christian values” Merkel wants would mean she couldn’t be a world leader.

Filed under: News, Religions | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Thought of the day

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Michael

Thank goodness atheist Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to New Jersey schools.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , | 7 Comments »

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