The puzzle goes like this: young student actor Wiley Wiggins, star of the trippy, philosophical film Waking Life, walks into a bar. There he finds University of Texas Professor of Philosophy Louis Mackey, who muses on two kinds of human suffering: those that suffer from an “overabundance of life”, like…
Gays' enjoyment of drinking fountains undermines MY enjoyment of drinking fountains. Therefore, we need a "Defense of Drinking Fountains" Amendment to the United States Constitution. I'm simply extending this Administration's logic, you see. As Mr. Bush said “Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them. And changing the…
You might think that social conservatives, especially those in the so-called "pro-life" crowd, would welcome the use of a new vaccine that is virtually 100% effective against two deadly strains of cervical cancer that account for 70% of such cancer deaths and that kill over 3,700 women each year. Unfortunately,…
Imagine for a moment that you go into your neighbor's home one day and discover a large homemade bomb sitting in the middle of his living room. "Don't touch that." your neighbor tells you, "If you do, the bomb will explode and our entire block will be destroyed." How would…
I love that there are people like Erich Vieth in the world, people who take the time to refute dangerous “fact” spouters like the Creationists who got themselves powered up to the top of the Google listings for vestigial organs. I love that he researches so thoroughly and carefully points out the enormous flaws in what passes for logic in the world of the fanatical faithful. They need to be pointed out, those flaws. Because in recent years, their voices have become very, very loud. And often, unfortunately, loud wins. Especially when loud is accompanied by legislation, or worse, explosives.
Seems fanatics, whether they be Christian, Muslim or otherwise, are dead-set on yelling the loudest and therefore claiming victory. It pains me. It obviously pains lots of people; even most flocks of the faithful can see that anything carried too far becomes dangerous. People like Erich, or Al Franken, say, do good work. I applaud them.
I, on the other hand, might be more likely to just cover my ears and say “la-la-la-la-LA-I-CAN’T-HEAR-YOU!”
Yeah, yeah, I know, not particularly effective in the battle against ignorance. It’s just that I get soooo tired of it. Of the fighting, of the rhetoric, of the nonsense that parades as so much religion and the often arrogant verbosity working to knock down the many points of faith, one at a time, but not being heard because, after all, if you believe, you don’t need proof. Or un-proof, as it were.
I happen …
