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Praying for Lesson Plans |
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The Angry Professor has her doubts about the quality of education provided by a small Midwestern bible college to one of her prospective grad students:
In which I consider religion and graduate admissions.
The young man will be graduating from a small bible college in the Midwest. I did a quick search of the faculty in the college that will grant his degree: most of them are also alums of this same college. They proudly advertise how their students will earn a degree in [Social Science] that will also bring them closer to Christ. One professor talks on her website about how she frequently uses in-class prayer to help her decide what material to cover.
I don’t care which religious organizations my graduate students belong to, but I do care about the quality of their undergraduate education and their ability to transition to a research institution. This particular college does not seem to be preparing their students well, although I have yet to see this young man’s application materials.
It seems like prayer wouldn’t be particularly necessary when deciding what to cover in a class.
Why not just cover the material a student is expected to understand when the class is complete?
Posted January 6th, 2008 under Religion. [ Comments: none ]
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Give Him Praise - Aerobics |
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Interesting Atheism Video |
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Katherine Kersten is Kinda Dumb |
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I know it’s not nice to call someone Dumb, but seriously, how else can one explain her writing in the Star Tribune. For example, today she goes after people who believe in God AND science:
Environmentalists have embarked on a secular crusade
“Wind turbines at Christian colleges, solar panels by church steeples and religiously inspired prairie restorations — all are fine things. Christianity and Judaism teach that human beings have an obligation to be good stewards of the natural world and its resources.
Sometimes, however, it seems something more is going on. We see it in the apparent eagerness of some “people of faith”‘ to embrace worst-case environmental scenarios. We hear it in their crusading zeal as they proselytize others, for example, to attend a screening of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in the church basement.
Environmental issues are complex, and often involve data that are open to different interpretations. Yet in some religious circles, if you raise a skeptical question about, say, global warming (a highly debated subject), you are spurned as if you’ve committed heresy.”
I’m going to swap out a few words from the last two paragraphs to show how canned this crap she writes really is:
Sometimes, however, it seems something more is going on. We see it in the apparent eagerness of some “people of faith”‘ to embrace worst-case religious scenarios. We hear it in their crusading zeal as they proselytize others, for example, to attend a screening of Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” in the church basement.
Religious issues are complex, and often involve data that are open to different interpretations. Yet in some religious circles, if you raise a skeptical question about, say, creationism (a highly debated subject), you are spurned as if you’ve committed heresy.
Is the reasoning behind Kersten’s column is that environmentalism it’s too hard for an average human to understand environmental science, so we shouldn’t try to be experts at such complex concepts?
Yet we should ignore this same reasoning when it’s applied to religion?
What’s particularly strange about this column is the conclusion:
There are more sensible approaches to environmental problems than the environmental gospel. Without viewing human beings as inherently wicked, or environmental problems as a righteous clash between good and evil, citizens and leaders could tackle environmental issues as public policy challenges whose solution requires a careful weighing of scientific data and the costs and benefits of various responses.
That’s an amazingly refreshing paragraph found at the end of an otherwise ridiculous column. Imagine my surprise finding that there.
Welcome, Katherine, to the real world. Now, try applying the same “sensible approaches” to religious problems.
Posted February 8th, 2007 under Environment, Katherine Kersten, Religion. [ Comments: 1 ]
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Religious Folks Becoming Greener |
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It’s great to see people coming together to solve a problem from a variety of different perspectives. If it takes a relationship with a God to make people treat the Earth with respect, that’s fine with me:
God is great, God is green
Across America, people of faith are taking the lead in the national conversation about global warming. To them, climate change is no joke, it’s a moral imperative. Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestants and evangelicals are sermonizing about threats to God’s green Earth, holding energy-reduction fairs and competitions, lobbying for lower carbon-dioxide emissions and broader use of wind power and biofuels, screwing energy-efficient bulbs into menorahs and installing solar panels next to the steeple.
“Global warming is harming God’s creation and God’s people,” said Kendra Brodin of the Plymouth Center for Progressive Christian Faith at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. “It’s wreaking havoc on the land and on human beings who are losing homes, jobs, safety, even their lives in storms, floods, droughts and heat waves.”
Another example of this is the hunters. Hunters are starting to realize that they’ll have more animals to kill if they protect wetlands and national forests. And hunters don’t like being lied to by administrations who reclassify highway ditches as wetlands. What funny is how many hunters think environmentalists are whackos, but the term conservationists is an acceptable term.
Posted February 3rd, 2007 under Religion. [ Comments: none ]
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Mr. Diety Rocks |
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I’m starting to understand God better after watching Mr. Diety on YouTube. Here’s an example of how God cut a deal with Jesus:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dzuxyq3ltls" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
The series (currently 4 episodes) can be found here.
Ben & Jeremy, check out the outtro music.
Posted January 23rd, 2007 under God, Religion, youtube. [ Comments: none ]
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“Belief” in Evolution? Not so much in the USA |
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I find the term “Belief in Evolution” rather strange considering evolution is science rather than faith based, but I suppose there are people who don’t believe in science - at least not when it conflict with their belief system. I suppose that makes it cafeteria-scientific belief or some odd thing.
RJ Eskow took at look at this over on the Huffington Post, and included the following chart showing the percentage of scientific believers by country:
You’re find a larger version of the graph with the post here.
Eskow poses the following comment and question:
“Our awareness of this scientific reality has actually gone down over the past 20 years, no doubt as a result of the so-called “intelligent design” movement and other Christian fundamentalist campaigns. In fact, frequent churchgoers in the US are most likely to doubt evolution. How will their children - and ours - become the great scientists, doctors, and engineers of tomorrow?“
The answer is simple: they won’t. People who don’t believe in science will never be great scientists. It’s simply not possible. Just like people who believe they’re invincible tend to live short lives.
Posted January 23rd, 2007 under Evolution, Religion, science. [ Comments: none ]
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History of Religion in 90 Seconds |
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How much does your religious belief system depend on where you happen to have been born? Would you hold the same religious beliefs you hold today had you been born in a different part of the world? What if you had different parents, or had been raised in a different household?
This 90-second long animated map provides an interesting perspective on how religious vary by geography and how they change and spread over time. For me, it raises questions about the eternity and exclusivity of any religion; and the balance of nature, nurture, and geography on religious views:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf" width="500" height="250"/] A slightly larger version of this animation is available here and a full screen version here (may not work in all browsers).
Posted January 4th, 2007 under History, Religion. [ Comments: 1 ]
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Justifying Policies that Defy Human Reason |
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Via Pharyngula, an interesting concept from Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism:
 “Much of what has gone disastrously wrong in American policy, especially foreign policy, in recent years can be attributed to a reliance on blind faith rather than evidence. When The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward asked President Bush whether he had consulted his father before going to war in Iraq, Bush famously replied that he had consulted a “Higher Father.” Isn’t it fascinating that the voice of God always sounds suspiciously like one’s own voice?
When politicians start citing God as the authority for whatever they want to do, they are usually promoting some policy that defies human reason.”
God does seem to be able to justify just about anything for people, from charitable goodness, to justifying genocides.
Posted December 29th, 2006 under Atheism, George W. Bush, God, Religion. [ Comments: none ]
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Central Front in The War on Christmas: Eastern Wisconsin |
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A friend of mine from college thinks that George W. Bush’s Texas accent is real, that we’re winning in Iraq (yet he can’t define HOW we’re winning or what winning looks like), and that Democrats drink the blood of babies (more or less).
He also happens to be a member of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders defending Christmas from Democratic evildoers. While crushing his latest can of Busch Light (ironic when said rather than read) with his left hand, he forwards right-wing jokes with his right. Here’s the latest:
For My Democrat Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.
For My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
My friend celebrates the birth of a non-white, non-American, non-Republican person born to an asexual couple by making fun of people (Democrats) who, ironically, respect others without regard to “race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference.”
Here’s a previous exchange from over three years ago when he was convinced the media was misleading the American public by supposedly failing to report on how well things were going in Iraq. 465 Americans had already died in Iraq. 2,485 more Americans have died since.
I suppose it’s easier to fight (via keyboard) a fake war trumped up by a couple FOX News talking heads than to defend the bloodshed caused by President Bush.
What I don’t understand is why so many people NEED an enemy in their life. Is hate therapeutic? Does a polarized world-view give people a sense of place?
Here is my first shot at a theory on this: people who look down on others due to their political affiliation or religious beliefs would like to live in a simpler world. By dismissing the beliefs of the vast majority of Americans (the majority of Americans belong a different political party or no party at all), and the vast majority of the world (people of different religions, races, etc.), the world becomes a much smaller and more manageable space. It’s a comfortable world-view that comes without the burden of learning about other places, people, and religions beyond basic stereotypes so you can make fun of them.
Posted December 24th, 2006 under Democrats, George W. Bush, Iraq, Jesus, Politics, Religion, War in Iraq, War on Christmas, Wisconsin. [ Comments: none ]
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