Another Interesting Article

Karen Armstrong has an article at WaPo discussing the differences between faith and belief. She seems to suffer from a healthy dose of the genetic fallacy, and also seems to put a bit too much stock into vocabulary dictating reality, but it's a pretty interesting read.

Even more interesting is Paula Kirby's skeptical response.

Been a While

It's been too long since I've written here, and I have a silly reason to write tonight. Today Michele was browsing in a store and I felt the need to wait outside, as the lone employee's casual attitude toward cashiering was becoming tiresome--to me and, I'm sure, to the other six people in line.

So while I was outside, I looked at the stores to either side of the one Michele was in. On the left was a women's clothing store called the Dress Barn. I can't imagine how that ever seemed like a good idea to anyone involved in the naming of that store.

For one thing, when one thinks of desirable fashion, one rarely thinks of farm life, or a barnyard context. This alone would keep most people away, I would think. Overalls, straw hats, checkered shirts, gingham dresses, clunky brown boots--at WalMart, sure, but not outside of goonville.

For another thing, the "barn" concept applied to people in general isn't flattering. When you call someone a pig, that person is generally going to be displeased. The same with "chicken" or "sheep." And that's just when you're talking about people in general. The farm-animal references to women specifically are even less flattering: chick, mother hen, hen-pecked, sow, cow, heifer, mare. These are just not ideas one attaches to a woman with whom one wishes to maintain good relations.

So, I'm back. How relieved are you?

Interesting Article

Something else that's interesting to only a few people, but I'm going to mark it here so I can return to it if I get the chance: A professor of sociology at Berkeley makes a distinction between belief and theory. There's a lot of sloppy language in the middle, where he's making his main points, but I want to dissect them.

The Marxists are Coming! The Marxists are Coming!

Seems that conservatives are content to toss buzzwords around when they're not upping their dosage of crazy. Sometimes, the two get blended. Not only are "Socialism" and "Communism" applied to the Democratic side of the Health Care Reform debate, I've been informed that

[t]he pile we are in did not start because of capitalism it began with FDR - even before that as the Marxist movement began to purposefully and openly (at least in Provda[sic]) target our schools and our media as early as 1900.

Where the hell do they come up with this shit?

Symbolic Belief

An interesting idea here. No time to deal with it this morning, but I wanted to link to it so I'll remember to do something with it later.

First week of classes are almost over. This is tiring.

File Under: Duh

This just in: Catholics want Jews to be Catholics.

This also just in: Jews are pissed that Catholics want Jews to be Catholics, and are determined to try to convince Jews to be Catholics, even though there has apparently been an agreement that Catholics who want Jews to be Catholics don't try to convince Jews to be Catholics.

Got that?

Not That I Don't Think Dogs Are Important, But . . .

This is a pretty good point:

Why does Michael Vick have to go through a series of mea culpas and tearful apologies (not to mention a prison sentence) for torturing dogs, and Dick Cheney does not even face an investigation for torturing people?

Shouldn't we be putting Chain-me in prison, too?

Health Care or Death Care?

The other morning I read an E.J. Dionne article in the Washington Post about the roadblocks the current Health Care bill is seeing in congress, and part of the problem seems to be that some people are afraid that doctors will be pushing euthanasia on old people.

I wonder how much of the fear the Rethugs are creating relies on unsophisticated readers being uncomfortable with the phrase "end-of-life"--that it's too close to "life-ending." Are these people just careless readers, or are they that stupid? I'm sure there are a few who understand exactly what it says, but are pushing the fear for political gain.

A Hail of Bullet-Points

Even though I'm committed to trying to keep up my blogging pace of the last few days, I have a lot of grading to do today, so I'll just list some bullet points for now.

• One way to get people to believe crazy things is to lie. Steve Benen has posted about how Republican senator Mike Pence is so successful in spreading his lies about the Health Care bill. (via Matthew Yglesias)
• The Texas Board of Education is trying to promote the teaching of "the biblical motivations of America's settlers and founders" in public schools--and they have so much clout in the textbook industry, it could affect the whole country.
• Dale Neumann, lethally stupid Wisconsin father, has been convicted of reckless homicide in the diabetes death of his daughter Madeline, and faces up to twenty-five years in jail.
• According to John Tantillo of Fox News, President Obama's tendency to explain is a bad thing. Right. Give me the good old days, when we had the Decider . . .
• "Hell is a morally repugnant doctrine. People wonder why God would send people to eternal punishment." Nevertheless, 59% of Americans believe in it, according to one poll.
• Jefferson County, Alabama is going bankrupt. Why? Because the Republicans in power there lowered taxes and put public services in the hands of private enterprise. Thank you, capitalism.

I really need to get my brain under control. I'm still going in too many directions. Maybe once I get all of this out of my system, and once I've finished my grading, I'll be able to focus.

Climate Change Deniers: Still Deluded

It doesn't take much for a belief to spread--all it requires is that someone convincing present it and someone willing to accept it be exposed to it. When these two things meet in a situation where the stakes are high, even profitable, it can be difficult to fight against misinformation.

Regardless of the evidence presented, the "birthers" still insist Barack Obama was born outside of the United States, and is ineligible to serve as president. Likewise, regardless of the fact that there is no serious scientific debate about global climate change and humankind's contributions to it, the denialists continue to gain support through their mass media megaphones.

Anthony Watts is a California radio meteorologist whose appearances on Glenn Beck's show have bolstered the climate change deniers, but here's a video that does a good job of neutralizing Watts's claims:

(via Pharyngula)