Should Catholics be able to mandate reproductive policy in a state if they can scrape up the votes? Should a majority of Christian Scientists be able to shut down hospitals in their city if that is their sincerely held religious faith? When these conversations arise most people think of it as a question of church and state. But just as democracy depends on a separation of church and state, so does science depend on an ability to ask “what is true” without being limited by pre-existing beliefs. For any religion to be sane, it must be able to do science without the tethers of religious dogma. “Faith” in this sense is a confidence that ruthless honesty will lead us back to the sacred when all is said and done. Any religion which refuses such honesty is an eyeless giant taking out victims as it dies.
The following article is a deconstruction of Bible based medicine. It is written by a former evangelical so, unlike the most of the new atheists, she knows where to put the scalpel. Her intent is to remove the cataract over religion, not to pluck out the eyes of intuition. She also understands that we need to learn to discover both truth and meaning, not to choose between them as religious and irreligious fundamentalists would try to convince us.
I preach the Bible every week, but I also know that the Bible is a vicious idol if it ever replaces the human heart or mind.
To read article click here.
Thucydides was an Athenian historian recording the fall of that great city. Today we remember Athens for its culture and philosophy, but how it died is relevant for us. According to Thucydides, Athens became drunk with power and prosperity. Its former success convinced Athens that it was superior to any other city and should dominate its neighbors. It saw itself as the “school” for other cultures. Coming to value power and prosperity over all else, Athens exhausing its resources, and fell victim to those it had victimized. Let those who have ears….
“The fate of those of their neighbours who had already rebelled and had been subdued was no lesson to them; their own prosperity could not dissuade them from affronting danger; but blindly confident in the future, and full of hopes beyond their power though not beyond their ambition, they declared war and made their decision to prefer might to right, their attack being determined not by provocation but by the moment which seemed propitious. The truth is that great good fortune coming suddenly and unexpectedly tends to make a people insolent; in most cases it is safer for humankind to have success in reason than out of reason; and it is easier for them, one may say, to stave off adversity than to preserve prosperity. Book III, 3.39-[3]
A new study by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science has found that we have lost 40% of our polar ice caps since the 1970’s, and that 70-95% of the melting is due to human activity. I wonder if climate deniers would be so glib if those statistics referred to a tumor that might be growing in their own body? It is true that our generation will probably not live into the nightmares we may be causing, but it would be nice if we gave more of a damn about the kind of world our great grandchildren might be born into.
To read Common Dreams article, click here.
Ron Paul won an important victory when the house voted overwhelmingly to audit the Federal Reserve. Transparency is a very good idea, still, one also has to wonder if Paul has cost Libertarians their best fundraising tool -crazy conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve. In any case, thank’s in large part to Paul, our nation came a step closer to finding out what our government is really doing. I disagree with Ron Paul on almost everything except ending our war machine, but today I tip my hat. This is a victory for us all.
To read more, click here.
Let’s be honest. Communists are everywhere. You can’t even trust puppets anymore. The videos that follow are a brief history of Sesame Street Socialism. And by “socialism” of course I mean caring for the planet, and loving people more than money.
To view videos, click here.
Recent news that Monsanto may have had a hand in overthrowing a democratically elected president in Paraguay is hardly new behavior. The inventors of Agent Orange, deadly pesticides, and genetically altered seeds has a long history of pollution, bribery, and crushing people’s movements. When the question is raised, “What is so wrong with corporate capitalism?” Monsanto is a perfect example of the demonic results of following profit at any cost. While it can be argued that the individuals who work at companies that profit off the misery of “the wretched of the earth” are decent human beings, but it cannot be denied that collectively they are corporate cannibals.
To read more:
http://www.chromographicsinstitute.com/2012/07/the-sins-of-monsanto/
First of all, let me say that right wingers have not only a right, but a responsibility to get involved in politics. My only problem is when any group uses that power to deprive others of basic rights. I am not one who wants either side to win, I just want a world that is fair for everyone. What follows is an article naming other food agencies who fight against women’s, GLBT, or other human rights movements. My fear in posting this article is that liberals will think that attacking right wingers in any way addresses our own role in the oppression of others. A nation built on slavery should be incredibly introspective and open to the criticism that we have hidden that exploitation in other forms. The insanity of the far right is no excuse for the complicity of the left and middle. We were all born on a pirate ship called “The American Empire,” so the real question isn’t which side of the boat has the worst pirates. The real question is, “How we change course together?”
To read article, click here.
Yesterday’s ruling by the NCAA handing out heavy penalties on Penn State makes one thing clear, they won’t tolerate child abuse. What would the Vatican act like if it took child abuse as seriously as did the NCAA? I can think of three ideas right off the bat.
1. No one would be exempt. Bishops and Popes who covered up the abuse would be removed from office. Anyone who played any role in the coverup would lose their ordination as well as their jobs.
2. The Church would put it’s money where its mouth is. If a University can come up with 60 million dollars for one year, the Vatican can come up with much more than that to treat its victims.
3. Just as Penn State co-operated fully with an outside investigation, so should the Vatican should bring in objective outsiders to decide what is fair compensation. The idea that any of us is above the law is pre-modern. If a person has been mistreated, their abuser should not also be their judge and jury.
(Thanks to Vald Svekis for asking the question in the first place.)
If you google “fracking” you may be reassured by a study done by the University of Texas showing that hydraulic fracturing does not contaminate groundwater. What appears nowhere in the study is that the lead author is a paid board member and shareholder in a company that uses fracking to pursue shale gas.
“The report was presented as if it was an independent study of fracking when, in fact, the study was led by a gas industry insider,” said Kevin Connor, the director of the nonprofit Public Accountability Initiative in Buffalo, N.Y., which reported the researcher’s role Monday.
“Groat was paid $413,900 in cash and stock by the company in 2011, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings reviewed by the Statesman, more than twice his salary from the university, and holds almost $1.6 million in the company’s stock.”
The university has announced that it does not consider the author’s dual role to be a conflict of interest or bad science because, he only “reviewed the summary of findings and made no substantial changes in what was put together by the researchers.”
UT announced that it will not investigate the matter any further.
Read more here:
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/23/4653605/lead-author-of-fracking-study.html