The Baloney Detection Kit

Tabocution

It's time again to purge my tabs. This one's a mixed-bag, but there's so many videos that I'll put them all in a section of their own. It should take you more than a week to chomp through all that!

Articles
Jeff Coyne on science organisations and accommodationism- Metamagician
Why Evolution is True- Jeff Coyne
Tucked-in t-shirts are unbiblical- Cynical C blog
Conspiracy theories and muck tunnels
10 most fascinating natural phenomena
How to capture a giant squid- Advice for pharyngulites
Mel Gibson's family values
Atheists target UK schools
Sharia Law
PZ is pro-test
Sex, terrorism, cults astrology, scientology, pareidolia, and other nutbaggery
Perry Bible Fellowship almanac
Subscribe to James Randi's 'Randigram' newsletter!
Religion's parasitic morality
Morality originates in religion... NOT!
Muslims killing children
Jesus and Mo: Thor

Longer videos
Why We Believe in Gods
Dan Barker vs Dinesh D'Souza
Michael Shermer: Why Darwin Matters
Evolution of Gods
BBC: The Darwin debate

Freethought videos (beware, BS abounds!)
Penn and Teller explain the basis of deception
Crucifiction fail
Scientific Proof of the bible
Outnumbered: Karen's spiritual Journey
Former Christian Coalition director argues for torture
Saudi Cleric tells children why muslims should hate jews
Texas and evolution
The perfect gift
Ghost whisperer on CBS News
Lady spots Cheesus!
Randi Speaks: Charles Lynch
Timescape
Dr Phil and an atheist's wife
Christopher Hitchens vs Tom Hartman
Christopher Hitchens vs Paul Edwards
Has Christianity lost the culture wars?
Area 51 scientists explain the Roswell incident

Interesting videos
Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics
Kevin Smith talks about his superman movie
1976 swine flu propoganda
Hummus: The rap
Turbotax: The rap
Siamese crocodiles
Your Momma! (is logging on)
Wacky tribal dance

5 under 5

Here's 5 interesting videos, each under 5 minutes in length, to get your week off to a running start.

The Stupid, It Burns!

Check out this video of Michael Shermer interviewing Georgia Purdom, a creation "scientist" at the Creation Museum. She insists that we can only trust the god's word, so anything science says must be wrong if it doesn't fit with bible. She believes the earth is around 6000 years old, and that the universe was created in 6 literal 24 hour days. She even talks about how we are all sinners; even her 5 year old daughter, even a 1 year old baby; and that everyone is going to hell unless they have accepted Jesus Christ into their heart. According to her, hell is full of Jews and babies. *Sigh*. Michael Shermer, as per always, does a great job at providing the voice of reason.

Michael Shermer Interviews Georgia Purdom at The Creation Museum

Via Atheist Media Blog (via Pharyngula)

God is just a theory

This weeks eSkeptic concentrates on '27 ways to honor Charles Darwin' and comprises a list of 27 terrific resources for people wanting to learn more about and be able to defend evolution.

Check it out and order yourself some swag. Their store is just brimming with awesome merchandise. Also, make sure you get a chance to browse around the main site. There's a lot of really good resources there.

This edition of eSkeptic also contains a link to Shermer's "God is Just a theory" editorial, which suggests a mandatory insertion at the beginning of all church services, explaining that the material contained within the service cannot be validated and must be viewed as 'theoretical'

Here's the original:

God is Only a Theory

July 2007

I have given much thought to the creationists’ demand that evolution be stricken from public school science classes, or that it be taught side-by-side with creationism because “evolution is only a theory” and since “no one was there to witness the creation” we cannot say for sure what really happened.

I have come to the conclusion that what’s fair is fair, and that the creationists have a good point. After all, isn’t education all about hearing both sides of an issue? And they are correct, no one was there to witness the creation, so any ideas about who or what caused the creation can only be speculative theories and therefore never provable.

Therefore, I am certain that Ministers, Priests, Rabbis, and religious leaders of all sects will be pleased to read the following disclaimer to their respective congregations every Sunday morning, or before any sermon delivered:

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, God bless and welcome to [fill in the name of your church, temple, mosque, or center of worship here].
This morning we are going to talk about the creation of the universe and the origins of life on Earth. According to the Bible, Genesis 1:1–3: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

Now, it is important for us to understand that no one was actually present at the creation so we don’t really know what happened. Genesis 1:1–3 is only a theory, and as such cannot be treated as fact. And it is only fair that I share with you that there are other theories of the creation.

For example, some Sumerians and Babylonians, Gilbert Islanders, Koreans, and Greeks believed that the world was created from the parts of a slain monster; some Zuni Indians, Cook Islanders, and Tahitians have a theory that the world was created by the interaction of primordial parents; and some Japanese, Samoan, Persian, Chinese, and Hindu have a theory that the world was generated from an egg.” And, of course, there is that dogma being foisted upon us by the liberal media and intelligentsia, the theory of evolution.

As for the origins of human life, that is spelled out in Genesis 1:27: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Of course, not only was no one present to witness this act — except for Adam and Eve after they were created — I should point out that this theory has a counter theory in Genesis 2:7, where “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” In this theory Adam is all alone without a mate, so in Genesis 2:21–22 “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”

Since everyone here was blessed by the almighty with a brain that thinks, I will allow you to decide which theory is the correct theory of the creation of humans, Genesis 1 or Genesis 2. Weigh the evidence and decide for yourselves. You be the judge.

Oh, there is one other minor detail. Adam and Eve begat Cain and Abel, and as you all know Cain — as firstborns are wont to do to their laterborn siblings who compete for the limited parental resources — slew him. That left Adam, Eve, and Cain as the only humans on the entire Earth. But in Genesis 4:17 we read that “Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch.” Now, I don’t mean to burden you with more of the liberal media’s fascination with smut and porn, but I think as created beings endowed with intelligence and critical thinking skills blessed to us by the good Lord, it might be reasonable to ask just who it was that Cain “knew.” Unless Adam was himself blessed with both types of reproductive organs, or Cain was capable of parthenogenesis, then we are left with the theory that Cain “knew” his mother. But that’s just a theory, and as we all know, theories are just wild guesses and should not be taken seriously.

Dr Michael Shermer vs John Lennox Sydney Debate

Back in August, we attended a debate between Dr Michael Shermer and John Lennox at the Wesley Centre in Sydney. The full video is now out on youtube for your viewing pleasure.

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Part Nine




Part Ten