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Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion. —Democritus

Confusing Terrorists with Terrorist Victims March 31, 2006

Posted by Rastaban in : Homeland Insecurity , add a comment

The rebels killed her father when they raided her home in Liberia. She was held prisoner, beaten and raped, even forced to wash the clothing of the men who raped her. Fortunately she was able to escape after a few weeks and became a refugee. The UN determined that she is “particularly vulnerable to attack” in Liberia and recommended her for the US refugee resettlement program, which allows her to take refuge in the United States.

However, the Department of Homeland Security won’t let her in. Why? Because when she was forced to do the washing for rebels who had raped her and killed her father she was in effect providing “material support” to terrorists. By law, no one who has provided material support to terrorists can be allowed into the US. Under the Homeland Security’s interpretation of the law “it does not matter whether the support provided was given willingly or under duress”.*

Apparently this is not an isolated case. (more…)

Templeton Prayer Study Flawed

Posted by Rastaban in : Christianity, Christinsanity, Prayer , 5 comments

Touted as the largest scientific examination of prayer’s effect on hospital patients, the Templeton Foundation arranged for Christians to pray for 1800 heart patients and tracked the results. Prayer was not effective. According to CNN, “[t]he patients . . . were split into three groups of about 600 apiece: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possibility, and those who weren’t prayed for but were told it was a possibility.” Arrangements were made for 3 different Christian groups to pray “starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks”.

But the study was flawed. And it was flawed in a way which reveals the underlying absurdity of prayer itself. (more…)

Evolution — the Dividing Line March 29, 2006

Posted by Rastaban in : Existence Arguments, Non-Existence Arguments, gods & God , add a comment

It’s not surprising that the issue of teaching evolution (or not — or countering it with intelligent design) keeps cropping up around the country.

For practical purposes, evolution is the dividing line between theism and atheism.

Evolution points the way to a naturalistic explanation for the design we see in the world around us. If evolution is false, a naturalistic explanation for design becomes extremely difficult to hold, so that for all practical purposes we can say that if evolution is false atheism is probably false. Conversely we can say that if evolution is true, then theism is probably false.

Only probably.

But that’s enough to make evolution into a continental divide. (more…)

Atheists Disliked

Posted by Rastaban in : Atheist Culture , add a comment

Two recent studies, one by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the other by the University of Minnesota, reveal a continuing lack of tolerance for atheists on the part of the American public. “American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god,” the U of Minn. study authors conclude. Their survey found that atheists “are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public” and are “the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry”. Lead researcher Penny Edgell believes that “today’s atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and communists have played in the past”. The Pew Forum study, which focused primarily on American attitudes about Islam, reported that “Muslim-Americans are viewed much more favorably by the public than are atheists, about whom Americans express a particularly high level of discomfort.” Indeed, their study showed that while 25% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Muslims, a full 50% view atheists unfavorably.

Americans consider atheism a threat to their religious values and, according to the Minnesota study, respondents “associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behavior to rampant materialism and cultural elitism.”