Mid-Day Open Thread
By bluegal Sunday May 04, 2008 3:00pm
Today in US History, 1925: John Scopes was arrested in Dayton, Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution to his high school biology class. h/t This Week in Peace History.
Open thread below...









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From the outset of the Iraq war, Republican leaders and their amen corner in the right-wing media have sought to calm squeamish Americans by favorably comparing the violence there to life in U.S. cities. Now, John March, a developer planning (believe it or not) a "Disneyland-style" theme park in Baghdad, says the carnage in the Iraqi capital is no different than the "drive-bys" in Southern California. But while grotesque, the analogy is not novel: it has already been repeatedly deployed by the GOP's best and brightest, including presidential nominee John McCain.
For details, see:
"GOP: Baghdad Still Safer Than U.S. Cities."
The way things are today, he would probably be arrested in some areas of the country for doing the same thing today.
Last night on 60 Minutes did anyone watch the story about the doctor? What an incredible man he is and the things he has done and is still doing make him my idea of a real life hero.
Interesting. I just got done reading a story on Fark about a substitute teacher in Florida who lost his job for...wait for it..."wizardry." I kid you not.
And the moral of the movie Inherit the Wind is if you teach evolution, you'll end up marrying Samantha, and getting Endora for a mother-in-law.
It's pretty amazing how this is still a timeless case. The Scopes trial was well depicted in the original "Inherit the Wind" starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. We can only hope unintelligent design will be removed when Obama or Clinton takes office.
I can't seem to locate it but there must be a transcript of last week on Morning Joe, I believe it was Friday. Joe was joking around about Hillary asking people to bet on Eight Belles. Joe made jokes about what would happen if her horse had a problem and had to taken off "to the glue factory". I wondered if Joe would bring the Derby up on his show this morning but if he did, I didn't hear it.
5 Puritan Peddlers
I think you're thinking of Adam's Rib
Katherine Hepburn wasn't in Inherit the Wind
But Colonel Potter was.
And yet still today, insane Christofascists around the world _still_ seek to deny children a science education, demanding that science destroys their insane god delusions. Which it does.
How are these insane Christian fascists any different than their Islamic colleagues?
Oh. That's right. They aren't one bit different. They're all insane mass murdering fascist piles of ignorant shit.
Prayer in school? Pray to whom? Buddha? Krishna? Or Reverend Moon?
Drink the kool aid, close your eyes, everything’s gonna be alright
-Wackiavelli
Toi Su @ 8:
Science is the practice of discovering questions by finding answers.
Science is advanced by asking questions.
Asking questions is a sin, in the eyes of fundamentalism.
Creationism teaches that everything knowable about God is bound in the pages of the Holy Bible. That God can take no action or think no thought that isn't explicitly described in the Holy Bible. He is a fossil, a fixed unchanging rock.
Because God is a limited being that can perform no action outside the Holy Bible, fundamentalists no everything he has done or will do, so they can say with complete authority that God did this, or God did that.
That is how they know that God didn't invent Evolution. If he did, the Holy Bible would say so. And God can't do anything that isn't written in the bible.
We also know that God can't play guitar. Because there are no guitars in the Holy Bible.
And as the Holy Bible makes no reference to the English Language and the early Bibles were written in Hebrew and Greek, then clearly God can't understand prayers spoken in English.
Toi Su @ 8:
"¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la Muerte!" ("Death to intelligence! Long live death!")
José Millán-Astray y Terreros (July 5, 1879 – January 1, 1954) founder and first commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion, and a major early figure of Francisco Franco's Regime in Spain. (Wikipedia, but it should be accurate)
Some things just don't change, do they?
Life in Red State part 354:
The current biology teacher at our local high school refuses to cover evolution. It is part of the curriculum, but when she gets to the chapter on evolution she kips it. To cover herself, she tells the class it is against her religion, but they can read it in their own time if they want to.
... should say "skips"
83 Years ... 83 YEARS !! ... and there is hardly any change of mindset. The same whacko's of yesteryear would still deny children true knowledge and rather opt for superstitions and religious fantasy.
The Religions have chipped away at the mental evolution of men.
Ahh yes, Darwins theory.
Theory I said.
"I looked deep into his soul and asked him 'What does it really feel like to BE a WINNER?'"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/images/20080505_p050508j...
Be warned: there are Wizards among us!
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=79533
15 Gary Says: Ahh yes, Darwins theory.
Theory I said.
Which is indeed the scientific name for it, but what exactly is your point?
fastfeat @ 16:
The DOG is the only winner in that crowd.
15 Gary Says: Ahh yes, Darwins theory.
Theory I said.
_________________________________________________
And cIntelligent Designm
A religious doctrine
Not a theory at all.
ysbaddaden @ 19:
a pipe dream
Hi, C&L'ers:
Sam Seder is on the 3-6 est slot (now! & on Wednesday) on Air America & we, his dedicated fans, are tryin' to bump up his listener hits in order to get Sammie a 5-day-a-week gig.
Give him a listen & thanks in advance.
L@L
http://airamerica.com/listen/
It is not even a religious doctrine. Intelligent design is a political doctrine.
Best bumper sticker I have ever seen said, "Evolution is a theory just like gravity is a theory"
pissed off patricia @ 23:
Thats pretty good, where can I get one?
Tribal warfare in NH.
Yes fastfeat theory = science. Absolute fact (Noah's Ark, The talking
snake, blah blah blah) is fact. No argument, no discussion. Give me a
break?
Yes, Theory as in Scientific Theory, not Theory as in "Hmm, I've got an idea." One's a scientific model based on evidence, observation, is testable and makes predictions. The other one is just a hypothesis, but unfortunately most folks get the two crossed. If you deny evolution is an accurate model explaining the diversity of life on Earth, chances are A.) you weren't properly educated on it and therefore don't understand it B.) you've fallen for the religious-driven propaganda against it.
Christ, religious nut-balls probably still believe the world is flat and four thousand years old. God, how dumb can you be.
Actually, to the evolution deniers out there, I usually like to ask: "So, how's that flu vaccine working out for you?" The ultimate irony is watching how the anti-evolution movement has had to *evolve* over time as court cases sided against them.
P.D. @ 28:
Pretty dumb ... they voted for bush twice and will probably vote for McCranky
We haven't come very far, have we.
This clip could be from a present day courtroom.
We are #1...
McCain spoke out favorably in 2005 regarding intelligent design
ysbaddaden Says: And the moral of the movie Inherit the Wind is if you teach evolution, you’ll end up marrying Samantha, and getting Endora for a mother-in-law.
And then one day you will wake and you will have the same name, wife, mother-in-law, boss, and child but you will look different, sound different, be different....you will be a pod person.
Gary @ 15:
Yup, the highest level in science that an idea can reach.
Like Gravity. The Theory of Gravity. Or the Theory of Electricity. Or the Theory of Light....
In science, there are no facts. There are hypothesis (untested ideas), theories (tested ideas), experiments (tests for ideas) and observations (data collected from experiments).
Perhaps we should be teaching alternate Theories of gravity, rather than those proposed by that Heretic, Isaac Newton?
Anyone else hear Shillary's comment on Morning Jo(k)e today? "If the Democrats had the same primary rules as the Republicans, I'd be the nominee already". There she goes again, praising the Rethugs.
Weaseldog @ 35:
Don't forget the Atomic Theory that made the bomb possible.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 37:
That makes no sense. It's not even in the Holy Bible...
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 25:
Right here
Dr. Acula @ 36:
I heard it and I also heard Joe ask Obama why he loved his country. Joe is becoming one of the biggest pains in the ass on tv.
Hop over and take a look at the most recent post at Kos. Seems about three years back Hillary made a similar statement to the one McCain made about staying in Iraq for many many years.
pissed off patricia @ 39:
Thanks POP, just ordered one.
Remember when Mccain was asked during the debate if he believed in evolution? And his answer Was to the effect,"Yes, I believe in evolution but then I look at the Gand Canyon and knop it is god." Or something like that. And I thought,"Are you nuts!" It wasn't even an answer!
"Perhaps we should be teaching alternate Theories of gravity..."
Hey...I'd say less is known about the fundamentals of gravity than evolution. We've got the unit of heredity (DNA) identified, sequenced from a bunch of organisms, and experimentally manipulated.
What's the fundamental unit of gravity? The graviton? Find me one of those. And there's real conflict in gravitational theory: the standard model and general relativity conflict, and the theory uniting them is purely hypothetical (like Star Trek hypothetical).
I have been frustrated with the lack of a spine in the large portion of the superdelegates who have yet to commit to either Clinton or Obama, but something else just dawned on me as well. Shouldn't websites like Crooks and Liars be making up their minds as well and formally endorsing one candidate or the other?
I know some blogs attempt to stay objective, but I believe it is that sort of forced objectivity that has been making this entire process a much more drawn out and time consuming ordeal.
Any thoughts on that?
BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY, by Bob Shrum!
"Bill Clinton is an unguided missile"
Oh there's a great visual for your White House wet dreams: A menopausal woman with her hands on an unguided missile!
Thanks Bob!
pissed off patricia @ 33:
From that same 2005 article:
"A recent poll by the Gallup Organization found that McCain's favorable ratings have consistently hovered above 50 percent since 2002, two years after he ran for the Republican nomination for president against George W. Bush."
And now it's at 32 percent and falling.
Seems the more people find out about McCain, the less they like him.
hazmaq @ 45:
A visual I did NOT need.
44 Mike Says: I have been frustrated with the lack of a spine in the large portion of the superdelegates who have yet to commit to either Clinton or Obama, but something else just dawned on me as well. Shouldn’t websites like Crooks and Liars be making up their minds as well and formally endorsing one candidate or the other?
I know some blogs attempt to stay objective, but I believe it is that sort of forced objectivity that has been making this entire process a much more drawn out and time consuming ordeal.
Any thoughts on that?
============================
As i understand it the staff of C&L do not agree on who the nominee should be so i think their decision not to endorse either one makes total sense.
[That is not necessarily the reason. We just want to be 100% behind whoever is running against the Republican nominee. It's hard to do that if you've been trash talking them for months. It's John's Blog, it's John's decision, and we all agree with that decision and support him.
We also have commenters we highly regard on both sides. We don't want to alienate half of our posters.
It will make life simpler for the site team as well, when the nominee is chosen-Sitemonitor]
25% of all voters in Indiana have been removed from the voting lists. I did a little research and I found out that the counties with the highest percentages have either largely black populations or large percentages of voters between the ages of 18 and 39. Gary Indiana wich has a large black population has had over 55% of its voters taken off the list. Looks like someone has been busy cooking the books in Indiana to help out Hillary.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
I should move to Cuba where when i vote for Fidel Castro i know my vote will be counted.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 25:
Not in Floriduh, I'm sure. I'm having my doubts about gravity here as well...
Ratface @ 27:
Huh??
My link was supposed to be to a pic of Shrubby trying to drain wisdom from the Westminster Best-in-Show boxer...
Rusty Shackleford @ 46:
You almost feel sorry for Republican voters. The ticket they have been handed is probably not what most of them wanted. Hillary seems to be trying to give Republicans a second choice, her. She's cozying up to McCain just enough to make her look like the alternative to him for the Repubs. Not sure that will sit well with Democrats. It sure doesn't with me.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 17:
Let me get my head around this. A substitute teacher does a simple trick to make a toothpick "disappear" and some morons in Florida had him removed from his job on the grounds that he practices wizardry?
Good thing he didn't do something really scary like produce fire or they'd be screaming to have him stoned in the public square.
fastfeat @ 51:
Well to be fair, I'm sure gravity is no friend to a lot of Florida's residents ...
fastfeat @ 51:
Go to the beach and look at the shape of some of the snow birds in their bathing suits. That will restore your belief in gravity and also make you want to scratch out your eyes.
45 hazmaq Says:
Thanks Bob!
No, that's Praise Bob!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f7/Bobdobbs.jpg/180px-B...
&
http://poee.org/documents/other_religions/Church_of_the_SubGenius/images...
The Scopes Monkey Trial was an even bigger farce than the OJ Simpson trial. William Jennings Bryan took the witness stand even though he was the prosecutor. Part of the trial took place outdoors on a lawn. The jury did not allowed the jury in the court during any of the defense testimony. Both the defense and the prosecution claimed the defendant was guilty. There were no closing arguments by the defense or prosecuting attorneys. The whole convoluted trial trial & conviction resulted in a nominal fine of $100 subsequently appealed and rescinded by a higher court. It was a judicial zoo of a monkey trial held in a kangaroo court.
53 pissed off patricia Says: Rusty Shackleford @ 46:
pissed off patricia @ 33:
McCain spoke out favorably in 2005 regarding intelligent design
From that same 2005 article:
“A recent poll by the Gallup Organization found that McCain’s favorable ratings have consistently hovered above 50 percent since 2002, two years after he ran for the Republican nomination for president against George W. Bush.”
And now it’s at 32 percent and falling.
Seems the more people find out about McCain, the less they like him.
You almost feel sorry for Republican voters. The ticket they have been handed is probably not what most of them wanted. Hillary seems to be trying to give Republicans a second choice, her. She’s cozying up to McCain just enough to make her look like the alternative to him for the Repubs. Not sure that will sit well with Democrats. It sure doesn’t with me
=======================================
It worked in Conneticut for Lieberman.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 17:
Good christ. Just when I think the stupidest among us has been found, up pops a gem like this.
54 Yellow Elephant Safari Says: xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 17:
Be warned: there are Wizards among us!
http://www.tampabays10.com/new.....ryid=79533
Let me get my head around this. A substitute teacher does a simple trick to make a toothpick “disappear” and some morons in Florida had him removed from his job on the grounds that he practices wizardry?
Good thing he didn’t do something really scary like produce fire or they’d be screaming to have him stoned in the public square.
___________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK2Zk744ccY
&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNeq2Utm0nU
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 25:
the only reason that gravity has any effect on the repugs is
they are all full of dried crap.
Ron @ 59:
Yes it did and that's what scares me. Is she that desperate that she would straddle party lines? Damn it, that is not what we need right now.
miss_kitty @ 60:
My grandpa used to produce honest-to-goodness real US quarters from the backs of my ears. Who knew that he was the spawn of Satan??
I can't stand to watch MSNBC in the morning these days. Usually I leave it on while I'm getting ready for work, but even Mike Barnicle has jumped onto the "We can't perform critical analysis" bandwagon. I feel so sorry for Mika because she gets bullied by the other guys everyday for trying to use common sense and critical thinking when discussing the issues.
Today they were talking about the "Gas Holliday" issue, and instead of asking why Hillary was making campaign promises that would have poor results (if she could keep them in the first place), they were talking about how making false promises made her a great candidate and how Barack Obama was off his game for trying to look out for the best interests of the American people by being on the right side of this issue instead of pandering like McCain and Clinton.
I couldn't believe my ears and had to immediately turn the TV off. This is the same media that carried Bush through failed policy after failed policy by giving him the benefit of the doubt. And it's the same media that carries Hillary Clinton after loss after loss after loss giving her the benefit of the doubt. And it's the same media that won't compare and contrast McCain in 2008 to McCain in 2000 because they're giving him the benefit of the doub.t
Some fundie's kid must have told his or her parents about the toothpick trick and the parents reported the teacher. Just imagine this same kid when it goes into a science class and a teacher lights a light bulb using a potato. All hell will break out at that point.
80% of America = United = Good
The Crooks know that a Republican cannot win.
Bush and Cheney wrecked the party. Look at McCains total votes.. laughable
hence.. We are seeing more "Republican Likes" posing as Democrats.
Look to see who the Bush Family is helping...
Liars and Crooks Can Only
Win Elections if They Cheat
Mika gives in to Joe Scarborough too easily. She should hand it back as good as he gives it to her. Personally I wish they would scrub the whole show and start over with all different people. When Joe first got the show he wasn't as bombastic as he is now. I actually thought the show had a chance at the beginning but more and more each morning I end up turning over to Washington Journal on C-span.
Arrested for teaching evolution??
I guess Ben Stein is right. Christian ARE being persecuted in this country, and always have been.
Oh, wait. I have that backwards, don't I?
Either way, I'm certain he's still right. People practically have to sneak in and out of church every Sunday to avoid the jeering mobs of Atheists gathered outside.
Brando @ 28:
YourMom @ 12:
Down here, I talk about evolutionary biology as fact (which it is) and despite a better understanding of Christianity and its tradition than most rednecks can bother with, am told I am a hell-bound atheist. I didn't get any teaching on evolution from biological perspectives until I started reading up on it, and learned the basics of the theory. Which then convinced me that 99% of Evilvangelicalism is crap.
And, Brando, that's very accurate. Only in physics does the term "law" get used. Relativity is a theory. Universal gravitation is a theory. Nuclear fission is a theory. By YEC standards, the atomic bomb could not exist, and these YECs want to use thermonuclear weapons on Iran....
69 P.K. McBurroughs Says: Arrested for teaching evolution??
I guess Ben Stein is right. Christian ARE being persecuted in this country, and always have been.
Oh, wait. I have that backwards, don’t I?
Either way, I’m certain he’s still right. People practically have to sneak in and out of church every Sunday to avoid the jeering mobs of Atheists gathered outside.
=========================================
The Scopes Trial is a very famous trial. Clarence Darrow was the defense attorney.
He lost the case.
P.K. McBurroughs @ 69:
No. In areas where it is the majority religion, even with a damn good bit of muzzling, Christianity proves to be remarkably dangerous. If the Church wasn't muzzled, everything from Iran and the Urals to the Americas would resemble Northern Ireland...
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 50:
Probably several times, for verification and again for good measure.
pissed off patricia @ 39:
Thanks for the link.
Rusty Shackleford @ 46:
Rusty, if you're going to cite trends in polls, wouldn't it be a good idea to at least cite the same poll, at the very least? If you look at Gallup, which did the favorability poll for McCain in 2005 and had it pegged at above 50%, now one of the most recent Gallup polls put his rating at 67% (March 16-18, 2008). That was his highest favorability rating in 8 years and the highest of the three presidential candidates.
Even the poll you do cite, a CBS poll, is laughable. 19% Undecided and 14% Haven't Heard of. Every other poll on the website you link to has his favorability numbers well above 50%, and nearly every one increasing.
Gary @ 15:
Hee hee. One wonders whether Gary thinks we've never heard this canard before?
So, all, wanna have some fun with the IDiots? The teach-the-controversy, it's-just-a-theory folks?
Click here.
Shrubby giving commencement address in Greensburg, KS following last year's tornado. Getting all sorts of MSM coverage today.
Don't you wish just one kid would stand up and say something in protest, like "Where the fuck are our National Guard troops, Chimpboy?" Oh well...
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/605561.html
Gary @ 15:
You know what else, the existence of cells is a theory. So why don't you touch the grime on an old car and put it right to your mouth. The non-existent bacteria can't kill ya, it's only a theory! (Sarcasm, for anyone who is dumb enough to think I'm serious.)
I once said to a anti-evolution nut...(just to please him) "God created evolution".....that satisfied him and shut him up for good. Did you ever notice,all good things that happen..god gets the credit..all bad and the devil did it....oh pleeeeeeeeeze....Darwin never said: "There is no god"..that I could ever find,yet somehow they feel threatened by him???????????????? OK...god created cancer,aids,and all germs etc.? but..god is a good god?...but if you question or doubt him,he'll set you on fire forever....? "Freedom of religon" is also none at all...our founding fathers were very wise.
All I have to say today: I wish that Hillary would just go away. I am not going to vote for her in November.
Sums up the entire Bush regime in a nutshell.
wisedup @ 78:
Could you format that again? It hurts my eyes.
Besides, anyone who accepts monotheism (not Christian duotheism, Lucifer/Satan is undoubtedly a second god) must by the very nature of things accept Dystheism. Christianity is erroneously considered to be monotheistic, when Catholicism and the various Orthodoxies all accept various descendants of local pagan cults called "Saints" while all three big branches accept the existence of Satan. Satan seems to be a second God to the Fundies. Not to mention that Christian monotheism accepts a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, there's a triune God (really a triad the way it seems to work in modern Christendom) and Satan (his dark counterpart, seemingly more powerful in Protestant radicalism) in all sects, with the older traditional sects clinging to old polytheism in the saint cults.
Christianity is not monotheistic.
Unitararianism is monotheistic, and apparently a branch of the original monad Christians.
Funny thing is Unitarianism as we know it came from Transylvania.
ysbaddaden @ 82:
Indeed. The earliest Christian sects before the Pauline branch became predominant were a sect of Jews who saw Yehoshua bar Yosef the carpenter who was crucified as Messiah. Interpretation of what that meant varied so much that any talk of "one" Christendom, no matter the denomination that it comes from automatically betrays an agenda. Christians today, even, differ little from Jews except that they think Yehoshua abolished Halakha. On the levels of theology, there's a great deal of similarity, the primary differences having to do with the role Yehoshua plays as Messiah and the relation thereof. The big trigger between Nazoreans and Ebionites and Paulines to separate from the Jews was the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
ysbaddaden @ 82:
Indeed. The earliest Christian sects before the Pauline branch became predominant were a sect of Jews who saw Yehoshua bar Yosef the carpenter who was crucified as Messiah. Interpretation of what that meant varied so much that any talk of "one" Christendom, no matter the denomination that it comes from automatically betrays an agenda. Christians today, even, differ little from Jews except that they think Yehoshua abolished Halakha. On the levels of theology, there's a great deal of similarity, the primary differences having to do with the role Yehoshua plays as Messiah and the relation thereof. The big trigger between Nazoreans and Ebionites and Paulines to separate from the Jews was the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
Funny thing is the first of the "Great 13 Heresies," were the Circumcisors who insisted all Christians had to be circumcised like the Jews. Of course that was a more dangerous rite then due to infection etc. The Paulites were trying to attract Pagans who didn't want to free their willy.
The information I got came from a Catholic Website (New Advocate?) but what they didn't say was what I suspect. These "heretics" were the actual Christian church in Israel, headed by the apostle James.
But they were destroyed along with the rest of Israel during the Diaspora of about 70 ce.
70 ce was soon after the first Ieudica-Romanae war.
Me go now...
Ungowa...
Laura Bush blames Myanmar govt for lack of planning, loss of life following typhoon. She should know...:
http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com/2008/05/first-lasy-laura-bush-speaks-at-...
Tip: Ask Barbara Bush about temp. housing situations following Katrina:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
wisedup @ 78:
:)
They're threatened by Darwin because he solved one of the riddles with which they confounded god-skeptics: the illusion of design.
Darwin's mechanism of natural selection so elegantly demonstrated how complex organisms, clearly "built for" their surroundings, actually could come to be without an intelligent designer that it was a wonder no one had conceived the idea until the 19th Century.
The believers are now left only with cosmological riddles unsolved, but cosmology awaits its Darwin. And they know it.
ysbaddaden @ 85-
The information I got came from a Catholic Website (New Advocate?) but what they didn’t say was what I suspect. These “heretics” were the actual Christian church in Israel, headed by the apostle James.
Don't forget that there was an earlier diaspora, during the Hellenistic rule of the eastern Mediterranean. The early church spread through Jews in Asia Minor, Greece and Rome itself. Now I don't know if these Jews earlier scattered toed James' or Paul's line, but I suspect that some of these Jewish Paulites may have disagreed with Paul on circumcision.
Laura Bush bitches at the government of Myanmar to allow a US aid team in, after the US promises $250,000.00 (yup, a quarter million) in aid. Wow, sooo f'ing generous. Seems she has a long standing interest in Myanmar. Probably since yesterday, or maybe this morning. Hey Laura STFU. You don't speak for ANYONE BUT YOURSELF, dumb ass...
I have one more theory most of us have observed. It is the "Poop Theory" and it states that republicans are all full of shit....
Karen @ 90:
Indeed. Too many Christians are still trapped in the God of the gaps conception of Him. When there are no more gaps, that version of God will vanish, hopefully for a better one. God does not get lessened by the discovery of His Laws and his humbling of our arrogance by making us only one among millions of species squabbling that are all equal is funny. It's very unfortunate that in trying to create a wonderful God, the Fundamentalists created a chained monster that will one day turn and rend them.
MSNBC'S NEW TRACK TO HELL:
Chris Matthews FINALLY admits he voted for BUSH. It slipped out, late last week after he bashed Obama about something, again. But it's worth volumes when you look to the 24/7 Wright Fest MSNBC aired in context to our beliefs that it was always FOX who were the hard core hate mongers and Right Wingers and war mongers.
At least Rupert isn't as big a war profiteer as the cowardly GE has been -also noticed GE quietly slink away with billions of Iranian and Iraqi and Palestinian blood on their hands now that they've suffered the first losses ever in history because the public hates them as much if not more than FOX.
With most of MSNBC staff- well actually every fu**ing one of them but Olbermann, now having slipped out in their rants for Hillary -that they supported Bush, this morning they've now been on a solid get Hill' elected rant by stripping out every solid pro-Obama supporter/pundit in place of Republicans and pro-Clintons v. Obama.
So sick to death at the thought of Obama winning are they, MSNBC has removed the small bit of edge they had over FOX.
Which is worse?
FOX , so stern in their publically acknowledged Right wing beliefs that they can only give Colmes a few minutes a day to 'represent the Left'?
Or MSNBC/NBC.
So profit driven, they'll throw anyone, anywhere into a lions den to profit off of and appease the body snatchers and limbs dealer.
General_Rennenkampf @ 94:
I'm not a believer myself, but do have the same wonder as the late Carl Sagan about how religious leaders have not, by and large, embraced scientific discoveries by acknowledging that god's universe is even bigger and more awe-inspiring that originally thought. Why would they insist that we have learned all there is to know about god in the bronze age, and that further discoveries that contradict the bronze age understanding are the devil's deception?
here's some fun facts for ya about the Scopes case.
William Jennings Bryan was a liberal.
Clarence Darrow was an agnostic.
And Inherit the Wind is not a documentary.
Karen @ 96:
Simple. Because far, far too many of my fellow Christians, let alone my fellow Abrahamics, glorify printed words from the Bronze Age as testament and revelation from God and ignore that those words were from a limited time in knowledge and morality and even then, ignore most of those words beyond "Thou shalt smite the heathen."
A lot of my fellow Abrahamics, whether Jews (the founders of Israel), Christians (the Dominionists and Joel's Army-types) and Muslims (the Sadrist militias and Sunni militias) seem to only follow the dark side of their faiths, instead of trying to find a balance.
As a Western Christian of the St. Francis school, and St. Dominic, instead of the Tomas de Torquemada and Francisco Pizzaro school, I consider the dark Christians of the Religious Right to be heretics. They need to be fought indeed.
They aren't just a danger to moderate Christians or to traditionalists, they're a danger to Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and especially to the atheists and the gays.
These religious right types need to learn mighty quick that God cannot be confined to their little box, and that Christianity of the school I follow and they as well is not monotheism, it's duotheism. If anyone is the servant of
Ahriman-I mean, Satan, it's them. Satan is said to disguise himself as an angel of light. What better way for the dark god of the Christian tradition to win a victory than to insinuate his pious simpletons into the Church in the guise of the Dommies and their hydraic brethren?I believe in Satan, yes. But I believe he is more to be found in the speeches of Tim Lahaye and in Christians who beat up gays because they are "sinful" than in the Religious Left.
Sorry about the ramble...
Karen @ 90:
Once again I must ever so slightly disagree with you Karen. There is no complete science yet. Thanks be to the FSM. There are still endless wonders to be explored in every science and though cosmology presents some of the more spectacular challenges there are very fundamental discoveries yet to be made. The one that interests me most is the origin of life which is almost entirely speculative even now. More science for ever and ever Ramen.
Peter G @ 99:
We don't actually disagree, Peter G. I agree with everything you said.
I was really just referring to the traditional arguments in favor of the existence of god. I did not mean to imply that all scientific riddles have been solved. Just that among the arguments vis-a-vis the existence of god, only the cosmological are left.
By the way, you said, "There is no complete science yet." I'm skeptical that there ever will be. ;)
97 CD Says: here’s some fun facts for ya about the Scopes case.
William Jennings Bryan was a liberal.
Clarence Darrow was an agnostic.
And Inherit the Wind is not a documentary.
________________________________________________________
Why do you state the obvious and pretend to superiority?
William Jennings Bryant (Matthew Brady in the movie with Frederick March playing) was really more of a Populist, and professional gadfly, having run for the presidency four times as the Tear duct of Sweetwater Nebraska.
Clarence Darrow (Henry Drummond in the movie with Spencer Tracy playing) Agnosticism isn't relevant. He was something of an early Civil-Right champion who would've supported a religious person if they were being persecuted in his eyes.
For both the high-profile nature of the case was of interest, although Bryant said in an interview that he took the case because of it's Social Darwinist nature (he didn't use the actual term, not in vogue yet, but certainly sensed it). He also saw it as a states right issue.
There are pictures from the actual Scope Trial but mostly of individuals, not entire court scenes, so any picture illustrative of the historical has to come from the fictional.
However, since the case was heavily covered by reporters and portions broadcast on the radio of the day (Norman Fell played a radio technician and would later go on to play Mr. Roper in Three's Company and the Roper's, more your intellectual speed), large portions of the dialogue came close to actual legal arguments in court, but with dramatic license of course.
Actually, now that I think of it, "the tear duct of Sweetwater Nebraska," may've been a line in the movie played by Gene Kelly as an HL Mencken stand-in.
However, Bryant did have the reputation of crying in speeches, and I understand he had a similar nick-name, but I need to find it.
ysbaddaden @ 101:
Yeah, I'm not sure Bryan is correctly labeled a "liberal." He was certainly very populist in his leanings and rhetoric, and admirably anti-imperialist. I'll give him that he supported women's suffrage too. But he was also very authoritarian, especially with regard to religion and the prohibition movement. As for "liberal," I don't know. I think he'd be more comfortable around people like Pat Buchanan than, say, Dennis Kucinich.
Isn't relevant? Isn't relevant to what? I thought CD was just listing trivia. He was indeed an agnostic. He's also my hero. :)
I've heard people try to say that Bryan's objections to Darwinism were largely objections to Social Darwinism. I don't buy that. (I certainly don't see what Social Darwinism had to do with the Scopes case.)
Heh, quite a bit of dramatic license. Not that I consider it a weakness of the play -- it's a wonderful play -- but they changed a lot from the historical record.
Well one thing certainly different was Gene Kelly's presence as an HL Mencken type. I understand Mencken never attended the trial but merely commented on it in his regular column.
The movie was structured very much like a play with one master set, the court-room, and a few cut-aways a porch, a dining room, a meeting of business-men, the fictional minister's house with his daughter, the jail, Henry Drummond's hotel room, and of course the minister's Inherit the Wind speech at a rally. It amazed me that Chet Atkins (later Sheriff Lobo) was that good an actor. So of course dialogue would have to be restructured to fit these limitiations in physical space.
The biggest change of all, one that I'm not sure is accurate, is that the business men at the Scope's Monkey trial got John Scope's permission to be arrested to try the new Butler Law (that Bryant championed into passage), as a PUBLICITY STUNT. But then it went sour, when their town's reputation plunged partially due to Mencken's acerbic wit.
Actually it was Matthew Brady that dispesed the rally with a reference to a passage in the Bible, "He who disturbs his own house, inherits the wind."
Kind of like eating old pinto beans.
"Why do you state the obvious and pretend to superiority?"
eh?
"professional gadfly"? he was nominated three times and is credited with founding the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
"Clarence Darrow (Henry Drummond in the movie with Spencer Tracy playing) Agnosticism isn’t relevant."
I have found Atheists and Creationists both tend to assume he was an Atheist.
As for your little snide remark there's a rerun of Hee Haw on tv why don't you go watch it? more your intellectual speed after all.
106 CD Says: “Why do you state the obvious and pretend to superiority?”
eh?
...As for your little snide remark there’s a rerun of Hee Haw on tv why don’t you go watch it? more your intellectual speed after all.
I think these two phrases of yours demonstrate that you probably lack the acumen required for Hee-Haw.
I'm gone for the night.
Your sophistry does nothing to mask your talking down to people.
I double-checked
It was Claude Akins who played the reverend and Sheriff Lobo.
Claude Atkins was a country singer.
But since I'm not into that corn-pone scene, I've never gotten into either one, hence my surprise at Akins solid performance as the reverend in Inherit the Wind.
Interesting factor, Dick York played the defendent Bert Cates (John Scope) before playing Darren Stevens until he resigned and Dick Sergent took over as Darren, and then played a deputy with Akins in Sheriff Lobo.
Now I'm really gone.
My days all start at 5:00 a.m.
It was Claude Akins who played the reverend and Sheriff Lobo.
Chet Atkins was a country singer.
Jeeze, you can't tell these cracker names apart.
108 CD Says: Your sophistry does nothing to mask your talking down to people.
97 CD Says: here’s some fun facts for ya about the Scopes case.
William Jennings Bryan was a liberal.
Clarence Darrow was an agnostic.
And Inherit the Wind is not a documentary.
I was talking down to YOU,
You were taking down to the SITE.
The site isn't a person.
CD @ 112:
It could be. If it incorporates. ;)
Wasn't too long ago the the "ID" crowd tried to insert
fundamentalist dogma in the science classes in the Dover region
of my state, Pennsylvania. The "IDers" were bitch slapped by a Bush
appointed judge after they were easily proven wrong, let alone that fact
they had perjured themselves with their own words. The evangelical
school board members were all defeated in the next election.
The fraud fundamentalist/evangelicals might have short periods of success. Eventually they always fail because of their own arrogance and pride and general stupidity. The periods of religious insanity last too long, so many have suffered. It's sadly true of just about every denomination and sect.
damn, good thing I don't have to write/type
anything important after I take my meds...
I does'nt do good instersing inglash!
;-)
Great performance. It's why I am against ALL cencorship.
I wonder how many Repigs rent that video? It's probably not part of home-schooling. I should send Lindsay Graham a copy.
One thing about the movie that was significant in it's change was the significant others. With the idealistic teacher, his sensible and practical girlfriend who didn't quite understand, and a village that seemed to be bordering on lynching behavior it clearly was working on similar themes as Arthur Miller's The Crucible. However, when the movie premiered in Dayton Tennessee, the actual town the Scopes Monkey trial took place, some took umbrage at that portrayal of them, even though it was a fictional town in the movie.
However, by 1960 most of the adults involved in the trial were either elderly or dead, so those taking offense were probably kids at the time of the trial, and for that reason may've been protected from the worse, although the worse were probably sermons on how evolution will lead you to hell, but not attacking people.
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