Why no one at FNC should be permitted to talk about science - Glenn Beck, 10/15/2010

The level of stupidity and ignorance that is displayed by Fox News and their guests never cease to amaze me. Then again, I'm not so sure that it's stupidity on the part of Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly, as much as it is the naivety of their viewers. These three make their livings on the fact that most of their viewers are too stupid to lift a finger to do any kind of research to their claims.

Take, for example, the October 15th edition of the Glenn Beck show as he, along with David Barton and Calvin Beisner, spent an hour ripping environmental protection to shreds. I didn't know whether to laugh myself or be scared that millions of people are believing what they were saying. Among the claims made by these three:

● Environmentalists worship Ba'al.

● Totalitarianism existed before it was actually conceived.

● Ba'al was the god of the Babylonians.

● Only 9.7% of scientists alive today believe in God.

● Birds pre-date reptiles.

● The Judeo-Christian God ended slavery.

● The Ten Commandments are still relevant to today's society.

● The daily activities of mankind play no role in climate change.

● Progressives believe that social justice is evil; Glenn Beck is its champion.

● Progressives think that mankind is horribly evil and wicked while earth is inherently good (this one will make you laugh).

● Atheism is a religion.

In particular, the three were discussing a recent article released by the Tides Foundation titled "Let There Be...Stuff". Go to the Story of Stuff website here. Watch the Story of Stuff on Youtube here. The real problem that they have with the Story of Stuff is that George Soros is funding it, not the science behind it. They'd rather attack Soros than try to examine the information being presented.

Throughout the program Beisner, Beck and Barton spoke as if they have God's cell number on speed dial and just had dinner with him last night. Furthermore, they know God's will, which is the supreme height of arrogance. "But we're not just splitting hairs when what we see is pantheism being brought into the churches, saying that God is the Universe, that the Universe is God instead of saying God made the Universe," said Beisner. "That's not splitting hairs. That's a fundamental doctrine of historic Christianity called creation ex nihilo, creation out of nothing. Otherwise, you think that God created the Universe out of himself, and that's Buddhist and Hindu thought, not Christian."

Prove that your God created the Universe, Mr. Beisner, and prove that the Universe isn't a spiritual, sentient being that couldn't have created itself. This argument is already dead in the water. But, by the end of the first segment of the show, Beisner resorted to Genesis 1:28 as another example of how to use the Bible to justify stupidity. Not to be outdone, Barton offered the following as evidence of his argument:

Wow. Mind-bending.

Coincidentally, Glenn, the writers of the Hebrew Bible turned Ba'al from a god of rain, fertility, and agriculture to a demonic deity. None of these things sound demonic to me. Furthermore, the chief deity of the Babylonians was Marduk. Marduk later became Ba'al by default as the term means "lord". Ba'al was more of a title, much like Christ, than a deity. Glenn later corrected himself by stating that environmentalists are more likely to worship Gaia.

All of this aside, I do consider myself an environmentalist, at least to the extent that I'm conscientious of decisions that may impact my world. I make an honest effort to recycle every plastic bag and bottle, every glass jar, every newspaper, and every sheet of office paper I come across. I don't drive one of these; I drive one of these. I don't throw trash out of my car, nor do I let it idle for hours. And while I love kids, I think that irresponsible pricks like this misogynistic, brainwashing, control freak really need to have their tubes severed and seared and their tax-exempt status revoked.

That said, just like there are dangerous ideologues in the far right-wing, so are there in the far-left environmentalist movement. And yes, there are many mentally unstable environmentalists who would rather see humanity go the way of the dodo and that man is horrible and evil. But long before any environmentalist held this belief, Paul had already scribed Romans 3:10.

But this entire hit piece by Beck, Barton and Beisner has absolutely nothing to do with trying to suppress environmental extremism or even understanding climate change and environmental protection. It has the smell of New Age earth-worship, and these three hate it. Even Beisner is the founder of the Cornwall Alliance, which is dedicated to environmental protection, or as the website states, "stewardship". If this organization truly has the best interest of humanity and the environment at heart, then that's something I can get behind, even if it is a Christian organization. But they shouldn't expect any donations from me anytime soon.

Is there common ground that can be reached here? Yes, but very little. For the first time in years, Glenn actually said something that I agree with -- that we're too wrapped up in materialism to even notice what it means to be alive. Also, there are very unstable people within environmentalism. Other than that, the three offered no scientific evidence to support their claims, only ad hominem attacks and propaganda.

I need to remind Christians, including Barton and Beisner, that the Constitution protects every citizen and religion, not just them and their idealized version of Christianity. If they don't like it then I suggest they pack their bags and move to any of these countries.

David Barton has a B.A. in religious education from Oral Roberts University. He has no background in science, climatology, geography, environmental studies, ecology, or meteorology. Even though he and his idea that separation of Church and State is a myth have been thoroughly debunked, he still proclaims that the Founders were Christian and meant the United States to be a Christian nation. How then can we believe anything that comes out of his mouth? And if you're reading this Mr. Barton, I have a question for you; if the Founders meant this to be a Christian nation, why does the Constitution prohibit any kind of religious test in order to hold public office?

Calvin Beisner earned his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion and Philosophy at USC, an M.A. in Society from International College (he doesn't mention which International College), and a Ph.D. in Scottish History from The University of St. Andrews. He graduated magna cum laude in his chosen majors at USC and International College, so he's clearly an intelligent individual. Personally, I think Beisner genuinely believes what he teaches and is a decent, kind human being. I don't think he's out to hurt anyone, but I do believe he has a certain disdain for science and definitely has a Christian agenda to push and books to sell.

Glenn Beck graduated from high school. That's it. He has no post-secondary education of any kind in any discipline. No background in biology, history, ecology, astronomy, cosmology, meteorology, physics, economics, demography, geography, theology, or even basket weaving. The most admirable accomplishment in Glenn's life is overcoming alcoholism and drug addiction. Other than that, all he has going for him is the ability to spin arguments and confuse people. Nearly every other word that comes out of this man's mouth is either a distortion or a bold-faced lie in an attempt to promote his agenda and get rich off people's stupidity.

So what do the backgrounds of these men have to do with climate change and the environment? Absolutely nothing. They combined their knowledge about ecology, physics, meteorology and climate change and the best evidence they can provide is an idealized chalkboard representation of God vs. Man? Please.

Overall, these three offer no credible evidence for their arguments, while ignoring the overwhelming evidence against theirs - 1, 2, 3, 4. The only one who even came close to making a reasonable argument was Beisner. This link has the video in three parts, plus some pretty interesting commentary by readers about why these three are wrong, and others who agree with them. Also, it is interesting to note that Beisner gave a speech in 2008 at the International Conference on Climate Change, sponsored by the Heartland Institution, which gets funding from Exxon Mobil.

God rescues 33 miners in Chile. Wait. What?

Here are some of the headlines from around the world regarding the recent rescue of 33 miners in Chile:

"Chilean Mine Rescue; At Long Last a 'Miracle' Comes to Pass"

"In Our View: A Miracle an Hour"

"Chilean Miners: Rival churches claim credit for the miracle"

"Chile's miner 'miracle'"

"Chile's 33 trapped miners all rescued in 'miracle'"

"Chilean miners' health is a miracle, say doctors"

"Miner miracle: Rescue in Chile warms the world"

Of all the headlines I read about the rescue of these 33 Chilean miners, only one by Roger Ebert got it right:

"What do you mean by a miracle?"

As Ebert so rightly states, "there is a common compulsion to describe unlikely outcomes as miraculous -- if they are happy, of course. If sad, they are simply reported on, or among the believing described as 'the will of God.'"

The truth is that mine explosions have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. My great grandfather was killed in a mine explosion when my grandfather was only 10. Where was the miracle to save his life? Oh wait! It was God's will that my great grandfather died.

There was no miracle in Chile this week. What happened is that tens of thousands of hours of education, engineering and training were used to save lives. Bad things happen and good things happen. This was one of the days where good things happened.

Glenn Beck mocks humanity

Just when I think Glenn Beck couldn't sink any lower depth of depravity and inhumanity, he proves me wrong. Again.

On September 29th, firefighters in South Fulton, TN refused to respond to a call to put out a fire that burned Gene Cranick's house to the ground. The local fire chief, David Wilds, stated that the reason no firefighters were dispatched is that he refused to pay an annual $75.00 fee for fire services. Cranick stated that he forgot to pay the fee. In reality, it doesn't matter whether he Cranick forgot to pay the fee or not. Also, the town's mayor, David Crocker (Republican, of course), is reported to have said "You're out of luck" to Cranick. Later that day, Cranick's son sustained an injury to his hand after knocking the living daylights out of Wilds.

Wilds' response to the whole situation? It was a "stressful" and "emotional" day. Cry for me. At least you and Crocker still have a house to live in.

Enter Glenn, who, along with trusty sidekick Pat Gray, mocked Cranick.

I seem to remember Beck talking about the finer points of "faith, hope and charity, the essential teachings of Christ." Where is your heart for charity now, Glenn? More importantly, where are the hearts of firefighters who took an oath to protect life and property, only to watch a fire burn down with three dogs and one cat inside? I can understand a filthy-rich, right-wing coward like Beck having no heart, but to be a firefighter and watch a house burn down?

I took the liberty to browse the Obion County website for directives of this stupid, inhuman policy that county executives have implemented. I came across this pdf and read this:

"The only rural property owners guaranteed to receive fire protection services are those who choose to pay for it. It they choose not to purchase an annual subscription and require fire protection services, they fall on the mercy of a municipal department who provide services on an as needed basis. When such occurs, the responding fire department normally provides those services without compensation."

In other words, David Wilds is a cold-hearted prick who simply chose not to do the right thing. Case closed. Also, although I can't find a reliable source, apparently Obion County firefighters must respond to calls, regardless of whether the $75.00 fee was paid or not. This story should never have made local news, other than firefighters were dispatched to put out a fire at the Cranick residence.

Anyway, I'm proud to live in a country where citizens in financially distressed areas are forced to pay a subscription fee in order to enjoy safety and security when it should be assumed as a common service to all, regardless of income.

Read more about Beck's so-called "charity" here.

Take the religious knowledge survey!

The results of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center reveal something that we've known all along: atheists know more about Christianity and world religions than most Christians. Not surprising. What really busts me up is that nearly half of the evangelicals who took the survey apparently have no clue who Job is.

You can take the survey here. You can read the phone interview version of the survey here.

My results reveal that I know more than 87% of those who took the survey, scoring 12 out of 15 or 80%. I missed 4, 14 and 15. I'm a little disappointed. Also, it seems that Muslims were not involved in the survey.

Nice try, John.

First things first - I love you, honey, but I have to do this.

Now that that's out of the way, how stupid does John Ratzinger, a.k.a, Pope Benedict XVI, think atheists, agnostics, deists, and other freethinkers are?

If you've missed the latest papal news, Ratzinger tried in vain to equate atheism with Nazism, even going so far to say that atheism lead to the Holocaust in an attempt rid the world of God. Apparently, Ratzinger never heard of a book that Adolf Hitler wrote, entitled "Mein Kampf". In it, Hitler stated "I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By Warding off the Jews, I am fighting for the Lord's work."

Here are some more quotes that Ratzinger might want to pay attention to:

"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so." - 1941

"I would like here to appeal to a greater than I, Count Lerchenfeld. He said in the last session of the Landtag that his feeling 'as a man and a Christian' prevented him from being an anti-Semite. I say: My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. .. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison." - 1922

"The greatness of Christianity did not lie in attempted negotiations for compromise with any similar philosophical opinions in the ancient world, but in its inexorable fanaticism in preaching and fighting for its own doctrine." - Mein Kampf

"I have followed the Church in giving our party program the character of unalterable finality, like the Creed. The Church has never allowed the Creed to be interfered with. It is fifteen hundred years since it was formulated, but every suggestion for its amendment, every logical criticism, or attack on it, has been rejected. The Church has realized that anything and everything can be built up on a document of that sort, no matter how contradictory or irreconcilable with it. The faithful will swallow it whole, so long as logical reasoning is never allowed to be brought to bear on it." - Mein Kampf

Sorry, John. It doesn't sound like Hitler was an atheist to me.

Since we're quoting Nazis, let's throw another in for good measure:

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the policital, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

Actually, what I really think Ratzinger is afraid of is people learning about the true history of the Church and its complicity with the Nazis as they murdered over 6 million Jews. Either that or he's still hoping that people will forget that he was a Nazi himself.

Anyway, nice try, John. Continue living your lavish life clothed in the finest linens and silk while sitting in a throne made of gold. Personally, you disgust me like few people can.

In related news, Christine O'Donnell, the new darling of the Teabaggers, stated that she wouldn't lie to protect Jews from Nazis. Apparently, telling the truth means more to her than saving the lives of innocent people. During a recent appearance on Bill Maher's show, she stated the following:

"I believe if I were in that situation, God would provide a way to do the right thing righteously. I believe that! ... You never have to practice deception. God always provides a way out."

Which, of course, begs the obvious question; did your god provide a way out for the millions of Jews who were being gassed and incinerated, Christine? Could you stand there listening to Jews screaming to God to save their lives as the skin melted from their flesh with a clean conscience because you couldn't tell even a little white lie to save them?

Learn more about Christine's extremely fragile mental health here.

First Amendment under attack - Christian style!

The First Amendment is under attack again, and as usual, it is the usual suspects who are doing the attacking; the Texas Board of Education. When are the troglodytes in this braindead organization going to go away?

It's not enough that they hate science for the sake of dogma and want to change history. Now they want to alter the way religion is covered in social studies text books throughout Texas. Apparently, textbooks talk way too much about Islam, and not enough about Christianity. They've even gone so far as to threaten textbook publishers with the following warning:

"State Board of Education will look to reject future prejudicial social studies submissions that continue to offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and by demonizing or lionizing one or more of them over others."

In other words, write only page after page of rosy material about Christianity, but damn you to hell if you write even one word Islam that is anything but negative. The most telling aspect of this whole thing is that no one on the board has been able to offer any kind of evidence that Islam receives preferential treatment over Christianity in any textbook.

Perhaps what goons like Don McLeroy are truly frightened of are the Founders who identified themselves as anything but Christian. Perhaps the Treaty of Tripoli, signed by John Adams, states it best that: "The Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." Also, I think McLeroy and his clones should be reminded that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." That includes members of the public school boards, Mr. McLeroy.

BFSP - 2010

I haven't posted anything on the Black Forest Star Party this year, so I thought I'd jump on that before I forget.

First off, for those of you who are concerned that if you don't get to Cherry Springs by no later than noon on Friday you won't get a decent spot, you can forget that myth. Mario Andretti had nothing on me as I tried to get there ahead of the crowd, but when I got there I found that there was barely a spot open; people had been there since Monday, September 6th. Don't speed on your way to Cherry Springs for the BFSP because it won't matter and it's not worth it. But it is a fun drive!

Now that that's out of the way, I have a message for you smokers out there. Yes, smoking is permitted at Cherry Springs, but you inconsiderate smokers out there really piss me off. Is it too much to ask for you to not smoke in high traffic areas like the vendors tents, dining area, and door prize room? I had to leave several times because of the smoke. I know that doesn't bother you in the least, but for next year's BFSP please be considerate of the vast majority who do not smoke, and find some secluded area to partake your nasty habit.

Other than this, there was still a few of you who just don't give a flying rat's rear end about park rules. Since Cherry Springs is a state park, that means that no alcoholic beverages are permitted. Nor are you allowed to bring your dog. Yet, some of you still insist on open containers in your vehicles, which is a crime in Pennsylvania. I love dogs a good beer like anyone else, but leave them at home when you go to Cherry Springs.

Aside from these things, BFSP was acceptable this year. Friday night's viewing was very good, but Saturday went down hill as clouds rolled in.

Here are some pics from some of the more outstanding scopes this year. This one, a Takahashi TOA-130 refractor, is my favorite.