McCain Loses His Spine

Well, I used to like McCain. But, alas, it turns out that instead of the outspoken politician not afraid to speak his mind that he used to be, has turned into the mouth piece of religious right. He stated today that our Constitution makes us a Christian nation. The only part of the Constitution that mentions religion is to exclude it from the government. McCain knows that, but because a poll indicated that a slim majority of Americans feel this is a Christian nation, he folded. Gone is the brave politician who stood for what he believed in. What's left is an empty mouth piece.

Time Table

And another thing, just because it's dated "the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven" does not make it a Christian document. That was how they dated the years just like we do now. They also used the same names for the days of the week and the months, which all have Pagan origins. The only time religion is ever really mentioned is to exclude it.

Separation of Church and State

I'm sick of the same stupid comment I hear rightwing Christians spout about the Constitution not saying "separation of church and state". No, the Constitution does not say it in those exact words. What the constitution does say is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

In one perfectly elegant sentence the fore fathers not only separated church from state, they also stated you could practice whatever religion you wanted to. Just because those exact words aren't there, does not mean the concept isn't clearly and eloquently stated. So please shut up. Separation of church and state IS in the Constitution. And by the way, our fore fathers weren't Christian, they were Diest. Look it up.

Our President Is A Fool

Sadly, the attacks on science by the right wing do not stop with evolution. Due to the behavior of the Bush administration 9,000 scientists, including 49 Nobel laureates and 63 National Medal of Scientists recipients signed to following petition:
"A growing number of scientists, policy makers, and technical specialists both inside and outside the government allege that the current Bush administration has suppressed or distorted the scientific analyses of federal agencies to bring these results in line with administration policy. In addition, these experts contend that irregularities in the appointment of scientific advisors and advisory panels are threatening to upset the legally mandated balance of these bodies."

Monkeys

Many creationist claim the Scopes Monkey Trial was a minor incident hyped up after the fact by liberal Hollywood. That is a straight up lie. That trial was watched by the nation. So many people turned up the trial had to be moved outside. The city of Dayton, Tennessee turned into a giant street carnival for weeks. The lawyers involved on both sides were two of the biggest legal names of the time. Minor incident that Hollywood hyped up? No. That's a lie, plain and simple.

Ignoring 148 Years of Science

One argument for creationism that I keep coming across is about a lack of a transitional fossil record. Idiots! Of course there is! Darwin published "The Origin of the Species" in 1859. 1859!!! Scientists didn't just stop researching evolution in 1859. They didn't assume Darwin had all the bits and pieces figured out. Over the last 148 years scientists have discover thousands of transitional fossils. To state that transitional fossils do not exist is completely false. A lie fabricated hoping that people will ignore all science that has occurred in last century and a half.

Flaming Fruit

The most accurate way to guess at the age of the earth is the radioactive decay rate. According to that the age of the earth is 4.5 billion years. Some pseudo-scientists claim that the rate isn’t constant so that number can’t be accurate. Well, if the decay rate isn’t constant, though it is, and it increased enough to produce 4.5 billion years of apparent aging in only 6,000 years, then the earth would have been molten. No Garden of Eden, just scorching hot death to greet the happy couple. And it would probably have to remain that way for a while. Definitely no animal or plant life could survive.

Frustration

I was going to something like, “In this day and age when so much killing is going on due to religion…,” but then I thought, “Hey, hasn’t that pretty much been the case through most of human history?” Far more people have been killed in the name of religion than anything else. Is the human race still this ignorant and stubborn? Yes, I suppose it is.

Galileo Comes to Mind

Creationism reminds me of the Catholic church’s dealings with Galileo in the 1600’s. Galileo was imprisoned by the Vatican for saying the earth revolved around the sun as opposed to the other way around. They gave him warning, but he knew the truth, he’d figured out the math. Lots of math. Huge new concepts. Saw how things behaved in the sky and figured a lot out. Scared the crap out of the Catholic church. Funny thing about religion. It always seems terrified that science will chase it off. It wasn’t until I was in college that I learned about Galileo’s imprisonment, which later turned into house arrest. I did go to a Catholic school. They were more than happy to teach me Galileo’s theories, but maybe the nuns were a little embarrassed about the church’s history with a man who is often called the father of physics, the father of modern observational astronomy and the father of science. He scared them, his concepts, just like those of evolution, seemed way too big. It was easier to stick their heads in the sand. And to try and make the big scary thoughts go away, they imprisoned a brilliant man. But the joke was on the church. Galileo did spend the rest of life under house arrest, but he spent that time summarizing what he discovered during his lifetime. The book was called Two New Sciences. That book is considered to be his life’s greatest work and it received high praise from both Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. If people truly have faith, they have no reason to fear science. Be careful with what your religious figures tell you about science. They are not always on the side of truth.

Mmmmmm, Dragons?

Part of the creationist problem is arguing away all those pesky dinosaur bones. Once again in a completely ignorant manner, they came up with a silly answer. Humans and dinosaurs lived side by side. Their proof? Stories and myths about dragons. Seriously. If you have to seek out fairy tales to prove your scientific point, you’ve probably got some large holes in your argument. Yes, there are tales about dragons in many cultures. But, there are also tales of mermaids, big foots, abominable snowmen, aliens, trolls, ogres, vampires, and numerous types of monsters. And they too are found in just about every culture. So, where do the vampires fit into creationism?