Most of us would answer, “Of course!” We consider that evidentiary demand a truism. But Christian philosopher and apologist Dr. William Lane Craig disagrees, calling it a “demonstrably false” presupposition.

Something is awry in his argument from analogy, I think. That a particular number was the winning lottery number doesn’t strike me as “extraordinary.” There had to be a winning number—why not that one? Still, Craig’s objection is an interesting one. I’ve also heard him argue that, granting the existence of an omnipotent being, nothing is truly extraordinary.

This post is loosely a part of my general conference series, but it also makes the case that LDS teachings on sex are contradictory and untenable.

First, consider what Mormon leaders historically taught regarding birth control:

The world teaches birth control. Tragically, many of our sisters subscribe to its pills and practices when they could easily provide earthly tabernacles for more of our Father’s children. … The first commandment given to man was to multiply and replenish the earth with children. That commandment has never been altered, modified, or canceled. The Lord did not say to multiply and replenish the earth if it is convenient, or if you are wealthy, or after you have gotten your schooling, or when there is peace on earth, or until you have four children. – Ezra Taft Benson, April 1969 General Conference

God made sex, but not for entertainment. It was provided for a divinely appointed act of creation in which we, to this extent, become co-creators with him. – Mark E. Peterson, April 1969 General Conference

[I]f anything were done to postpone [the responsibility of motherhood], the Church would become a party to birth control, and the Church will have nothing to do with that evil. – David O. McKay, April 1949 General Conference

Sexual laxity among young people, birth control, and intemperance are its insidious and vicious enemies. – David O. McKay, October 1947 General Conference

Another erosion of the family is unwarranted and selfish birth control. – Spencer W. Kimball, October 1979 General Conference

We hear so much about emancipation, independence, sexual liberation, birth control, abortion, and other insidious propaganda belittling the role of motherhood, all of which is Satan’s way of destroying woman, the home, and the family—the basic unit of society. – N. Eldon Tanner, October 1973 General Conference

The above is just a small sampling of the church’s statements on birth control. You can read many others at these links.

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One in five Americans incorrectly believes that President Obama is a Muslim—more Americans than ever before. And that figure will likely grow now that Obama has expressed his (tepid) support for the Islamic center near Ground Zero.

Michael Voris of Real Catholic TV argues that democracy empowers the ignorant at the expense of the common good. I buy that. His alternative, however, is less palatable. Voris advocates a “Catholic monarchy.”

A GOP candidate for the Iowa House says AIDS is God’s punishment for the sin of homosexuality.

Main Street Plaza has a fascinating post about how few chapters in the Book of Mormon are cited by LDS leaders in conference talks. Half of the chapters contribute almost 90% of the citations!

NASA’s video of a recent space shuttle launch from the perspective of a rocket booster is awe-inspiring. Eat your heart out, Kubrick.

It appears the LDS Church is trying to buy up land in Manti, Utah that has traditionally been used as a free speech area during the Mormon Miracle Pageant.

A group of moms devised a constructive way to protest the hate speech of the Westboro Baptist Church—”Pennies in Protest.”

Wynn LeGrow is running against ultra-conservative incumbent Randy Forbes (R-VA). He recently told the press that he’s a “non-believer.” If he wins, LeGrow would be only the second admitted atheist in Congress, the first being Democrat Pete Stark of California.

The Deseret News reports that Mormons have a serious image problem. Five times as many people have a “strongly unfavorable” impression of Mormons than have a “strongly favorable” one. It’ll take more than an ad campaign to invert those sentiments.

Atheist blogger PZ Myers calls out futurist thinker Ray Kurzweil on his claim that we will be able to reverse-engineer the human brain within the decade. Kurzweil stands by his prediction.

Check out these charts of generational religion changes in Britain in the US. The “no religion” group gains the most in both countries.

YouTuber ProfMTH has a couple of videos explaining the legal reasoning behind Judge Walker’s decision that overturned Proposition 8.

David Silverman, Vice President of American Atheists, debates Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff over the memorial crosses for fallen troopers.

Listverse compiles the top 10 religious scandals in history. Another list of 10 worth reading is philosopher Bertrand Russell’s “Liberal Decalogue.”

On his show last week, Glenn Beck called Charles Darwin “the father of modern-day racism” and hinted that Native Americans are of Hebrew descent. I wonder where he got that notion…

Nearly a hundred soldiers were forced to clean their barracks for failing to attend a Christian concert at a Virginia military base.

USU SHAFT first met as an official club two years ago. It wasn’t until last August, however, that we decided to launch this site. (Nick Venturella is the technical guru behind the site’s creation and upkeep).

The SHAFT site has been a success that far exceeded anyone’s expectations. It has strengthened our group’s sense of community and served as an important forum for critical religious dialogue. And the site largely owes its success to you, the readers. You voted it “Best New Blog” in the 2009 William Law X-Mormon Awards, and your continued readership and participation have made this among the most popular sites of its kind.

Here are some of the site’s stats over one year of activity:

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According to the Salt Lake Tribune:

The tall crosses memorializing fallen Utah Highway Patrol troopers will not come down anytime soon — even though a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that they violate the U.S. Constitution.

The decision, which holds implications for roadside memorial crosses across the nation, likely will be appealed by the state and the nonprofit group that erected themonuments.
They could either ask the full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. – http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50132157-76/crosses-utah-memorials-highway.html.csp

From what I understand, government land was being used to display 12-foot-high crosses donated by the private organization UHPA to honor officers that died near that location. The decision could still be appealed to higher courts, so this isn’t necessarily the final result. I suggest reading over the court’s decision for more details.

What do you guys think?

Ok, folks. It’s reader participation time. Please answer this question: What would it take for you to believe/disbelieve in god(s)?

I’d love to hear your thoughts—they’ll help me better articulate my own.

I mentioned Phil Plait‘s talk a while back in my post “On dialogue and changing minds.” The video of the talk was recently released. I was going to tuck it into another link bomb post, but I think it deserves to stand alone.

I actually disagree somewhat with Plait’s contention that we (atheists/skeptics) need diplomats, not warriors. As Greta Christina argued at the Secular Student Alliance conference, both are important. My approach is to try to balance the roles by being a ‘diplomatic warrior.’

This will be my last post about the “I am a Mormon” ad campaign, I promise. I have to share this video with you, though:

The above ad is from 2009 and was part of a Scientologist ad campaign. Now compare that to this more recent (and near-identical) LDS commercial. Granted, “I am…” campaigns are nothing new in advertising, and the LDS Church could have come up with theirs independently. Yet even the style of the ads is similar! It really looks as though the LDS Church took a page out of Scientology’s playbook. And there’s nothing egregious about that, I just find it amusing.

But in light of this and yesterday’s post, maybe I’m engaging in parallelomania—seeing parallels where none exist. What do you think?

Update: A friend of mine in the comments wrote that the “I’m a Mormon” ads were thought up in 2006. If true, they were probably not modeled after the Scientology ads, which didn’t air until 2009.