- The Econimist looks at how not to conduct an experiment about the dangers of cell phones.
- Reviewing a new intelligent design textbook. (Thanks, Emory.)
- The Times Online Alpha Mummy blog writes about American purity balls, and influencing what children believe: “My little girl is at a faith school, not through my choice, and she regularly admonishes me for not believing in God. She assures me that Jesus would be very upset to hear that I didn’t believe in him. She also believes in Batman, and is eager to read my ancient (and I always fancied, valuable) collection of comics.”
- The Haredi sect has launched an aggressive campaign against the secular lifestyles of women in Jerusalem.
from the Jerusalem article: “Having secular people on the buses is a problem. They go like animals, without clothes. Non-religious girls don’t dress properly. They encourage me to sin,” he said.
What a pansy. Grow a pair, dude! It would be nice if the religious fanatics would understand that the only person you can really control is yourself. They would actually be pretty easy to live with if that were the case. But these people can only be happy if every one is as miserable as they are. ‘Self appointed Moral Guardians’… what a joke. A bunch of people with no power and nothing to offer humanity put themselves into a position where they can boss people around and feel morally superior to the rest of us. I guess they expect to get extra big external hugs from God when the die?
And that photo of those girls carrying a cross looks like it belongs in a horror movie. But then real life has a way of putting horror movies to shame.
“Having secular people on the buses is a problem. They go like animals, without clothes. Non-religious girls don’t dress properly. They encourage me to sin,†he said.
I have a real problem with people blaming their “sins” on the actions of others, i.e. “the Devil (or you) MADE me do it.” Wrong-o. If you don’t like it, get off the bloody bus, moron! No one made you get on the bus and look at them. This is the same logic that the fundamentalist Muslims use to force women dress up like rolled-up carpets!
It is not the world’s responsibility to change itself to your satisfaction. It’s called “adaptation.”
Kids lecturing their parents for not believing in Batman: cute and hilarious.
Kids lecturing their parents for not believing in God: not so much.
Also, Imrryr, I dig your avatar ;)
For the record, I believe wholeheartedly in Batman. If that makes me a bad skeptic, so be it. :)
The Jerusalem article made me throw up a little in my mouth.
@Ooxman: :) Thanks, Ooxman.
I felt I should balance out my anger at the world with a happy new avatar. And few things make me happier than ‘My Neighbor Totoro’.
@Jen:
Believing in Batman doesn’t make you a bad skeptic, seeing as how there’s tons of evidence supporting his existence (comic books, films, etc). In fact, I think most of the films have been documentaries, filmed in real-time, except for that one with George Clooney. That one was pseudo-cinema.
@Imrryr:
Few things make me happier than Miyazaki films. Hooray for magical escapism!
When I first read “purity balls,” I didn’t think of a dance event. I thought of balls. Like little rubber purity stress balls that you put on your desk. I was like ‘Wha..? Why would giving kids balls help keep them pure?”
I think I haven’t fully adjusted to the brain functions required for a Monday…
@Masala Skeptic: I know what a “purity ball” is but I STILL think of those um, sex beads. If you know what I mean. LOL
@Masala Skeptic: I’m right there with you. I actually had to re-read that line a few times before it made sense to me because my mind is so apparently in the gutter…
I can understand belief in Batman. I mean, just look at all the modern texts we have chronicling his life. But this Jesus person…everything about him comes from just one book, written 2,000 years ago. Talk about crazy…
Back to seriousness though. I wonder why the person in the second story can’t do something to get his kid out of brainwashing school. Probably safe to assume that he/she is divorced from the kid’s other parent, but surely they have some say in the kid’s education. I don’t know how it all works.
These “purity balls” are the creepiest thing to come out of religion in a long time. I think it’s only a matter of time before they add sacrificing animals to the mix.
As a father of two daughters, the Purity Ball movement makes my skin crawl. :-(
I’m sorry, but it’s creepy…
I’m gonna use this Economist article the next time someone brings up Ronald Herberman, even if it’s not exactly conclusive. It’s not like they’ll remember his name anyway, it will be like this:
Them: “Well this American doctor sent out a warning based on his research.”
Me: “Oh yeah, well I read an article about this research, and it was severely flawed and the dangers are disputed by other researchers in the same study.”
Them: “I find your arguments strangely arousing…”
Ummm… Excuse me a minute.