Pat Robertson stumbles over a low bar

I do enjoy how it becomes newsworthy when an ignorant public figure finally figures out the obvious. In this recent case reported by CNN, Pat Robertson finally admitted that the earth is a lot older than 6,000 years.

Televangelist Pat Robertson challenged the idea that Earth is 6,000 years old this week, saying the man who many credit with conceiving the idea, former Archbishop of Ireland James Ussher, “wasn’t inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years.” “You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things, and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas,” Robertson said. “They're out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth, and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don't try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That's not the Bible.”
Update November 30, 2012. Here's more. I wonder how many enslaved minds are going to wake up thanks to Robertson's declaration of the obvious.

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Because he says so

The Pope just declared that it is historical fact that Mary gave birth even though she was a virgin. I guess that settles that. Strange things, these religious declarations. I'd love to have all Catholics vote by secret ballot: Was Mary really a virgin? Yes or No. My guess is that 80% of Catholics would say no. Not that this means that the Pope can't be a leader. Leaders are traditionally able and willing to tell the blatant kinds of lies that keep them in power. Still, it's stunning to hear a grown man claim that he knows something that he doesn't know and, in fact, is impossible

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Looking Forward?

As usual, Florida is still undecided, a mess. According to NPR, though, it is leaning heavily toward Obama, despite the shenanigans of the state GOP in suppressing the vote. I didn’t watch last night. Couldn’t. We went to bed early. But then Donna got up around midnight and woke me by a whoop of joy that I briefly mistook for anguish. To my small surprise and relief, Obama won. I will not miss the constant electioneering, the radio ads, the tv spots, the slick mailers. I will not miss keeping still in mixed groups about my politics (something I am not good at, but this election cycle it feels more like holy war than an election). I will not miss wincing every time some politician opens his or her mouth and nonsense spills out. (This is, of course, normal, but during presidential years it feels much, much worse.) I will not miss… Anyway, the election came out partially the way I expected, in those moments when I felt calm enough to think rationally. Rationality seemed in short supply this year and mine was sorely tasked. So now, I sit here sorting through my reactions, trying to come up with something cogent to say. I am disappointed the House is still Republican, but it seems a number of the Tea Party robots from 2010 lost their seats, so maybe the temperature in chambers will drop a degree or two and some business may get done. Gary Johnson, running as a Libertarian, pulled 350,000 votes as of nine last night. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, got around 100,000. (Randall Terry received 8700 votes, a fact that both reassures me and gives me shivers—there are people who will actually vote for him?) Combined, the independent candidates made virtually no difference nationally. Which is a shame, really. I’ve read both Stein’s and Johnson’s platforms and both of them are willing to address the problems in the system. Johnson is the least realistic of the two and I like a lot of the Green Party platform. More . . .

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Churches and Candidates

Through no effort of my own, I receive email bulletins from the Christian Coalition, an unabashedly theocratic (and more covertly white-centric) political action committee, yet somehow still tax free (503-(c)4). The latest email tells people to bring voters their guides to church. Their splash page practically forces you to download it. I am of the opinion that churches that want representation like this should be amenable to taxation. Naturally they argue that just because every member shills for their platform, the churches should not be held accountable. Can this be remedied? Discussion?

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Celebrating the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

What better way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel than to allow Funmentionable's Michael Morris to be your tour guide as to the paintings and the biblical stories behind the paintings. And the stories will be much more believable to you if you have been well-indoctrinated since birth and if you are as sober as Noah when you read these stories.

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