Talk Radio … the horror, the horror

It’s a good thing that Minnesota Atheists are making an effort to get on the radio. Have you ever looked at the Christian talk radio programming in your area? It’s like a black hole of rampaging stupid, so awfully banal and inane that it’s terrifying. I was just sent the program guide for our major Minneapolis Christian talk station — KKMS, AM980 — and it offers a rather creepy view of their perspective. There are some surprises, though. Guess what venue the big time Intelligent Design creationists use to spread their ideas?

Tuesday
3:00 Hour – “The KKMS Ministry of the Month” – Dr. John MacArthur, Host of the Grace to You Radio Program will tell us about the history of his ministry and how we can be praying for him as we celebrate the KKMS Ministry of the Month.

4:00 Hour – “Understanding the End Times” – R. Paul Stevens, Professor of Martketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College will walk us through a Bible study he has written that explores the end times and offer some points to consider when studying this topic.

5:00 Hour – “The Creation Museum” – Ken Ham, Founder and President of Answers in Genesis will give us details on how many people have attended the new Creation Museum in Cincinnati, OH so far and how what they’ve seen and experienced there has impacted them.

Wednesday:
3:00 Hour – “Understanding the Times” – Jan Markell, Founder of Olive Tree Ministries
4:00 Hour – “Great Getaways” – Jeanie Johnston, Heartland Tours and Travel Group Sales Director
5:00 Hour – “12 Great Choices Mom’s Make” – Robin Chaddock, Teacher and Author

Thursday:
3:00 Hour – “Responding to Atheists” – Becky Garrison, Senior Contributing Editor for The Wittenburg Door Magazine
5:00 Hour – “Ministering Through Music” – David Olson, Worship Leader for The Gathering at Wooddale Church

Friday:
3:00 Hour – “The Limits of Darwinism” – Dr. Michael Behe, Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University
4:00 Hour – “The KKMS Church of the Week” – Pastor Tim Skramstad, Pastor of Living Word Lutheran Church in Eagan, MN
5:00 Hour – “Movie Reviews” – Linda Thomas, Twin Cities Film Critic

Monday:
3:00 Hour – “The KKMS Church of the Week” – TBA
4:00 Hour – “Terrorism, Christianity and Football” – Jason Elam, Kicker for the Denver Broncos and Steve Yohn, Youth for Christ Videographer
5:00 Hour – “Facts about Intelligent Design” – William A. Dembski, Research Professor in Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

I’m tempted to listen in on a few of those segments, although honestly, the limited exposure to this kind of crap I’ve had in the past does not benefit my blood pressure, and it really ought to be the obligation of non-atheist moderate Christians to be putting these kooks’ feet to the fire. Not that they will.

By the way, their site has an online poll to see who their listeners would vote for in the presidential election — Huckabee, of course, has an overwhelming lead, while Clinton, of course, is dead last. I urge you all to really screw with their heads and go vote.

If you really want to screw with their heads, though, listen to them or your local Christian talk station and call in … and be polite, rational, and undeluded.

I listened in for a few minutes — and managed to catch the hosts complaining that we were “ruining their poll” and “running up the votes”. They also said they thought about mentioning the url to this article, but … you little savages used naughty language. Now go wash your mouths out with soap and sit in the corner until you repent.

FSTDT

I’ve known this site for a long time, but a reader just sent me a link to it, so maybe I shouldn’t take for granted that you all know about it, too…it’s Fundies Say The Darndest Things, a collection of ripe and juicy quotes culled from Christian discussion boards. Some of them I suspect to be the product of godless trolls, but others, including some of the most outrageously ridiculous statements, are definitely from steadfast fundamentalists.

Atheist in need!

Hey, you all must know Possummomma (aka, Atheist in a mini van) — she’s got a great blog, she’s an outspoken, positive atheist, and she’s one of those excellent representatives of atheist family values. She’s not doing well right now, and is struggling with lupus. Berlzebub is organizing donations to help her out, so if you’ve got a little bit to spare, please do contribute to a member of our godless community.

The return of Louis Savain

I’d be surprised if any of you knew who Louis Savain is — he’s a weird little crackpot that I stomped on hard all of 3½ years ago. He claims that the Bible is actually a complete and accurate technical description of the neurological workings of the human brain. It was one of the more memorably loony ideas I’ve seen come out of religious derangement.

Well, Louis is back. Not here, definitely — a comment from him here would probably fuel one of those thousand-comment atrocities where everyone took turns going stabbity-stab-stab with the crazy newbie — but he is plaguing Stranger Fruit with extravagant claims and crackpot denouncements of the Scientific Establishment. He also doesn’t like peer review and haunts Uncommon Descent. And look! He plans to build a Christian AI using the Book of Revelation as a blueprint!

I’m at a loss for words. I’m trying to imagine what a Christian AI would be like, and all I get are images of diadems and whirling spheres and seven-headed whores or something.

I want a heart in a jar

A lab at the University of Minnesota has done something cool: they’ve grown a functioning heart from stem cells. The problem with building complex organs in a lab is that their normal construction required an elaborate context in the developing embryo, something that is impossible to replicate, short of just growing the whole embryo. The Doris Taylor lab did something very clever: they took an adult rat or rabbit heart and stripped it of its cells, leaving behind a scaffold of nonliving connective tissue. Then they recellularized it with stem cells, and they differentiated appropriately to make a new, beating heart.

They’ve got a long way to go yet — the resynthesized hearts only beat with 2% of the strength of the normal adult heart — but it’s a good start.

You can watch a video describing the work. Warning: it does show one dead rat and a guy with a knife, and there are pulsing pink blobs of hearts in glass chambers, so it may not be for everyone.

The petites sauvages of Pharyngula: old Mollies, new Mollies, and open enrollment

The always perspicacious Chris Clarke is talking about us, in a post where he talks about the pleasures and perils of managing comments on a blog.

I’d be lying if I said I never appreciated a good bar brawl of a comment thread. And some blogs make the free-for-alls work: Pharyngula comes to mind as an example of a wonderful, worthwhile blog with a laissez-faire comment policy. But few blogs have that winning Pharyngular combination of high traffic, sharp focus, distinct blogger personality, and devoted constructive regulars. The chance of a typical low-to-mid-traffic blog ripening into another Pharyngula is, as the blog world matures, decreasing.

He’s got it right — managing comments is tricky stuff, and there are the issues of setting the tone, of culling the more egregious violators, of keeping the place from descending into random madness. Probably the best example of a blog pulling off the delicate balancing act of of getting a convivial and smart continuing conversation going is Making Light; I think Pharyngula has a fine comments section that at least aspires to that level, less the “convivial” part. Chris accurately describes the situation here as a laissez-faire free-for-all.

[Read more…]

Megachurches make millions

You really should read this Senator Charles Grassley’s investigation into megachurches. It’s about time someone pulled down these big-time scams.

Nearly 2,000 years later, some who claim to speak in Jesus’ name are taking a different view. Consider Bishop Eddie Long, who pastors a megachurch in Lithonia, Ga. With a salary approaching $1 million a year and a nine-bathroom mansion situated on 20 acres, Long’s choice of vehicles reflects his opulent lifestyle: He drives a $350,000 Bentley.

Far from casting out money changers, Long is likely to join them. In a 2005 profile in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he defended his high-flying ways, insisting, “I pastor a multimillion dollar congregation. You’ve got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that’s supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering.”

These charlatans tend to hide behind the first amendment and claim that their congregations have a right to worship as they please (which generally seems to mean throwing money to the pastor at his bidding). As the article makes clear, Grassley isn’t interested in challenging them on constitutional issues: he’s investigation financial fraud, not doctrine.

That sounds fair to me. Churches ought to repay their tax exemption by being required to provide full, open, public disclosure of all of their finances.