NewsTrust - Science and Religion - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

The Republicans are now the anti-science party

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Sep. 04 (Opinion) - Jon Huntsman Jr, a former Utah governor and ambassador to China, isn't a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination. And that's too bad, because Mr Hunstman has been willing to say the unsayable about the Republican party in the United States, namely, that it is becoming the "anti-science party". This is an enormously important development. And it should terrify us. To see what Mr Huntsman means, consider recent statements by the two men who actually are serious contenders for the Republican nomination: Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

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Scientists: Aliens May Punish Our Species for Climate Change

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Atlantic Monthly - By Megan Mcardle - Aug. 19 (Opinion) - Via Jonathan Adler, I see that a group of scientists doing "scenario analysis" on the potential outcomes of human contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence is worried that global warming will encourage those aliens to wipe us out: The authors warn that extraterrestrials may be wary of civilisations that expand very rapidly, as these may be prone to destroy other life as they grow, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth. In the most extreme scenario, aliens might choose to destroy humanity to protect other civilisations.

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Argument, Truth and the Social Side of Reasoning

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Gary Gutting - Jun. 30 (Opinion) - In a recent discussion about reasoning, one point was overlooked: Knowledge of the truth is a social process. Philosophers rightly think of themselves as experts on reasoning. After all, it was a philosopher, Aristotle, who developed the science of logic. But psychologists have also had some interesting things to say about the subject. A fascinating paper by Dan Sperber and Hugo Mercier has recently generated a lot of discussion.

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Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven, it's a fairy story'

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Ian Sample - May. 16 (Opinion) - In an exclusive interview with the Guardian the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existence A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said. In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time. Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today. The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future. "I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm ...

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What effect has the internet had on religion?

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Aleks Krotoski - Apr. 17 (Opinion) - Online, God has been released from traditional doctrine to become everything to everybody I remember several years ago, when the virtual world Second Life was the thing on the web, wandering in the embodiment of my avatar through a most extraordinary representation of a cathedral. The frescoes, stained glass and flying buttresses were replicated to a degree that would make even the most cynical architect weep. Also enjoying the experience were 30 other virtual people from around the world, dressed in all manner of outerwear, from 1950s party dresses to slinky black outfits with impossible heels to squirrel costumes. They, as it turned out, were gathered in this cyber-place to celebrate a religious service. I watched from the safe distance of a back-of-the-nave pew, listening to the officiant lead his digital flock through a very traditional Catholic ceremony. I left after transubstantiation, just as they were processing in a typically sombre way to receive the Eucharist. The concept of ...

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Liberty University sure is skilled at sucking on the government teat

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ScienceBlogs.com - By PZ Myers - Apr. 06 (Opinion) - Liberty University gets half a billion dollars a year in federal aid.

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Christine O'Donnell Clip: "Evolution Is a Myth"

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

CBS News - Sep. 25 (Interview) - After last week's viral video clip in which the Republican Senatorial nominee from Delaware spoke of having "dabbled into witchcraft," Bill Maher lobbed another blast from Christine O'Donnell's past on his show last night. In a clip from the Oct. 15, 1998 episode of his old ABC series, "Politically Incorrect," O'Donnell is shown saying "Evolution is a myth." When Maher challenged her to justify the anti-science statement, O'Donnell says, "Well, then why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans?" Last week Maher said that he would air more clips of O'Donnell from his old show until she agreed to come onto his HBO series, "Real Time." "It's like a hostage crisis: Every week you don't show up . . . "

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Why God Did Not Create the Universe

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Stephen Hawking, Leonard Mlodinow - Sep. 04 (Editorial) - Ignorance of nature's ways led people in ancient times to postulate many myths in an effort to make sense of their world. But eventually, people turned to philosophy, that is, to the use of reason—with a good dose of intuition—to decipher their universe. Today we use reason, mathematics and experimental test—in other words, modern science.

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Texas to vote on curriculum that changes history

Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Independent - By Guy Adams - May. 21 (Opinion) - The slave trade was in fact the "Atlantic triangular trade". Capitalism, with all its negative connotations, should in future be referred to as the "free enterprise system". And don't even think about buying into the theory of evolution: children must instead be taught that God created Earth using a euphemistically-titled technique known as "intelligent design".

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Evolution is a miracle that leaves me endlessly curious

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Kansas City Star - By Cole Morgan - Apr. 09 (Opinion) - Science, I believe, has shown us that life evolved on this Earth in a natural state according to its own energy. This, to me, is enough. This is the miracle. I am lucky enough to know I am a part of all this. To know I am a part of all life on Earth is an amazing thing to know. To share similar DNA with every living creature is an amazing thing to experience. We are all part of one another. As all of life has evolved, we humans, through trial and error, have advanced through many cultures. We have screwed up and been successful. Discovering what works and doesn’t work is at the root of curiosity, and curiosity is humankind’s salvation. That is why, even though I am not a scientist, I promote science whenever I can. For example, I help promote the Johnson County Science Cafe, part of a nationwide movement to present a wide array of science subjects to audiences of naturally curious people, both religious and nonreligious. At each Science Cafe meeting, a speaker gives a short talk on a scientific subject at a level average people can understand. Afterward, we enjoy a casual around-the-room conversation. The speakers are very open to questions. I think there should be far more of these kinds of venues offered to the public. They should be in our schools. Perhaps there would be less future misunderstandings in society if children were more involved with events like this. I believe the reason we disagree so often about civil issues is because of this lack of science education. Perhaps it would help if we stepped out of our comfort zones and checked out new ideas. Some Christians with whom I speak feel differently. They behave almost as though we weren’t meant to know all things. Is there forbidden knowledge? Is there anything we are better off not knowing about? I don’t think so. Some people yearn for the good ol’ days, but I’m not one of them. I wouldn’t trade modern science, medicine or technology for any other time in history. And frankly, this focus on the past curbs our curiosity and slows down our advancement. As an atheist, I feel America should be more educated in science and critical thinking. These are crucial if we are to better understand one another and overcome bigotry. Cole Morgan is one of 13 contributors to the Faith Walk column. Reach him at faith@ kcstar.com.

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A Fault Is Not a Sin

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Slate - By Christopher Hitchens - Jan. 17 (Opinion) - On Nov. 1, 1755—the feast of All Saint's Day—a terrifying combination of earthquake and tsunami shattered the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon. Numerous major churches were destroyed and many devout worshippers along with them. This cataclysmic event

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Divine Impulses: Richard Dawkins on 'the arrogance of religious persons'

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Sally Quinn - Dec. 07 (Interview) - The atheist and author of a new book on evolution talks with On Faith's Sally Quinn about how evolution may have led to religion and belief in God.

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Atheism: class is a distraction

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Carlo Strenger - Oct. 15 (Opinion) - Reading through some of the contributions on class and atheism I am struck by a glaring omission. Brown's opening salvo has been to argue that atheism can be a class thing worn for the status it presumably imparts in certain circles – thus implying that there might not be an intrinsic, intellectual reason for choosing atheism. Nick Spencer shows that there is indeed a correlation between educational level and atheism. In the US this phenomenon is far more pronounced: a recent Pew survey shows that among scientists in the US only one-third believe in God, as opposed to 83% in the general population.

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Author’s Personal Forecast: Not Always Sunny, but Pleasantly Skeptical

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Patricia Cohen - Oct. 10 (Review) - Barbara Ehrenreich wants to make clear that she is not a spoilsport. “No one can call me a sourpuss,” she declared. “I have a big foot in the joy camp.” She is the author of “Dancing in the Streets,” a history of “collective joy,” she notes, and a lot of fun at parties. So her new book, “Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America,” should not be mistaken for a curmudgeonly rant. It is serious social history. Many of the 17 books that Ms. Ehrenreich has written during the past three and half decades have taken her into alien worlds. In her fantastically successful 2001 book, “Nickel and Dimed,” for example, she details her experience of trying to get by on the salary of an unskilled, minimum-wage worker. By contrast, this newest volume is based on her stay in a world that she became intimately familiar with: the smiley-faced, pink-ribboned, positive-thinking culture that surrounds breast cancer patients. Ms. Ehrenreich found out she had the disease in 2000, and the news left her dazed, fearful and, most of all, angry. What she found when she sought information and support, however, was cheerfulness, and that shocked her. “There were exhortations to be positive,” Ms. Ehrenreich said. She had stopped for lunch recently in Manhattan’s theater district after meeting with her publisher at Metropolitan Books, and before returning to Alexandria, Va., where she moved two years ago to be close to her daughter and grandchildren. Smartly dressed in pants and a sweater with black rectangular glasses that frame her blue eyes, Ms. Ehrenreich, 68, looks like someone who is content to be fashionable rather than fashion forward. The unrelenting message was “that you had to be cheerful and accepting and that you would not recover unless you were,” said Ms. Ehrenreich, who also writes frequently for The New York Times. Most infuriating, she added, was the advice to “consider your cancer a gift.”

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Reporting From the Front Lines of the Texas Evolution Debate

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Juli Berwald - Apr. 01 (Opinion) - Just hours before the Texas State Board of Education held its final hearings on the science education standards that would be put in place for the next decade, I set my kitchen timer for three minutes. I practiced my testimony among open jars of peanut butter and jelly strewn about from making kids' lunches. Ding. I still had my conclusion to read. What could I cut? For months I had been slinking around the controversy in Texas. I had gone to every public hearing, sitting on the floor in the back of the packed room. Behind rows of folding chairs, I had gotten to know the voices, if not the faces, of the board members. At issue was the wording of a science standard that states students must be taught the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution. Since Kansas passed similar legislation in 2005 and Dover, Pennsylvania, in 2006, scientists have viewed these three words as a means for inserting the creationist theology that goes under the name "intelligent design" into science classes.

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Creationism Feels Right, but That Doesn't Make it So

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Scientific American - By Jesse Bering - Mar. 22 (Review) - Presently I’m attending a small symposium on “Belief and Reason” at Trinity College, Cambridge, being sponsored by the Perrott-Warrick Fund. It’s a rather intimate affair with mostly cognitive scientists discussing the latest research and theory on everything from paranormal beliefs to free will to the placebo effect. One of the standout talks Monday was by Yale psychologist Paul Bloom, who gave a presentation titled “Is Religion Natural?” He focused on the puzzling case of creationist beliefs.

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Mind Matters

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Steven Johnson, Jonah Lehrer - Mar. 18 (Review) - Most great stories revolve around decisions: the snap brilliance of Captain Sullenberger choosing to land his plane in the Hudson, or Dorothea’s prolonged, agonizing choice of whether to forsake her husband for true love in “Middlemarch,” or your parents’ oft-told account of the day they decided to marry. There is something powerfully human in the act of deliberately choosing a path; other animals have drives, emotions, problem-solving skills, but none rival our capacity for self-consciously weighing all the options, imagining potential outcomes and arriving at a choice. As George W. Bush might have put it, we are a species of deciders.

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The Darwins' marriage of science and religion

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Deborah Heiligman - Jan. 29 (Opinion) - Although they never were able to see eye-to-eye on the question of religion and God, they were able to reach their hands across the gulf. In the end, each of them accepted and, it seems, truly understood what the other believed. If it is a sign of intelligence to be able to hold two opposite thoughts or opinions in your head, then it is a mark of a successful marriage to be able to truly see the other person's point of view. This is also the mark of a successful society.

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Why should I respect these oppressive religions?

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Independent - By Johann Hari - Jan. 28 (Editorial) - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated 60 years ago that "a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief is the highest aspiration of the common people". It was a Magna Carta for mankind – and loathed by every human rights abuser on earth.

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Divine Impulses: Kath Jefferts Schori

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - Dec. 22 (Interview) - The presiding bishop of the Episcopal church talks about homosexuality as a gift and the future of her church

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Equating evolution with atheism will turn Muslims against science

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Salman Hameed - Dec. 12 (Opinion) - The next battle between science and Creationism is likely to take place in the Muslim world, argues Salman Hameed today in the US journal Science. Here, he suggests how scientists should approach the debate

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Does Religion Make You Nice?

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Slate - By Paul Bloom - Nov. 07 (Opinion) - Many Americans doubt the morality of atheists. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans say that they would not vote for an otherwise qualified atheist as president, meaning a nonbeliever would have a harder time getting elected than a Muslim, a homosexual, or a Jew. Many would go further and agree with conservative commentator Laura Schlessinger that morality requires a belief in God—otherwise, all we have is our selfish desires. In The Ten Commandments, she approvingly quotes Dostoyevsky: "Where there is no God, all is permitted." The opposing view, held by a small minority of secularists, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, is that belief in God makes us worse. As Hitchens puts it, "Religion poisons everything."

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Sarah Palin's War on Science

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Slate - By Christopher Hitchens - Oct. 28 (Opinion) - With Palin, however, the contempt for science may be something a little more sinister than the bluff, empty-headed plain-man's philistinism of McCain. We never get a chance to ask her in detail about these things, but she is known to favor the teaching of creationism in schools (smuggling this crazy idea through customs in the innocent disguise of "teaching the argument," as if there was an argument), and so it is at least probable that she believes all creatures from humans to fruit flies were created just as they are now. This would make DNA or any other kind of research pointless, whether conducted in Paris or not. Projects such as sequencing the DNA of the flu virus, the better to inoculate against it, would not need to be funded. We could all expire happily in the name of God. Gov. Palin also says that she doesn't think humans are responsible for global warming; again, one would like to ask her whether, like some of her co-religionists, she is a "premillenial dispensationalist"—in other words, someone who believes that there is no point in protecting and preserving the natural world, since the end of days will soon be upon us.

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What's God's interest in pipeline?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Hubert G. Locke - Sep. 25 (Opinion) - On Nov. 4, voters have a vested interest in ensuring that someone who is so glibly confident about knowing God's plan does not get within a heartbeat of the presidency of the United States. People who profess to know what God is thinking engage in the worst, most dangerous form of self-delusion. They should never be allowed anywhere near positions of public responsibility that put the rest of us -- and the world -- at risk.

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Without God

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The New York Review of Books - By Steven Weinberg - Sep. 22 (Review) - In his celebrated 1837 Phi Beta Kappa Oration at Harvard, titled "The American Scholar," Ralph Waldo Emerson predicted that a day would come when America would end what he called "our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands." His prediction came true in the twentieth century, and in no area of learning more so than in science. This surely would have pleased Emerson. When he listed his heroes he would generally include Copernicus and Galileo and Newton along with Socrates and Jesus and Swedenborg. But I think that Emerson would have had mixed feelings about one consequence of the advance of science here and abroad--that it has led to a widespread weakening of religious belief.[1]

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