Ooops

I seem to have sort of accidentally won the Third Annual Satin Pajama Awards, in the category of Best Non-European Weblog. I really have got to be more careful when I sling my readership around—next time, I might put someone’s eye out. It’s gratifying to know the Europeans think I’m not bad for a non-European, even if (especially if?) it means Sadly, No! is going to have to impotently shake their fist at me.

Now I have to work on winning the Best non-Asian, Best non-Australian, Best non-South American, Best non-Antarctican, and Best non-African weblog awards before I move to an abandoned oil platform in the North Sea to win the Best non-North American weblog…and then I shall rule the world!

Another crazy Pennsylvania school teacher

The delusional creationists are everywhere, and the funny thing is how many of them consider themselves brilliant, well-informed, and objective, when what you discover on examining their claims is that they are foolish, ignorant, and blinded by religious bias — and obviously, they don’t even know it. Take, for instance, this high school teacher who issued a debate challenge.

Ritter, 59, has taught chemistry and physics at Annville-Cleona High School since 1997.

Ritter says he has no religious motivations, and he was not arguing for intelligent design or creationism.

He said he was barely aware of the controversy about evolution and intelligent design in the Dover Area School District until the issue went before a federal judge in late 2005.

Hooray for high school science teachers, they can be terrific. Unfortunately, this one who has no religious motivations and doesn’t argue for ID creationism or plain old creationism, was arguing against evolution, calling it “bad science.” As for his lack of awareness of the Dover controversy…he’s from central Pennsylvania, about an hour’s drive from Dover. Shouldn’t that self-announcement of utter obliviousness be an immediate warning that either he’s rather unqualified to be discussing the issue, and/or he’s hiding his actual motivation?

I vote for both—he’s hiding his beliefs. Later in the article, he mentions a few of his reasons.

While he said he has no religious motivations, one of his criticisms of evolution is that it promotes atheism.

“When evolutionists say that a creator cannot exist, they are saying God cannot exist,” Ritter said.

I’m also voting for “obliviousness,” since you have to be a complete fool to trot those old claims out as arguments against evolution, while simultaneously trying to pretend you’re completely open on the question of religion. Oh, well, the good news is that he only teaches physics, so he doesn’t have much opportunity to mislead his students about biology. I hope.

(via Spanish Inquisitor, unexpectedly)

Shhh. Don’t tell Larry.

A couple of Los Angelenos visited Canada and found themselves feeling strangely relaxed…and they have an explanation.

Lovely Wife developed an excellent theory. The coffee at Tim Horton’s, Canada’s ubiquitous coffee chain, is heavily drugged. Canada would be a non-stop raging 28 Days Later apocalypse if not for the fact we’re kept sedated. She’s working on the screenplay now.

That perfectly explains the mellow reputation of the only Tim Horton’s addict I know. Whatever you do, don’t deprive him of his fix!

We get email

By “we”, I mean me and Richard Dawkins. I can’t even imagine the volume of tripe that has to be flowing into his mailbox, but sometimes people send their important missives to both Dawkins and me (of course, I’m just an afterthought; the body of the letter is usually addressed to you-know-who). I’ve put the latest example below the fold—it is mildly amusing and definitely weird.

The formatting of the text is exactly as received.

[Read more…]

The lion isn’t lying down with the lamb just yet

Did you know that nature is a nice place, a kind of untamed Cute Overload where nobody ever gets an owie, there are no diseases or parasites, and everyone eats tofu? That seems to be what one school administrator in Florida believes, anyway.

A class was studying reptiles and a student brought in his pet boa. Somehow it was suggested that anyone who was interested could watch the boa being fed its usual meal: a live rabbit. The teacher arranged for the feeding to be held after school hours and attendance was voluntary. No one had to be there who didn’t want to be there. According to the story, the teacher even warned the squeamish to stay away.

I’m not bashing the school admistrator’s religious beliefs, but rather his silly inanity in the statement: “The school uses lessons and curricula that teach respect for God’s creative handiwork, and this event does not support that.” Snakes eat rabbits. Welcome to nature. Snakes don’t shop at the market for cans of rabbit stew.

Leave it to me to bash the administrator’s religious beliefs! If your idea of “god’s creative handiwork” involves an absence of death and predation, then you’re an ignorant nitwit, and I blame your religious miseducation — especially since this occurred at a place called Trinity Christian Academy. And I certainly hope this administrator doesn’t ever eat meat, and doesn’t have any pet dogs or cats, unless he wants to be guilty of hypocrisy.

Just to push the absurdity to an even greater level, this administrator has issued a proclamation.

We have taken steps to ensure this type of event doesn’t happen again.

Somehow, I don’t think the hungry carnivores that live all over the place are planning to pay much attention to that order. It’s probably enough, though, that he’ll close his eyes to reality and pretend nothing is eating anything else—willful blindness is the Christian thing to do.

Carnivalia, and an open thread

No, don’t hate me…but it’s more carnivals. I’m catching up on all this stuff that was sent to me.

Besides, it’s a holiday weekend, right? You’re going to be out there on the deck, tending the BBQ, with your laptop at hand for wireless browsing between the burger flipping, anyway, just like me. So sure, here’s lots more reading.

Well, I’m exhausted, how about you? Time for a cold one and a picnic.

This is an open thread, so go ahead, tell us how your Memorial Day Weekend is going. And no complaining that I’ve given you too much homework today!

How the heathen rage

If the Creation Museum carnival hasn’t got you completely carnivaled out yet, it’s also time for the Carnival of the Godless #67. Maybe if we started serving Hurricanes in a 44 oz. cup and tossing bead necklaces around, we could get through it all. And where’s the marching atheist jazz band when you need ’em?

The WaPo has roused some ire with its defense of fundamentalist agnostics/humanists against us bold, militant freethinkers. Revere addresses the distinction between militant and non-militant atheists and Ophelia covers the same beat. Can’t we all just get along and agree that the weak-kneed apatheist accommodationists need a good kick in the pants? And I also agree that the Vichy Humanist Chaplain at Harvard, whatever his name is (I’ve forgotten already), should be ignored.