He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind

One phenomenally good news about my fellow Americans is this: 19 percent do not think that god was involved in how we came about.

Yes, 19 percent and that is good news.
Because it is an all-time high, and has doubled in thirty years.
Yes, doubled.
And, yes, in thirty years.

Now for the bad news: 73 percent think that either god created humans or guided the process of evolution from other life forms.
73 percent!

Why is this issue so difficult for my fellow Americans?

In order to think through that, well, this is where the subject of this post comes in.  "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart" is a proverb from the Bible.  "Inherit the wind," which is a part of that, was a play that I watched with two friends last night at one of the oldest community theatres in the country.

The play

is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which resulted in John T. Scopes’s conviction for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to a high school science class, contrary to a Tennessee state law. Although the play is not meant to be a historical account, the characters of Matthew Harrison Brady, Henry Drummond, Bertram Cates and E. K. Hornbeck correspond to the historical figures of William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow, John Scopes, and H. L. Mencken, respectively. The trial makes for one of the outstanding dramas of our time—and a subject that still resonates today!

A 1955 play based on the real life events of 1925, and which was made into a movie in 1960.  Despite all the Hollywood gizmos since then, it has been difficult to shake loose this bible-thumping creationist belief, apparently.

Why do I relate the 73 percenters to Bible-thumping?  Because, that too was addressed in the survey:

As the Gallup poll notes:

These Americans tend to be highly religious, underscoring the degree to which many Americans view the world around them through the lens of their religious beliefs. Those who adopt the creationist view also tend to have lower education levels, but given the strong influence of religious beliefs, it is not clear to what degree having more education or different types of education might affect their views.

Oh well!


With our continued anti-science, anti-evolution, outlook, we certainly are destined to inherit nothing but the wind!

All we are is dust in the wind ...

Triggered by the NPR story on four hundred years since the King James Bible, which I was listening to when driving back home. 

A wonderful song it is ...

And you thought Auburn's Alabama was better than Oregon!

The following is a letter that was published in The Statesman Journal, the newspaper from Oregon's capital, Salem:

Kitzhaber must stop adulterous lifestyle
News that the governor has been living what I consider an adulterous life hurts, because voters hoped for a person who would lead Oregon to higher ethics.
History has long proved that nations with low ethics soon collapse, and is showing in our country.
Either the governor and his girlfriend get honorably married or people must recall him from office. Already people are noticing how nature is showing signs of distress by damaging storms. What is real?
God's laws still apply, even to top-level officials. They should look inside those Bibles they put their hands on and put those words into action again.
— Joe Spenner, Stayton

I had no idea that weather patterns can be affected by any governor's lifestyle.  Things we find out everyday, eh!

Why gay marriage is immoral

More here from Betty Bowers

The Constitution is not an amendment to the Bible!

Which is why John Hodgman suggests that we ditch the "Con"stitution, and move to a more optimistic title even--the "Pro"stitution :)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
You're Welcome - Constitutional Crisis
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mosque-Erade
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

And Colbert exposes the problems with the freedom of religious belief and expression that the Constitution Prostitution guarantees :)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Weapon of Mass Construction
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

A "Christian Sharia" in Texas? OMD!

According to this news item from the Times (HT),

A Texas man is due to be executed next month despite admissions by jurors that they consulted biblical passages advocating death as a punishment to help to decide his fate.
Before sending Khristian Oliver to his death after he was convicted of murdering his victim — who was bludgeoned with a gun barrel — jurors read passages of the Old Testament, including one that states that a killer who uses an iron object to kill “shall surely be put to death”.

Note that there was no reasonable doubt regarding the guilt of the accused.  So, the issue is not with establishing whether or not the accused was indeed guilty.  But, it is with the punishment--even though capital punishment is legal in Texas, and even though "the jurors were instructed by the judge not to refer to anything that was not presented as evidence in the courtroom" the jurors' decision to go with the death sentence was guided by passages from the bible :-(

Amnesty International called on the Texas authorities to commute Oliver’s death sentence because since his trial, jurors had admitted that they read the Bible while they decided whether he should live or die. In particular, they said that Bibles were passed around with specific passages highlighted, and that one juror read aloud to his fellow jurors the passage, from Numbers XXXV, 16: “And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.”

This is not a new case--the homicidal act was in 1998.  And apparently the consultation with the bible was known soon after, which is why the death sentence had been appealed:

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said last year that jurors had wrongly used the Bible and that it had amounted to an “external influence” prohibited under the US Constitution. Yet the court said there was not enough evidence to show they were prejudiced when they decided to send Oliver to death row.
In April the US Supreme Court — the final chance Oliver had to appeal against his death sentence — refused to hear the case, despite being urged to do so by 50 former and current federal and state prosecutors.

Hmmm ....refused to hear the case?  How awful!  So, does the refusal legitimize jurors consulting the bible to award punishments?  What if a few other juries decide to follow this "precedent?"  Isn't the role of the Supremes to essentially make sure we have the correct constitutional precedents for law?  Oh wait, according to Chief Justice Roberts their job is only to call balls and strikes.  Yeah, right!  And this is not a case where he didn't have to worry if it was a ball or a strike :-(

BTW, what an odd coincidence that the Christian jurors consulted the bible to arrive at the death sentence for the accused whose name sounds the same as the faithful, with one difference in the lettering: Khristian!!!

Obama, Chavez, and "the gift"

So, Hugo Chavez created quite a story by gifting Obama the "Latin Leftist's Bible" as the LA Times described the book.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa refers to this same book as the "Idiot's Bible" and recommends that Obama regift the book. Llosa, who is the son of the novelist/intellectal Mario Vargas Llosa, has always been highly critical of the Latin American left--here is an example of his commentaries.

The book shot up in Amazon's best seller lists. The Guardian notes that:

It is not the first time that Chávez has influenced the readers of the world. Three years ago he publicly praised a Noam Chomsky tome, Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, at the United Nations. The book surged to the top of Amazon's bestseller list.

It looks like Oprah has a competitor in Chavez :-)

This is a carbon-starved planet!

A colleague recently returned from a trip to the UK--he was there for the Darwin experience, given that this is the 200th anniversary of his birth, and 150th anniversary of his famous treatise. This colleague was thrilled that it was Darwin's poster everywhere he turned. Which is exactly the way it ought to be. More so in this century, which I am convinced is the century of biology, as much as the 20th century was of physics.

Meanwhile, here in the US? Well, watch this Congressional hearing--yes, at the US Congress--and see for yourself where Darwin might fit :-(

How do you like this nutcase's argument that we are right now carbon-starved!!!
Thanks to the DailyDish for the Youtube link.