The Sceptical Preacher

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Trying out a new blog hosting service

At the moment I'm trying out a new blogging service so new content will most likely appear there. Come and visit at wordpress. It's shiny and it's got words and stuff.

A break-through in vetinary science

I fully support the work being done by the good people over at The British Veterinary Voodoo Society. I only wish they were applying principles of Voodoo to human health. Based on the British Government's willingness to use tax-payer's money to fund homeopathy and other alternative treatments, I'm sure Voodoo would be available on the NHS.

Boots again - commercial secrets

Imagine this conversation. Paul: 4 out of 5 people who take this medicince will get better! Sue: How did you test that to find out it was so effective? Paul: That's a secret, it's comercially sensitive information. Sue: Why is that sensitive. All I want to know is how you tested it to prove it's efficacy? Paul: I can't tell you Sue: So I just have to trust you Paul: Yes. Trust Paul. This is the kind of conversation I Just had with Boots The Chemist regards claims they make for their alternative medicine products. The full story is Trust Boots. The company slogan for Boots is Trust Boots. It seems they really do mean that you have to just trust them because you sure as hell aren't any evidence.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

When fiction collides with fiction

People are complaining about a work of fiction since they believe that some people take it seriously. Some have suggested that it should even carry a health warning since they think that people won't be able to separate reality from fiction. This is what a large number of us have been saying about the Bible for years but this isn't what the news article is about. It's Christians complaining about the Da Vinci Code film. Some are demanding a ban, others wanting blasphemous scenes cut. It's like Star Trek fans protesting against the new Star Wars films on the basis that it's going to make people doubt the truth of Star Trek. A man in India is on hunger strike to try to stop the film. I haven't yet quite seen a good explanation for why God is too bloody lazy to come and make his wishes known. Instead he replies on self-appointed delusional people to threaten suicide in order to get his way. Here's something odd I noticed. The story has been updated. A group taking the lead in the hunger strikes and calling on others to starve themselves to death is the Catholic Secular Forum. Joseph Dias is their general secretary and so seems to be leading this little stunt. From looking at the announcements it would look like he's been on hunger strike since around the 10th of May. He was recently quoted as saying I will continue my fast until they ban the film. India seem unlikely to ban the film. This means that within the next 60 days or so one of two things will happen. Mr Diaz will prove himself a liar and find an excuse for breaking his word and end his hunger strike or he will kill himself all because a film upset him. Bloody hell, priorities people!! I'm wondering what on earth the Catholic Secular Forum is? Wouldn't this be like forming the "Vegan Meat Eaters Forum"? Presumably they focus on non-religious topics. Going on a hunger strike because a flim offends your religious sensibilities doesn't sound very secular to me. Telling people to risk permanent damage to thier health or even death for such a cause doesn't sound terrible secular either. Based on these protests and the rather religious tone of their slightly loopy leader, I can't see how these people are secular in any way at all. They seem to be good old fashioned conservatives/fundamentalists. On a slightly more optimistic note it seems that Islam isn't going to stand alone when it comes to issuing death threats and offering rewards to the faithful assassin who can execute blasphemers. Already Dan Brown has a number of rewards on his head. Hindus have also been getting in on the fatwa game. As always, it's not God issuing these rewards. It seems to be self-appointed guardians of the faith.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Tired, very tired accusations against atheism

Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian posted a response to Richard Dawkins' recent documentary series The Root of All Evil? It's an interesting piece if you ignore the bizarre claims. Let's look at these.

There's an underlying anxiety that atheist humanism has failed. Over the 20th century, atheist political regimes racked up an appalling (and unmatched) record for violence. Atheist humanism hasn't generated a compelling popular narrative and ethic of what it is to be human and our place in the cosmos; where religion has retreated, the gap has been filled with consumerism, football, Strictly Come Dancing and a mindless absorption in passing desires.

This could just as easilly have been written by an Iranian cleric. Firstly, the claim regarding atheist regimes is just plain nonsensical. What on earth is an atheist regime? Presumably she's referring to the communist countries or maybe even Nazi Germany? Neither of these were based on atheism. Communism required atheism but this doesn't make it any more an atheist regime that you could call Idi Amin's regime a 'black regime'. Note the comment about desires as I think this is where we get a further insight in to her thinking. Complaints about people giving in to 'desires' is an accusation commonly heard spewing from the mouth of the religious fundamentalist. The complaint that all humanism has offered is trivia such as football and consumerism is false. I know humanists and have seen their comittment to their fellow man. Consumerism isn't the fault of humanism. Look at the US. According to this survey, 9 out of 10 American adults surveyed said that they believed in God. America is arguably one of the most consumerism obsessed countries in the world. Why has this happened if there are so many religious folk? There are countries where religion rules and consumerism is held at bay. These places are run but strict religious rules that frown upon this corrupting western influence. Iran is a good example and quite topical. She complains about Dawkins' assertion that segregated schooling based on religion is divisive and responsible for conflict. She also argues against his belief that it's cruel to 'give' a religion to a child before they can think for themselves. In both these cases, you don't have to think much to realise that Dawkins is indeed on to something here. Consider this Education. You are taught from a very early age that your religion is the only true one. You are told that people who don't believe in your god will go to hell. You are told that if you are bad, you will be tortured for eternity in hell. Your religion teaches that unbelievers are hated by your god. All of these lessons can be found in the Bible. Raise a child based on this and how do you think they cope when faced with children taught an opposing belief? A simple question but a fair one I think. On the other hand, if the child is taught that all humans are just regular people with the same basic rights, do you think they will have a more balanced outlook? She's right that conflict is based on more than religion and that religion is simply a useful way of forming groups but you can't argue against the claim that religion is divisive. How on earth can religious leaders claim to respect the views of opposing religions when their holy texts require them to believe the complete opposite? On a slightly different note, I think the following link provides an insight in to Bunting's haphazard and poorly considered opinion pieces. Enlighten me It's a long read but I'd suggest you read what she posted originally, read the comments from readers and then the comment she finally posts. Her original posts shows either a misunderstanding or a complete willingness to revise history. When drawn on this, she doesn't respond to the specific points raised by readers. She explains how she is a poor journalist and that everyone is being mean to her.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

www.msncheck.net is it legit?

Someone sent me a link to MSNCheck.net. At this stage I'm not sure if it's a legit service or not. They claim to be able to scan your MSN Messenger account to find out who has deleted you from their friends list. Why you'd want to know this is beyond me but let's look at the page. First is asks for your username and password. The site itself doesn't explain why they need this or what they will do with this information. Even if they are performing the service they advertise, it's risky as hell to provide this information to an unknown third-party website. The only source of information is an email address. On the site they have this helpful text.

If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions etc. contact us at the following email address [samo at v-i-p.ca]

They have obfuscated the email address to avoid spam. This is a fairly wise idea but the method used is rather crude. It's far more professional to use one of the following methods. 1) Use a contact form built-in to the site. 2) Disguise the email address using Java Script. This way, users still have 'click to email' functionality but spammers can't easily harvest the email address. 3) Use decent spam filtering. If you're posting an email address on site then you should have decent spam filtering. Once they have your details, how do you know that they don't store them? Would you really want to allow a complete stranger access to your MSN Messenger account? Since many people have the same sign-in details for their email, you could be handing them complete access to this also. They could harvest contact details from your address book and use these for whatever purpose they wanted to. As always, the best advice is to avoid providing important information to unknown people or sites. I could set-up a site tomorrow advertising a similar service and how would you know whether or not I am genuine. If these people are providing a genuine service then I think they need to improve their site to reassure their users of their intent. I'm wondering though, why would you want to find out if people have blocked you or removed you from their friends lists? I'd suspect that not hearing from them or being unable to send them messages would be a hint.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Trust Boots? Your high-street destination for voodoo

Inspired by this article on the James Randi site, I decided to try an experiment. Boots, a UK chain of stores, has a reputation in this country. They started as a chemist but have since expanded to sell just about anything. In their adverts, they play on this reputation. Their slogan is Trust Boots. Unfortunately, trusting Boots would be a very bad idea. Boots stock a rather extensive range of what can politely described as complementary medicine. If you're rational though you'd simply call it fraudulent products designed to separate the gullible from their money. Trust Boots indeed... This range includes items such as the Silent Knight Ring. A wonderful ring that works on ancient principles of acupressure. It's ancient so it must be good, right? If you still have money left after buying this junk you can treat yourself to some homeopathic medicine. I noticed this particular product. Boots Alternatives Snoring Remedy Here is what Boots say about this product.

An easy to use spray formula, helps to relieve snoring. A combination of essential oils to help stop snoring. Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users. Spray Formula.   Please read the product packaging before use. Seek professional advice before using if you suffer from epilepsy, skin allergies, are pregnant or are using homoeopathic remedies. Asthmatics should avoid direct inhalation.

I sent Boots an email asking for advice before buying this product. I explained that since homoepathic remedies are essentially just water, is it safe for someone who consumes water on a regular basis to use this product. Here is their response.

Thank you for contacting us at boots.com regarding the Boots Alternatives Snoring Remedy. I'm afraid we can not answer questions of a medical nature due to the specialist knowledge that is needed. I suggest you speak to a local pharmacist or GP and they will be able to help you.

An understandable reply really since I am asking for some rather in-depth medical advice. In response, I've sent them this email.

Please could you answer these questions as I'm interested in this product http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1021333&classificationid=1035989&slmRefer=000 The web site makes this claim. "An easy to use spray formula, helps to relieve snoring. A combination of essential oils to help stop snoring. Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users. Spray Formula." Would you be able to point me in the direction of published research in a peer reviewed scientific paper that backs this up. If a paper is not specific to the product, perhaps a reference to a paper that discusses the essential oils that you use and explains how they have been tested? Research endorsed by the BMJ, Lancet or the Royal Society would be excellent since they would by quite authoritative. Ideally, have you published the research undertaken to arrive at the '4 out of 5' figure? I'd like to know who carried out the testing and also the parameters of the test. Thanks again, I appreciate your time.

== Update 21/5/2006 == I received the following response.

Thank you for contacting me regarding our Alternatives Stop Snoring Spray. I understand your concerns and I appreciate you letting me know how you feel. I have contacted our healthcare team and they have advised me that this product works by coating the back of the throat with a mixture of essential oils which then helps to stop the snoring. I am unable to provide you with details of Boots research information as this is commercially sensitive. However, I would like to reassure you that all our wording is in line with the current UK legislation and all our claims are legal. Also all of the claims are checked thoroughly by our internal legal and medical experts.

So, you can see that this reply doesn't really make sense. I asked them how they tested the product to arrive at the "Effective in reducing snoring for 4 out of 5 users" figure. They say they can't tell me because it's a trade secret? How on earth is this comercially sensitive? I'm not asking them to tell me how to make the the stuff, just how they tested it. It looks like if I want to take this any further I'll need to phone them or consult Trading Standards to find out if this is legal.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Toyah Wilcox and the scientific merits of astrology - not many it seems.

Toyah Wilcox introduces us to the magic of Astrology. The article begins on a high-note.

I have studied astrology for the past 20 years and it has become a part of my lifestyle. On certain levels, it is a science. I follow a Moon diary, a Sun diary and where Mercury is throughout the year. It goes into retrograde three times a year - the last time was 2 to 25 March - and anyone working with computers or cars will experience some kind of breakdown at these times.

Astrology is no more scientific than slaughtering an animal and making a decision based on an examination of the entrails. As someone who works in tech support, I unfortunately haven't seen evidence of an increase in the rate of computer failures caused by the cheeky actions of Mercury. As someone who owns and works with quite a few computers and electrical items, you'd think I would be very likely to experience a breakdown based on her claim that "anyone working with computers or cars will experience some kind of breakdown at these times".

The phases of the Moon give tangible evidence of astrology; people with mental sensitivities and depressive people are undoubtedly affected by the full moon.

There is no evidence for this, it's an urban legend better explain by the Skeptics Dictionary. Some people may be affected by the moon, you can't dispute that. The problem is, this doesn't provide any evidence for astrology. Take this example.. A person with mental-health issues can be affected by a large number of things. If you are a nervous person, a noise heard late at night can give you a fright. Does this mean that there is evidence for ghosts or proof that there is an intruder in your house? I think not - Correlation does not prove causality. You could note that since global warming has increased while the pirate population has decreased, there is a link between the two. This clearly can't be established without evidence. You can't connect mental-health issues with astrology without sound evidence. Toyah leaves us with this advice.

"There is no way that horoscopes printed in newspapers can be totally accurate - they are too general and sometimes do not help the reputation of astrology at all. But I would recommend that anyone interested in astrology should keep a diary, noting down moods and days when they were creative or non-creative in work, and then look up the dates when Mercury was in retrograde and the dates of the full moon.

This is true. Newspaper horoscopes are proven to be nothing more than guesses. If you predict something for a large enough group of people, you will without doubt seem to score some hits. I predict that capricorns June is a good time for them to find love or a new friend. Although this will not apply to everyone, it will certainly apply to some. Those people who find love or a new friend will think "Wow, that's uncanny." Personal horoscopes are not much better. At least if someone is speaking to you, they can learn a bit about your personality and they can make predictions that fit you. Still, they're not using some supernatural powers, they are just good at reading and deceiving their audience. Her suggestion that you keep a diary almost seems plausible. After all, how can you argue with documented evidence? You can argue very easily. There are a number of ways in which you can convince yourself that astrology works. You are biased - you can't escape this fact. If you are expecting a particular day to be significant then you will notice events that would otherwise seem mundane. You will ignore facts that don't back-up your belief. This is a common mistake made when testing supernatural claims. Testing the claims of psychics is often flawed because a researcher allows their beliefs to determine what data are relevant and discard those considered unimportant. If the person being tested fails to chose the right card in 8 attempts but succeeds with 2, you can claim that there was an external influence affected the psychic. Good researchers recognise this fact and take steps to compensate for this. Toyah's test does not and will lead to nothing better than comforting anecdotes that will simply confirm what you want to believe. Toyah is free to believe that horoscopes work but it's pretty silly to claim a scientific basis. By making such claims, she joins the ranks of the Intelligent Design crowd, flat earthers and others who seem to revel in their scientific ignorance.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Is this really a basis for moral education

Despite what Christians may say about the Old Testament, it's still part of the Bible and it still describes the same God that they worship. This article takes a look at this and asks whether it's sensible for children to be exposed to it. Also, they question whether it's wise for the president of a modern western nation to admit that he draws guidance from it. Butterflies and Wheels. Is it logical to worship and glorify a genocidal lunatic who advocates the murder of woman and children when an army is at war.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

The future?

Ever wondered what the future could be like if the new-age/religious people have their way? This short story is an amusing yet strangely plausible account of a court case. Condemned to Repeat It. If you read this story but find it far fetched then look at recent events. In the UK, the government has tried to pass a law that would effectively make it illegal to criticise religion. In the US, there is a battle being fought to try to keep religious beliefs like Intelligent Design out of the science classroom. In some schools, teachers are afraid to teach about evolution because of the negative reaction they'll receive from religious parents. In the UK, Homeopathy is considered to ligitimate medical treatment. The government (with tax-payer's money) actually funds several homeopathy treatment centres. Remember that there is no scientific basis for homeopathy. Death threats issued because of cartoons. Remember that it wasn't just religious fanatics in some dirt-poor backwards country that were up in arms. Muslims who had been born in Europe were making threats of violence. Christians and members of western governments jumped on the condemnation bandwagon. Approximately 45% of Americans surveyed believing that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Some government agencies continue to rely on the polygraph test (otherwise known as the lie detector). This despite the fact that the polygraph is as scientific as trying to determine the truth but looking someone in the eye. Sure, you may be able to get an idea as to whether they are being honest or not but it's hardly evidence. Thankfully, most countries do not consider polygraph tests to be admissible in court. Some companies in the US however do use polygraph tests on their employees. Pyschics and mediums continue to ply their trade. This despite the fact that no psychic has every passed a proper scientific test of their ability. Tony Blair's UK government seems happy to allow young-earth creationists to run schools that are funded by the tax payer. The school's score well in testing so Mr Blair believes that it's okay for these schools to teach intelligent design alongside evolution in science classes. The principle of one of these schools was quoted as saying that "the Bible says clearly that homosexual activity is against God's design. I would indicate that to young folk." The Bible also considers mixed-race marriages to be sinful. Will he also be explaining this to children? Due to the noisy evangelical movement, the Royal Society felt the need to issue a statement endorsing evolution and dismissing intelligent design. Why such a prestigious body should even need to get involved in refuting religious belief disguised as science is beyond belief. Maybe his story isn't as far fetched as you'd think. I found this little gem in the James Randi SWIFT newsletter.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Miracle Man: John of God

Discovery channel in the UK are advertising a show called "Miracle Man: John of God". It's the story of a chap in South America who conducts a variation on Psychic Surgery. In some cases he scrapes the patients eye balls (for some unknown reason). In others he slashes their skin or sticks forceps up their noses (again, for some unknown reason). Like all faith healers, he has a devoted band of followers who believe that John of God, as he's known, is some kind of miracle worker. I haven't had the chance to see this documentary yet but I have seen the adverts. These adverts are sickening in the way that they present his healing feats as fact. There's not the slightest trace of scepticism. In a case where such claims are made, you'd think the documentary would be pitched as an investigation rather than a slavish puff-piece for this quack. I found a review of this show. Since I've not seen the show I can't be certain that this is an accurate review but there is one striking observation here. The review notes that there was very little scepticism shown. I hope Discovery aren't going to fall in to the same trap as Discovery Civilisation. Discovery Civilisation has been taken over by the woowoo brigade. They seem happy to focus in pseudo-science and endless programmes about psychics or ghosts. Is the glorification of faith healers harmless entertainment? No, it's very damaging. If you are very ill, you can't be expected to think straight. Imagine the amount of people who ignore gods all their lives but pray when they are really in trouble, i.e. when they think they could die. Consider people in this state of mind and consider the effect that this kind of documentary can have. People get false hope. They abandon medical treatment, they travel to this charlatan. It's not simply harmless fun, it gives credibility to these ghouls who prey on the gullible and desperate.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Another edition of Alive slithers through the letterbox

Yep, the latest edition of Alive, the insanely right wing 'burn the witch' Catholica newspaper has come through my door. We have quite a dreary selection on the cover. We have our family values story about women being discouraged from having children. This is a recurring theme since Alive seem concerned that there is too much use of contraception and not enough women being married and pregnant. Alive have managed to come to one amazing conclusion though. It seems that the 'new age' movement is in decline. How do they know this? Well, it's based on the number of people who attended the recent 'Body Mind Spirit' fair in Dublin. 'Body Mind Spirit' seems like the usual mish-mash of crystals, energy and beads. However, there is a problem with the claim made by Alive. They don't state any figures. They don't even say if the attendance is lower this year compared to any other year. That aside, there isn't much of interest. Their 'comedy' feature, Dumbag writes, criticises those who would try to interpret the Bible in a nice way. For example, people who claim that Slavery isn't actually a nice thing or perhaps those who believe that innocent people shouldn't be murdered on a whim. It's hell-fire and brimstone all the way with Alive. None of this touchy-feely 'live a good life and go to heaven' crap. You better follow those bloody rules to the letter or you're screwed. This article seems linked to a story in the paper that complained about Catholic organisations losing their identity. For example, aid agencies who commit the sin of providing contraceptives in third-world countries to try to halt the spread of AIDS. This newspaper may seem light-hearted at times but it's a damn sinister read at times. I'd suggest visiting their web site so you can see what I'm talking about here. I've contacted the Alive staff to ask them how they justify calling themselves a Newspaper when they run crap like this on their front page?

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Thank God for his plan

A house is on fire, there are children at the window screaming for help. A man walks past, he does nothing to help. All the occupants of the house die. After some investigation, the police locate this man. At a press conference, the police announce that the man is not to blame since this could be part of his plan that we can't understand. A serial killer is going around killing good and bad people at random. In some cases he kills them quickly, other people die slowly and in pain. Police find the culprit but allow him to go free as they think that this is part of God's plan. After all, he has used men as his tool to kill millions in the past. Bizarre but similar to what some people use to defend the Christian god when asked why he does nothing to prevent terrible suffering? Some would argue that that this god does help, there are testimonies to amazing cures and people gaining strength from him. These miracle cures though are nothing of the sort. Some people got better simply because it was possible. If miracle cures are possible (remember that Jesus cured leprosy and raised the dead) then why doesn't won't this god cure something simple as a missing limb?. You will hear a great deal about miracle cures in the media. What you don't hear about are the other 99.99% of cases where people didn't get cured. It's common to explain that bad things happen to good people because it's all part of God's plan, a plan that we can't understand since we're just mortals. Of course it's a useless answer, it doesn't help us at all. In the above example of the serial killer, should the police have accepted this as an explanation? I saw something amusing on TV last night. It was a fairly grim account of the rugby team who's plan crashed in the Andes, forcing them to eat the bodies of their dead fellow passengers to survive. It's what the film Alive was based on. This was a pretty tragic event as you can imagine. However, this doesn't stop some from feeling that this was a miracle of God that some people survived. The survival was highly improbable but difficult to see why God should be thanked even if he does exist. Look at the circumstances. 1) They were in a plane crash (not good) 2) The plan crashed in the icy mountains (also not good) 3) Many were killed during the crash of shortly afterwards (not good) 4) The survivors lived by eating the dead bodies (not good) 5) A small number of the passengers were eventually rescued (good) Notice the sequence of events here and the number of 'not good' facts. Although the survivors are correct to fell good about surviving, it seems odd to thank God. Wouldn't it have been easier for him to simply stop the plan from crashing in the first place? If God did intervene then why did he intervene in such an unpleasant way? Could he not have just ensured that a rescue team found them earlier or something? The answer to this is "We can't understand how God thinks, big plan blah blah blah".

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The Pyramid continues..

The 'Liberty' pyramid scheme continues to rage on in Cork, Ireland. I saw an advert in a shop window advertising a meeting for the group in a local pub. Considering around 12 million euro has been 'invested' in this scheme, it's going to bloody hurt when it finally collapses. So far the scheme has been running since last September which is an unusually long time but it's collapse is inevitable and once the 'investors' realise that 90% of them have lost their money or made nowhere near what they expected, it will be interesting to see how they react. For some this wake-up call will be a particularly cruel one since local financial institutions have reported a disturbing amount of borrowing going on, believed to be linked to this scheme. Although most people see this for what it is, there are still an alarming number of people in local forums considering investing. They'd be better off just taking their money to the local pub fruit machine.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Creationism at the tax-payers' expense.

Tony Blair seems happy for tax-payer funded education establishments in the UK to teach evolution as a 'faith-based' decision on par with creationism. Here is an extract from The British Humanist Association.

In March 02 Alice Mahon MP’s Early Day Motion on the teaching of creationism in schools attracted 48 signatures. When Jenny Tonge MP, on 13/3/02, asked the Prime Minister whether he was "happy to allow the teaching of creationism alongside Darwin's theory of evolution in state schools, Tony Blair replied that he was happy and that "it would be unfortunate if concerns about that issue were seen to remove the very strong incentive to ensure we get as diverse a school system as we properly can..." (Hansard, 13 Mar 2002, Column 886-7)

If diversity is the goal here then surely these schools should teach that the following theories are faith-based. Heliocentrism The theory of gravity Plate tectoncs The curriculum allows the teaching of creationism but it should be taught where it belongs, in a philosphy class, where it can be examined alongside the ideas of Descartes, Machiavelli and Plato. It has no place in a science class and it certainly should not be considered to be on a par with evolution. There is no scientific evidence for creationism, the vast majority of the scientific community believes in evolution (although areas of evolution are open to debate). The only people who flatly deny the theory of evolution are religious fundamentalists who read their holy texts literally. Based on a literal reading of the Bible, heliocentrism is untrue and spiders have four legs. One of the establishments in question has received glowing reports from the inspectors. This does not change the fact that their teaching of creationism is anti-science and intellectually stunting. Should we accept a Catholic-run school that has excellent maths results yet teaches children that the use of contraceptives is a sin? How about a school that has remarkable results in geography yet teaches that people who leave their religion are aspostates and so should be killed according to God's laws?

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Chain letters

This kind of follows on from the previous post about Pyramid Schemes. I've been fortunate to have not seen a chain letter for a long time now. Chain letters are those annoying emails you receive, asking you to forward them to as many people as you can to keep the chain going. Some are for financial gain. They ask you to add your name to the list in the email, forward it to 10 people and then post a dollar to the names that were already on the list. The idea is a simple one. You send money to the existing names on the list and after you forward it to other people, they send you money. The idea of course runs in to the same problem as a pyramid scheme - there are a finite number of people on the planet. In order for everyone to profit, there must be a infinite number of recruits available for the scheme to continue. Some chain letters are not of a financial nature and are arguably more annoying. Some chain letters take the form of religious or new-age notions of good luck coming to all who forward this letter. Many also suggest that misfortune will come to those who break the chain. Here's an example of a Judeo-Christian orientated version of a chain letter taken from the homepage ofDonald Watrous, someone who does a great service by providing information regarding these schemes.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and HE will acknowledge and HE will light your way. This prayer has been sent to you for good luck. The original copy is from the Netherlands. It has been around the world nine times. The luck has now been brought to you. You will receive good luck within four days of receiving this letter, provided in turn, you send it back out. DO NOT SEND MONEY, FOR FAITH HAS NO PRICE. Do not keep this letter. It must leave your hands within 96 hours after you receive it. An RAF officer received $70,000. Joe Ellito received $450,000 and lost it because he broke the chain. While in the Phillipines, General Welch lost his wife four days after he received this letter. He failed to circulate the prayer.

Based on this, we can assume that God has little else better to do than write a crude letter and reward people who forward it while seriously punishing those who break the chain. Seems that God decided to kill the wife of General Welch because he failed to forward the letter. Bizarre as this may seem, it is inline with the Old Testament and indeed some of the more rabid Christian responses you see to controversial web sites. They follow the reasoning of "God loves you but will torture you for eternity if you don't repent. You deserve to burn for eternity for this, I will pray for you". There are many variations some of which include angels and other strangeness. Other chain letters claim to be part of a competition. There was on notorious chain claiming that Microsoft were conducting research and would pay you for forwarding the letter - despite the fact that there was no way that Microsoft would even know about you forwarding the mail. Others can be a bit more sinister. The sick child is a good example of this. A letter tells the story of a sick (or dying) child and asks you do to something to help her. In one case, people are asked to send their unwanted AOL floppy disks to an address provided since this dying child has a rather bizarre wish. Her wish is to have the largest number of AOL floppy disks in the world. You'd think this to be a slightly strange wish for a dying child but it seems that some believed it. Not all chain letters began with malicious intent. Some people genuinally believe that people like to receive junk about angels and luck. Others thought that they could bolster a worthy cause by asking millions of strangers to send emails to one-another or a specific email address. In the case of petitions, this site has this to say.

Even for those completed petitions returned within the relevant time period, there is no realistic way of validating the names and addresses they contain. Therefore they are almost certain to be disregarded by whoever they are intended to influence.

So even if your cause is a good one and you manage to somehow receive an email back containing thousands of names it means nothing. Arguably it would be more productive to simply write a shell script that generates random names and addres them to an email - it would be just as useful. Some of these campaigns actually cause harm. Firstly, they generate unnecessary traffic on the web. They waste people's time. Sometimes they can be incredibly counter-productive. At least one person had their email account cancelled when they circulated a letter asking people to send them their letters of protest regarding an issue. Others have found themselves being spammed by well-intentioned people because someone circulated a chain letter advising people to send emails to a specific email address. Some petitions are also out of date but continue to circulate because people don't check the facts for themselves, they simply add their name and forward it. As with all chain letters you can ignore them but personally I find it most effective to report them as spam if I don't know the person sending it. If I do know the person who sent it then I reply asking them not to send me anything like this again. This method seems to have worked since I haven't received chain letters for a long time since they all came from the same well-meaning person.

Pyramid scheme spreads through Cork

Over the past few weeks a range of pyramid schemes have been springing up around Cork in Ireland. The Skeptic's Dictionary has a particularly good definition of what a Pyramid Scheme is. Essentially it comes down to this idea. You hand your money to a complete stranger and then you recruit people who in turn hand their money to you. In some schemes you would keep all the money you collect. In others, you pass a percentage of the cash you receive back up the line to the person who recruited you. For example, for every 1000 euro you receive, you would then give 100 euro to your recruiter. It's a completely unsustainable scheme since it relies on the assumption that everyone will be able to recruit people to pay them money. After a very short series of steps (10 people all recruiting 10 people), the you exhausted the population of the planet. It's impossible to maintain. 90 percent of the people participating in the scheme have to lose so that 10 percent will make good money. The trick is to avoid the scheme or make sure you get in early and so become one of the lucky ones. Even if you are a lucky one, you have to remember that the people you recruit will probably lose their money. Assuming you will be recruiting friends and family then you can imagine that they will not be too happy with you and will almost certainly blame you. A number of these idiotic schemes are running in the Cork area. Local reports would suggest that people are actually taking out loans in order to throw money in to this scheme. Not only are they losing their own money, they are losing money that they didn't have in the first place. i think this boils down to the same reason why people respond to spam emails from 'Nigerian bank managers' promising millions of Dollars in exchange for their assistance. It's greed and stupidity. People hear promises of quick riches and don't stop to think about how ludicrous the situation is. Pyramid schemes are not simply a trivial way for idiots to give their money away to strangers, they have a very real and damaging affect on communities. Imagine the aftermath when people realise that they've been fleeced by the people they live alongside? In Albania a civil war broke out as a result of people losing money in pyramid schemes. I'd hope after this little fiasco in Cork explodes that the government will introduce legislation to effectively deal with these scams. Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries and for good reason. Further reading: The Kingdom reports on the Cork pyramid schemes

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Alive.ie. Christian fundamentalist attacks on fact

Alive is a remarkably conservative Catholic newspaper that is distributed free in Ireland. My regular copy has come through the door so it's time to take another journey in to the land of paranoid irrational religious journalism. Let's look at some of the articles. First we'll start with an attack on evolution. The article opens with this text.

THE real driving power behind the theory of evolution is not science but hatred for religion, a leading US sociologist of religion has claimed. Professor Rodney Stark has argued that Darwin’s theory of evolution is bad science, with virtually no fossil evidence to back it up.

The aim of a rebuttal should be to attack the material, not the writer but since we have some credentials here, let's look at them. Mentioning that Mr Rodney Stark is a professor seems to be an attempt to lend some authority to his article. Mr Stark's area of expertise appears to be the social sciences. Although he is perfectly entitled to his views, to use this article to debunk evolution is like having a biologist debunk the theory of gravity. A grounding in the scientific method helps but you can see that the social sciences are not biology. Would you trust a dentist to comment on the composition of Jupiter simply because they are a professor of dentistry? The article provides a quote from the late Stephen Jay Gould regards his doubt about the fossil record. Also, it mentions Thomas Huxley and his view that you had to choose between Bible literalism and Darwin. Even if true, these do nothing to disprove the theory of evolution. The theory does not depend on the actions of two men. It depends on the accumulated evidence. Despite the fact that fundamentalists have found hundreds of scientists who dispute parts (or in some cases all) of the theory of evolution, there are thousands more who accept the the evidence strongly points to evolution as being a fact. Some elements of the theory of evolution are indeed up for debate, for example, the gradualistic model and punctured unctured equilibrium but no serious scientist rejects evolution outright. The most important element of this article is it's claim that the goal of evolutionists is to destroy religion, a completely untrue claim. You might as well claim (and indeed many did) that the theory of heliocentrism is an atheist plot against religion. Fact is nothing but an attack on untruths. Christians are entitled to their views but cannot reasonably cry foul when fact contradicts what their ancient book tells them. The theory of evolution and Christianity can co-exist quite happily. The Catholic Church itself has accepted that evolution is compatible with Christian faith. The only religious people who deny this are Bible literalists who, if being honest to themselves must surely argue that spiders have four legs and that the world is only thousands of years old. As always, we have the regular attacks on atheists. Professor David McConnell of Trinity College, Dublin comes under attack. He argued that humans are simply self-replicating electrochemical machines. They go on to suggest that since machines are mere tools, this leads to an endorsement of slavery. Suggesting that this view-point leads to people being becoming disposable, the idea that the people who are no longer useful can be put to death. I think the text used to open the article really sums things up.

AN ATHEIST IS someone who does not believe in man, who has a materialistic view of human dignity. He usually diverts attention from his dreary view by proclaiming his disbelief in God.

Let's look at the definition of the word 'dreary' as I think this is an interesting choice of words. Dreary is defined as dismal, bleak, boring or dull. You could argue that a belief that AIDS can lead to death is bleak but that doesn't change the fact that it's true. You can argue that studying history is dull and boring (for some people) but there is a clear benefit. The view that atheists don't hold life to be special is an alarmingly common view expressed in fundamentalist religious writing. The opposite is true. Since we expect a small amount of time we don't believe in eternal life, we have to strive to make the most of our years. Just because man is a biological machine does not mean that he isn't unique. As the professor stated, "man is a machine capable of writing and reading Shakespeare." The atheist view is one that is distorted by religious fundamentalists. Atheist is a not a life-guiding set of rules like religion. Atheism is the simple belief that there are no supernatural gods watching over us. Atheists can be good, evil and everything in between just like Christians. Some atheists believe that people are precious, some believe that people are there to be used. It's the height of arrogance to believe that Atheists are automatically negative and hold life in contempt yet some Christians continue to push this untruth. Regards slavery, it is worth noting that the Bible itself provides guidance for how slaves should be treated. This itself is an endorsement of slavery. Christians are entitled to hold their views, no matter how delusion they may seem, but this kind of paranoid and insulting journalism does little to help their cause.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Mohammed compared to the holocaust

It seems that some are trying to draw a parallel between insulting Mohammed and the holocaust. Some have argued that since it's illegal to say nasty things about eh holocaust in some European countries, the same rule should apply to Mohammed and religion in general. This argument doesn't really make sense when you look at what Mohammed is and what the holocaust was. Mohammed is certainly important to adherents of Islam. Based on my limited understanding of Islam, he is revered and see as an example of how a man should live his life. To secular minded people though he is just another character in a holy book. The holocaust was the mass-murder of millions of people. It has been argued that the reason that the holocaust is considered 'out of bounds' is because Jews will become upset if something nasty is said about it. This is untrue. Anyone who places any value on life sees the holocaust for what it was. It wasn't Jews dying, it was people. This is why the holocaust continues to have a special place. It's a reminder of the depths that man can sink to. I'm hoping at this point you can see the difference between making fun of a character in a book and insulting the memory of millions of ordinary people who were murdered. Amusingly, an Iranian newspaper is running a competition to find a cartoon about the holocaust. This is seen as some kind of revenge for the recent Mohammed cartoons. It's a nice demonstration of freedom of speech really. The most important thing will be to see what happens after they publish the cartoon. Will we see protests around the world? Will death threats be issues against the newspaper and the cartoonist? Will the Iranian embassy be attacked in multiple countries? 12 people dead so far because of cartoons.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Revenge for the Mohammed cartoons

Seems that some media outlets in the Muslim world are taking revenge on Denmark (and Europe as a whole) by publishing cartoons of their own. A web site has posted anti-semitic cartoons as their response. A newspaper is running a competition to find a suitably insulting cartoon based around the holocaust. There are two responses to this. 1) What difference does it make? The media in some of the Arab countries have a reputation for doing this anyway so what difference does it make. Some highlights include some wonderful cartoons depicting Jews dressed as Nazis (complete with swatikas). 2) What does this have to do with the price of fish? Seriously, think about this. A Spanish man insults me so I go home and post a dog turd to some poor sod in France. It doesn't make sense does it? Neither is this bizarre Arab media approach. An anti-semitic or even insulting holocaust cartoons aren't exactly relevant to the majority of Europeans. I presume they attack the Jews because as everyone knows, at least in the Arab media, the world is run by a Jewish banker conspiracy. Our elected governments are simply servants of our true Jewish overlords. 9 people are dead so far, all protestors to the best of my knowledge.

Why wasn't Abu Hamza arrested earlier?

Abu Hamza, an extremist muslim preacher who has enjoyed the hospitality of the UK for the best part of 20 years while calling for non-muslims to be killed, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for inciting murder among amongst other things. Abu Hamza jailed for seven years Here is a quote from a Muslim Labour MP Shahid Malik. "But we've got to ask ourselves, we've got a legal system that has allowed this man to say what he's been saying for the best part of 10 years." "One thing is clear, we need tougher legislation, that will enable the police to work quicker." This is crap. Asking for tougher legislation is a terrible idea. What we need is for the existing laws to be enforced. It's widely believed that Abu Hamza has been allowed to get away with inciting murder for so long simply because the police didn't want to risk offending Islam. When he asks for tougher legislation, does he perhaps mean something along the lines of the recently rejected 'Religious Hatred Bill' which anyone with any sense considered to be a ludicrous eroding of freedom?

Sunday, February 05, 2006

An apology for these insulting cartoons?

I wonder when the Egyptian government will apologise for these cartoons. Jews as Nazis. These crude cartoons depicting Jews as Nazis (complete with Swastikas) seem to be considered acceptable to the Egyptian government despite it's recent sensitivity to cartoons. The people who violently protest against the Danish cartoons aren't asking for respect. They expect our culture to accommodate their own religious sensibilities while they offer nothing in return. Do as we say, not as we do. I just heard that a sausage vendor in Copenhagen was violently beaten by two chaps - at this time claimed to be Turks. It's claimed that they accused him on selling unclean meat and gave him a concussion to prove their point. I figure that this incident has two possible motivations. 1) The two men are complete and utter idiots who have to hide in a religion since that's the only place their lack of brain power can be hidden. 2) This was planned to stir-up anti-muslim feeling and so bring about the 'clash of civilisations' that so many fundamentalist Christians and Muslims seem to want. == update 8 February == Looks like there may be a 3rd explanation for the hot dog attack story. According to some surfing, it looks like this story may be a hoax.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Raise a glass to the normal people

An idea, a theory, a life or a belief unchallenged will become feeble and die. Without questions and criticism, and idea will stagnate, be left behind and if lucky simply become an obscure entry in a history book. Radical Muslims, like radicals of any religion or any discipline, are dooming their own belief system. Science survives because every idea can be questioned and be discarded if proven to be incorrect. Fundamentalist belief cannot and is doomed. This isn't just Islam, this is any religion where someone is happy to live their lives strictly according to what their priest reads from a book written hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The amusing thing is that the text of these books is typically interpreted different by various factions and so even the religion itself doesn't agree on the meaning. It's a game of chinese whispers that's been running now for over 2000 years and there's no sign of it stopping. The decision by the Jyllansposten to post the cartoons that have caused many in the Muslim world to swap reason for insanity was a poor one but the had the right to do this. It's the same right that allows they Egyptian media to publish anti-Jewish television programmes. it's the same right that allows newspapers in the Arab world to publish anti-Jewish articles. It's the rule of law. The people who have taken part in the recent violent attacks on innocent Europeans simply because of these cartoons are beneath contempt. The protesters in the UK who threaten 'another 7/7' (in reference to the attacks on London last year) are empty-headed fools. The Muslim world should not expect European governments to break their own laws. Remember that the Danish newspaper concerned has already issued an apology for this incident. I'm repeating what I've already said in a previous post but should we demand an apology from Muslim countries for the atrocities committed by lunatics who believe that 'Allah' wants them to blow up men, women and children who did nothing more than go shopping? I say no. Most people just want to live their lives and do the best they can. These people are not to blame for the actions of a minority who's lives are so empty they try to fill the void with murder. This situation is getting pretty bizarre now. With two European embassies in Syria destroyed, it's getting moving beyond simple street protests. If this should escalate any further, the blame must lie with the extremists, not with the ordinary person in the street whether he be Danish or Iranian. I'd say raise a glass to the normal people who are getting shit on from a great height by the extremists here and hope that the crazies manage to kill more of themselves than they do us.

Danish and Norwegian embassies burnt to the ground

Following the saga of protests against the Danish people, some bright sparks in Syria have burnt the Danish and Norwegian embassies to the ground. Embassies burn in Syrian protest I heard that this incident was sparked by text messages claiming them that copies of the Koran were burt in Denmark. One thing I'm wondering though is where the protestors are buying the Danish flags that they are burning during the protests. I can understand American flags being in large supply since those seem to torched on a regular basis but surely Danish flags aren't quite as easy to find. == 5 February 2006 == And now the Danish embassy in Beirut has been burnt to the ground. If these protests are being organised in defence of Islam, where are these people when Islam is used to justify murder?

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Is this really the most important thing right now?

This is just following on from the previous post regarding the frantic reaction from some Muslims regarding the recent publication of cartoons that were 'offensive to Islam'. This site has a very interesting write-up of the situation. It seems to be a moderate Muslim site and it's reassuring to see something sensible coming from the Muslim world regarding this farce. A Mountain Out of a Molehill Over Danish Cartoons The article makes some interesting points about double-standards. The Danish government a short while ago took action against a radio station that was encouraging hatred against Muslims yet they are now being demonised. Also, it's acceptable for the Middle-Eastern press to print terrible anti-Jewish articles. I'd say that, based on the reaction from the Middle-East, this is a serious issue here. If this is the most serious problem they have then they're doing pretty well. I think if the Muslim world wants to be taken seriously, it really has to respond slightly better to situations like this. Bomb threats and armed gunmen threatening Europeans is hardly a civilised or reasonable response to such a petty issue.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Denmark offends Islam

You'd think that a religious group, when motivated sufficiently, could use its followers to resolve some of the serious issues in our world. You would be wrong in this case. A Danish newspaper printed a cartoon featuring Mohammed (of Islam fame) wearing a bomb-shaped hat. Seems like a silly little thing however the way parts of the Islamic world reacted to this show how large the gap between us has grown. Syria and Saudi Arabia recalled their ambassadors. Libya is closing it's embassy in Copenhagen. We have three countries who are effectively ending political contact simply because of a cartoon. Also, there have been bomb threats and an attack on an EU office in Palestine - not to mention people taking to the street to protest against this 'offence to Islam'. Of course Danish flags were burnt in the streets as is traditional when someone gets upset. In this BBC news article, the theologian Sohaib Bencheikh is quoted as follows.

one must find the borders between freedom of expression and freedom to protect the sacred". "Unfortunately, the West has lost its sense of the sacred,"

Absolute rubbish. If the west has 'lost its sense of the sacred' then this surely can only be a good thing. Superstition and bronze-age laws are generally not considered to be a plus point in modern secular societies. One does not need to find the borders between freedom of expression and freedom to protect the sacred. If 'the sacred' is so important, surely it is above such petty mortal criticism. The is the irony. Although God created the universe and everything, it seems that he is incapable of taking criticism but curiously never answers the criticism personally. Instead he relies on self-appointed, self-important followers to moan and threaten on his behalf. Danes in Saudi Arabia have been warned by their government to be careful. Welcome to the 14th century courtesy of fundamentalism.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

The miracle of wood

(This article is now the second highest ranked in a google search for Alexis Cartwright. Woot!) I noticed at work that someone has been circulating adverts for new-age spiritual bullshit designed to separate 'spiritual' people from their money. Alexis Cartwright, according to the pamphlet is the one behind this little 'spiritual' business venture. I couldn't remove them since everyone has the right to free speech - even if what they have to say is a ridiculous mish-mash of Judeo-Christian beliefs, pseudo-scientific buzz words and cliched new-age crap. I did the next best thing. In the spirit of free enterprise, I created a leaflet to compete with hers. You see, while sitting around playing with my pen collection, I hit upon a divine revelation. Perhaps I was channelling Ramtha? Maybe one of the demi-gods of Atlantis was providing me with divine inspiration? Possibly I was just bored and fancied having some fun. I realised that the only path to true spiritual healing lies in the forest - it's the trees of course! Anyway, trees are not convenient to carry around. Few of them fit comfortably in to your pocket or bag. The solution was obvious. A way to carry the healing power of trees was needed. Planks of wood are the answer. Here's the advert (click it for the larger 200kb image)
I am not as experienced as Ms Cartwright is. My idea is simple. She manages to combine all the major religions with scientific sounding words (that in reality are laughable from a scientific point of view).

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Ignorance in the name of religion.

This article on the NCSE web site is a particularly depressing one. Is Evolution Arkansas's "Hidden" Curriculum Imagine a situation where a museum removes an exhibit about evolution because 'concerned parents' have complained. Imagine biology classes where teachers avoid mentioning evolution because they are warned that it will be 'good for their careers' to do so. Quoting some figures from a survey of Arkansas, 50% of teachers avoid discussing evolution because they fell intimidated to do so. This is classic religious fundamentalism and tolerance gone mad. What happens if Evangelical Christians decide that vowels offend their religious beliefs? Will all vowels be removed from school textbooks? Continuing with this survey, 20% teach evolution. 10% teach creationism. 1 in 10 teachers are teaching creationism, now that is just plain bizarre. These teachers are specifically pushing an outmoded religious fiction on to their pupils and considering it to be educational. Surely it can't be long before fairies, astrology and crystal healing creep in to the curriculum.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Evolution and its role in genocide

This is more for comedy really. I came across this article that is simply bizarre. The main thrust of this is to claim that atheists and people who believe in evolution are quite simply, evil monsters. Here's an example.

The theory of evolution, which is taught as a fact in our public school textbooks, tax-supported parks, museums, and public television programs, is actually not a harmless theory but a dangerous religious belief. I have dedicated my life to helping people learn the truth needed to expose evolutionism as being largely responsible for molding the thinking of hosts of people like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot of the Khmer in Cambodia, Margaret Sanger, and Karl Marx, who have caused untold suffering in our world. Evolution as it is being taught is dangerous for several reasons.

So, evolution was 'largely responsible' for the great monsters of history? As always with these crazy religious rants, there are no sources provided for this claim, we simply have to accept it as truth. This is simply a rehash of the insulting idea that only Christians can be good people. If you're an atheist or a worshiper of a different god, you're simply not a nice person. After this, the article goes on to claim that evolution is actually a religion, not science. Here's an example

Evolution is positively anti-science. Science deals with things that are testable, observable, and demonstrable and evolution has none of those qualities. To call evolution "science" Is to confuse fairy tales with facts. True, evolution has been mixed with science for the last thirty years, but that does not mean that it is the same as science. Beer is often advertised during sporting events but the two subjects have no logical connection, and evolution has no more to do with science than beer has to do with sports.

Okay, how can I be diplomatic about this you Christian nut-job? We have evidence that strongly suggests that evolution has taken place and continues. We have the fossil record for one. There is not one single piece of evidence that would refute evolution. The geographical placement of species is more evidence. The shared genetic characteristics of different species is another. Evolution is science, much of the biology sciences are based on the theory that evolution happens. To deny it is to deny the existence of gravity. We can argue over what actually causes gravity since we don't actually know for certain but it would be foolish to claim that gravity doesn't exist and that is what this article is claiming regards evolution. Scientists who study evolution follow a scientific methodology. They hypothesize, they test, they observe. Of course since evolution takes time, it's difficult to set-up a lab experiment whereby we watch a species change in to another - I think this is what the creationist is asking for.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

The Discovery Institute and a 'theistic understanding of nature'

The Discovery Institute are an organisation that has been a staunch advocate of Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design being the pseudo-scientific theory that life is too complicated to have evolved and so was designed by an intelligent creator. This theory is a slightly updated version of creationism and is just as silly. There is no evidence for intelligent design, indeed it's been widely discredited and is considered to be a religious belief rather than science. In their own words, this is the goal of the Discovery Institute. "Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture seeks nothing less than the overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies. Bringing together leading scholars from the natural sciences and those from the humanities and social sciences, the Center explores how new developments in biology, physics and cognitive science raise serious doubts about scientific materialism and have re-opened the case for a broadly theistic understanding of nature." A theistic understanding of nature has nothing to do with science. Lets look at what happens when you take a theistic approach to nature. In the best case scenario, you will gather and confirm scientific knowledge about this world of ours. Facts that conflict with your religious beliefs will be ignored or disregarded. For example, you know that the Earth is flat because it says so in the Bible. Any evidence that says otherwise is simply wrong . The only theories allowed to survive are those that are compatible with your religious beliefs. Although there is scientific evidence to suggest that heat will cause ice to melt, the real reason it melts is because that is God's will. God has designed ice to melt when it's heated. In the worst case scenario you will reject all scientific explanations. Why would we even need science since we know that God created all and he does not like to be tested. Lightning comes when God is angry. Rain will only come when God is appeased. This is what a theistic understanding of nature has given us in the past. Think of the primitive people in the developing world who still believe that their god is punishing them whent the rains don't come. Do we really want to head back in that direction? Intelligent Design is religious fundamentalism, there's not better explanation for it. The vast majority of scientists reject it (since there is no evidence for it) and the majority of mainstream Christian churches reject it also. This article explains why these Christian fundamentalists are not just a bunch of fringe nutters with some quaint notions, they are a threat to society itself as well as their fellow Christians.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Proof that I'm psychic

Today while walking home from work, I was listening to my iPod Shuffle. As you probably know, the iPod shuffle has a random play feature so you don't know what track is coming next. A song began playing and I thought, hmmm, sounds like the Ramones. It wasn't it was Green Day. Then the magical thing happened! I accidentally skipped to the next track and that one was the Ramones. Surely proof of psychic ability. That's not all though. A few times in the past, my girlfriend has phoned me just around the time when I was thinking of phoning her. Again, pretty good proof of my powers. Going back to reality, there's an important thing I've done here that other self-professed psychics have done. I'm only focussing on the times when I was actually right. For these coincidences, there will be an insanely large number of times when I made a guess and was wrong. Of course, getting a guess wrong isn't a memorable moment. Getting it right is.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Why does God hate amputees?

This web site contains an online book that attempts to explain why God doesn't exist by answering this question. It's very well written and shows a lot of research. If you're looking for arguments to use in a discussion with a Christian (or anyone labouring under the egotisical delusion that they were created by an all powerful being), pay it a visit. The forums are quite lively also with some well written posts from Christians and athiests alike. Unlike quite a few other forums, this one provides a very civilised environment for discussion. Whydoesgodhateamputees.com

Sunday, October 23, 2005

The human stun gun

This is an interesting example perhaps of when martial arts merge with religion. This is the story of martial arts expert who claims he can knock people out without touching them. He uses 'energy' to disrupt their bodily systems. Note again how the word energy is so often used in pseudo-science and alternative therapies. Fox news tested his claim and it seemed to be quite convincing initially. He would use this technique on his students and one by one, they would simply collapse. A strange thing happened after this though. When he was asked to demonstrate this skills on people who were not his students, suddenly it stopped working. He explained that only 40% of people can be affected by his deadly powers. Odd that all of his students, at least the ones used in his demo, fit in to that 40% and the non-students all seem to fit in to the remaining 60%. Here's a link to the news report. Knock out without Touching you. This seems a familiar situation to me. I've seen footage of Christians who seem to go limp and collapse when their preacher lays his hands on them. Some of the US televangelists use this. Now if you ask these people why they collapse, they will say that they felt the holy spirit in them. In reality, they collapse because they are expecting to. It's like hypnotism and exorcisms. The subject plays the role expected of them. Also, if you don't collapse, then your fellow church-goers will perhaps think less of you. Visit James Randi's site for more information. If you've never visited his site, I strongly recommend that you have a look. There's a wealth of information for the sceptical reader and a few good laughs as well.