Links With Your Coffee
- Betty says: Has it occurred to anyone else that if Christianity be the Opium of the Masses, then Islam is surely their Meth.
- The Paradoxical Relationship of Religion and Science
Overview The relationship between faith and science in the United States seems, at least on the surface, to be paradoxical. Surveys repeatedly show that most Americans respect science and the benefits it brings to society, such as new technologies and medical treatments. Nevertheless, strong religious convictions can affect some Americans' willingness to accept certain scientific theories and discoveries, such as evolution, and new, life-changing technologies, such as genetic engineering.
- ROBERT AND THE USE-MENTION DISTINCTION
I enjoyed Daniel Dennett's discussion of the the use-mention error (UME). It reminded me of amsuing example I ran across some time ago. I was able to locate it again and wanted to share it with you.
Pedantsareus writes: What do the following 4 countries have in common? China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA You might say that they all, in various ways, have strictly enforced belief systems embedded in their political systems - Communism, Islam and Fundamental Christianity.
Execution for man condemned by 'bible jury'Oliver, execution number 999,301 in the Texas department of criminal justice records, said he had prayed for the Collins family but that his execution would not bring closure. He told his parents he loved them.
- Yes, But. The Annotated Atlantic
The scoop for those of you who are still receiving links to that Atlantic article on vaccine from friends, relatives and other crackpots.
Comments
re: pedantsareus's question:
they are business partners. two producers, two consumers of the same product-oil.
yes, i'm aware that china and the u.s. have their own oil reserves, but come on. iran supplies china, saudi arabia supplies america. more of a connection than their "strictly enforced belief systems".
referring to fundamentalist christianity as being "strictly enforced" in the u.s.a. is just ridiculous, though i realize church and state borders require constant vigilance.
I did say "You might say..."
Like any of those "what is the link" questions, there are many possible 'correct' answers. My point was that, later in the article, it states "Texas is one of 35 states to retain the death penalty in the US, where 37 people were executed last year; putting the country behind only China, Iran and Saudi Arabia."
Thus one answer is that the USA is a member of that "Top 4 Executing Nations" club.
and in this you would be correct (i suppose, i mean the list of "executing nations" is pre-tty long, and includes many not easily surveyed).
i didn't realize the "bible jury" story was connected to your statement, which now seems to me to be more of a protest against the use/misuse of the bible both in capital cases and capital law itself in america. in this i heartily agree with you. until they're ready to convert to judaism and begin executing people for desecrating the sabbath and all the other often bizarre reasons for jewish courts to execute jewish "criminals", they should certainly leave the bible out of it.
as for the jews themselves- there are no jewish courts today with the power to execute, and without a king, a high priest and a sanhedrin (essentially a full theocracy) there won't be one, either. cuz them's the criteria. something american bible thumpers know or care little about. (the israeli courts made one exception- for adolf eichmann in, i think, 1961 or so).
that leaves us with jewish comedians, who are only out to "slay" you.
I was watching an episode of House on Friday.
He said religion has been called the opiate of the masses, but really it is the placebo.
The recent discussions about placebo made me think how that really isn't an analogy, just an accurate description.
I was just gonna comment the exact same thing. I think it's pretty much my favorite House ep, I had it on DVR but deleted it, but on Friday it caught it by chance.
The banter with the priest is priceless, especially the irritating "Einstein said:..." the religious love to spout:
And this one:
And Buddhism is marijuana?
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