Science put religious “upbringings” and convictions to shame with it’s level of rationality and requirements for evidence.
Richard Dawkins explains:
You are currently browsing articles tagged video.
What happened to the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty? Since when is racial profiling something we pass into law instead of protect against? For being a melting pot of immigrants, we sure are intolerant of others who wish to achieve the same dream. I will take bets on how long it will take before this laws goes to the courts and is declared unconstitutional.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Seth Myers from SNL reminds us that “Show me your papers” is the catch phrase of Nazi Germany.
The Governor of Virginia will be appearing with this “healing prophet” today. This comes hot on the heals of McDonnell’s blunder in forgetting to mention slavery in his proclamation declaring April “Confederate History Month”.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Pope Opera | ||||
|
||||
Pope Benedict this Palm Sunday dismissed the “petty gossip” of the allegations during his homily. The recent scandal rocking the Catholic Church involves a Wisconsin Priest who raped over 200 deaf boys and had his case dismissed by Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger). Could the Pope possibly minimize the grotesque nature of child rape even more? The Church
has been more concerned with covering it’s own backside than it is with solving the widespread problem of child rape in the priesthood. It is much more concerned with it’s public image than it is concerned with admitting faults and making amends with the victims.
Christopher Hitchens discusses this topic on Bill Maher’s March 26th 2010 HBO show. Video Transcript excerpt:
“It’s funny because in this society… Even in prisons, there is a hierarchy of crimes. The child molesters are the ones who even hardened criminals shun, or actually kill.” – Maher
“This is the one crime no one can think about without vomiting, that the once great, moral church wants wiggle room for” -Hitchens
The Pope even has an opinion about airport security… could it be because he is a lady?
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Tip/Wag – Joe Lieberman, the Pope & Sharks | ||||
|
||||
BigThink recently interviewed English comedian Steven Fry. Fry responds to questions about his opinion on religion, atheism and homosexuality.
Fry brilliantly notes that living as a humanist/naturalist, he is compelled to live a fulfilled and vibrant life. Without the promise or wish for another life after this one, the naturalist and atheist strives ernestly to do the best they can in the here and now.
Since Haiti was hit by the earthquake I have been patiently waiting for any religious person I know to excuse god for the disaster and blame 
“mother nature”. I didn’t have to wait very long. Haiti’s misfortune brings up the blaring inconsistency in religion, especially the monotheistic religions: the problem of good and evil.
Pat Robertson, Christian TV evangelist was so disabled by this conundrum that he publicly claimed the reason Haiti suffered such great misfortune was because they had “made a pact with the devil”. For Pat, this was a sufficient explanation for the recent Tsunami, Hurricane and now Earthquake that has brought this country to its most desperate hour.
Haiti serves as a prime example of the problem of “good and evil”.
Naturalists point out that if a god who is claimed to be omnipotent (all powerful) and omniscient (all knowing) controls the universe, by definition such a god must take credit for EVERYTHING that happens, not just the good stuff. Such a god would know that an earthquake was about to happen and have the power to prevent it from happening. With this information about the omnipotent, omniscient god, we must conclude at least one of the following:
1. Such a god is intrinsically evil by allowing the disaster to hit
2. Such a god does not exist (omnipotent, omniscient)
A theist will disagree here and say that god does not control the evils in the world because Adam and Eve sinned and the rest of humanity must suffer because of their sin. This leads us to conclude that the omnipotent, omniscient god has no sense of what constitutes a “just” punishment for the “sin” of two humans. We must also consider that if the theist’s argument that “evils like Tsunami’s are not god’s fault” rests on the existence of two storybook characters in Genesis the argument falls apart. We begin to doubt the historical accuracy of the Adam and Eve story because it is embedded in a creation myth that sets the earth at 10,000 years old, having been fashioned in 7 days by a sky-god.
But most importantly, the counter argument to those who say “evil is the devil’s doing, not god’s” places the omni-god in a position of NOT being omnipotent. If the omni-god is not in control of nature, this by definition deems him not omnipotent. This leaves us to conclude that the omni-god is either:
1. Not actually omnipotent or
2. Unjust in dealing out his punishments and hence, if he be doing the punishing for Adam’s sin, he IS responsible for earthquakes and natural disasters (omnipotent)
This past weekend I listened to a Catholic homily by a deacon who was trying to help his congregation understand how to reconcile god with the Haiti earthquake. His best shot was to tell a little story about a mother in Haiti who dug her children out of the rubble of her home and saved their lives. All three of her children lived (after extensive medical surgury and the science of medicine). She told reporters that “now she knew that god loved her”. The deacon pointed out that good can come of such atrocities like this women who finally knew that god loved her. He failed to bring up all the other thousands who perished or the other mothers whose children were crushed and killed. Did ‘god’ love them? It was perhaps the weakest argument of the century. What a fickle god Christians daily defend.
Don’t pray or wish that Haiti be helped, do something to help. Donate to a non-theistic charity organization dedicated to helping Haiti.
This cat caught my attention not because of her virtuoso talent, but rather for her ability to hold interest in the piano. For a cat, the ability to recognize cause and effect of the piano and the sound is remarkable. Nora takes it further and seems to enjoy repeating the sounds and sustains an interest in the keyboard.
An unbiased look at the history of December festivities and traditions by the History Channel:
It would be ok if O’Reilly really was clinically insane, but downright ignorance is no excuse. Christmas was originally a pagan holiday called the Winter Solstice when people celebrated the day on which the period of time when the sun shone during the day began to increase. When the Christians began converting Pagans to their religion, they superimposed a holiday celebration of Christ’s birth over the celebration of Winter Solstice. This was done only after many failed attempts to stop the converts from celebrating in their pagan traditions. Easter is the Christian’s attempt to hijack the pagan holiday of Summer Solstice. Even O’Reilly’s blond commentators think he is crazy. Wow.
Foods like this never find their way into our home, but it is still fun to see what 
disgusting crap goes into “food” like Cool Whip . This Thanksgiving, will you be eating food or “food”?
From Wired Science
I would love to hear this homeopath, Dr. Charlene Werner try to explain
physics to a physics professor. It literally sounds like she is making this stuff up as she goes! How does one justify using Einstein’s E=mc2 by “crossing out mass”? Oh, and her best example of how magic pellets work is a “patient” with a “squeaky knee” and “sugar cravings” being “cured” in 4 weeks. Really?
So if your brain doesn’t hurt from all that incorrect blabbering, listen to an actual physicist on the topics Dr. Charlene Werner just touched on.
This windmill design was inspired by the buzzing wings of flying insects. It may prove to be more effecient than the current circular motion windmills, which are only 30% effecient. This follows the recent trend of using nature’s solutions to solve design issues. Watch the xBee in action:
British humor is great. This poor guy let the bird hump him for a long time!
Watch the video.
Comedy is funny because it pokes fun at the truth. From DisInfo.com:
“This satirical infomercial, which had been on YouTube for months, was pulled by Youtube, who deemed it “inappropriate content,” only after it skyrocketed into the top three topics on digg.com and began accumulating tens of thousands of views. Upset by the censorship and implications, several youtube users have re-uploaded or ‘mirrored’ the video in protest.”-DisInfo.com
Religion – watch more funny videos
This is classic! Republicans taking one small part of the big picture and blowing it out of proportion to push an agenda.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Where the Riled Things Are | ||||
|
||||
This 17 year old kid grew up in a “Jesus Camp” type family setting. At the age of 13 he became atheist and has been living “in the closet” ever since. His parents send him to a brainwashing Jesus Camp every year for the last 15 years. He decided to record the nonsense and share it with the rest of us.
It is a 7 part video. This is only 3 of 7. Go to his channel to start from video one.
This is a must buy for science geeks. The lyrics are
controversial and clever. One of the songs called “Science is Real” has a free video preview that really digs at the issue of myth verses proven theory. I’m buying mine off itunes as soon as it becomes available.
Glen Beck is officially insane. A few days ago, I walked past someone listening to the radio at the pool. I recognized the voice, but it took a minute to place it. The radio host was urging his listeners to “go deep into themselves” and summon up a radical surge of political uprising fuelled by “love of God”. I passed it off as some religious nut job until I recognized the voice as Glen Beck. Yikes! The rhetoric easily fit a fundamentalist jihad maniac.
I had heard that Glen Beck’s Fox show had lost 15 major sponsors recently because he repeatedly called Obama a racist on his television show. His exact remark was that President Obama was a racist with a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” Never mind that Obama is just as white as he is black.
Glen Beck’s most recent self contradiction in an effort to dig his own grave a few more feet is comically captured in Jon Stewart’s August 13 show. Glen Beck vs. Glen Beck on healthcare:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Glenn Beck’s Operation | ||||
|
||||
I hesitated to post this for many months because it made the human race so deplorable (similarly to what Gulliver in Gulliver’s travels felt like after living with the Whinnem). But here it is. Knowledge is power. Just don’t get to down on humanity and do something uplifting after you watch it. Volunteer or donate to a charity to cheer yourself up 
And take it all with a pinch of salt… use your critical thinking skills.
PZ Myers has been covering this in great detail, but here is a little video made by some skeptics as they toured Ken Ham’s Creation “Museum” in Kentucky.
This hour long lecture discusses “intolerance” in a ironic and funny way. Oklahoma provides a great example Dawkins discusses how the human mind is obsessed with “purpose” for humans only. The banana clip is so sick! Ha! Then he shows how Ray comfort thinks the genetically modified modern banana was made for humans to “hold”. This is silly when we see what a natural banana looks like (with seeds).
Way to be a leader by QUITTING. Obviously money, scandal or self pity is behind that move. 1 and 1/2 years left to “serve the great people of Alaska” abruptly sloughed off. Way to break your promise Palin. Cheers to quitters.
Here we go with the baseball analogies again:
Translation: I think quitting the most influential post in Alaska is not apathetic because quitters are apathetic. I choose to quit in order to solve Alaska’s problems. I don’t like the same old politics as usual, so I am going be different by quitting instead of trying to change things.
I think she needs to explain that “hell ya” right now. What does that mean? Who is mocking Trig? I have never heard anyone make fun of her downs baby. Also, she has the power to just ignore the public critizisms. When you work in the public eye you will get public scrutiny. It is her decision to spend millions of dollars to “set the record straight”. If she would speak clearly in the first place, maybe there wouldn’t be any need for that. It is selfish to expect to be able to always have the last word as a public servant in the new arena.
Well, if she can’t handle some backlash when she says stupid things on national TV, I don’t know how she thought she was going to be great at being Vice President! That interview with Katie Couric where she dug her own grave and provided hours of clips for comic news commentators like Jon Stewart is a perfect example. Yet, I think there is scandal behind this that would have required her resignation, hence the hasty nature of the press conference on a holiday. For some reason it had to be done ASAP.
This series explores how fundamental Christianity is using the military as an active extention of their “mission” to make the USA a Christian nation.
The most disturbing thing I heard from this documentary was that Christian soldiers are convinced they are fighting in the middle east in the name of Christianity. Also, for active troops there is no alternative to religious gatherings. Humanist or psycological support for the emotionally depraved soldiers are not provided or funded alongside the thousands of Chaplin. So sad… they are preying on the emotionally vulnerable and the state is not providing alternatives to find support without the superstitions and myths attached.
This seemed to me like a fruition of what the movie “Jesus Camp” fosters. If you haven’t seen, go find it.
This is a real website, not a joke. It is irresistibly funny though, for a professional web designer AND an non-theist.
Click here for the Flash intro from HELL
Here is another longer Nova series you can watch on your computer:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html
You can watch this mini series on your computer (just don’t let the boss catch you
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/program-3114.html
In New York City, we might expect the smiley-faced tweenbot to be stabbed, stomped, mugged, or covered in graffiti, but every single one of the journeys was completed without a hitch. Pedestrians would stop and help the little guy when he was trapped against a curb or headed into traffic, and point him in the right direction.
WATCH:
If you took today’s technologies back 500, 300 or even 100 years ago, to people of the past you would appear to be wielding some sort of magical, supernatural power. Such is the danger with today’s humans when they are not properly educated in the ways and workings of nature and science. Third world countries abound in our ‘the future is now’ world and even in countries where knowledge and science is accessible, there are people who have not been given the opportunity to understand the “awe” in science that can easily mislead people towards worship.
Follow: