From TED: Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we’re wrong about that? “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility.
Derren Brown, British magician and skeptic, takes on the faith healing ministry industry in his new special “Miracles for Sale.”
From Channel 4:
With the cameras in hot pursuit, Derren faces his toughest project yet, going in search of an unsuspecting member of the British public prepared to adopt the guise of a pastor and miracle worker.
His chosen one then has six months to learn the trade and flourish across the pond as a convincing pastor.
The final phase of the volunteer’s extraordinary challenge sees them attempt to perform faith healing miracles live in Texas, but will Derren’s new recruit be accepted as a faith healer or cast away as fake healer?
Check out Derren Brown’s other specials; you’ll find some of them on YouTube. He’s pulled of some impressive stunts, like converting a room full of atheists.
In (late) commemoration of Earth Day, I’d be remiss not to share this Carl Sagan classic.
I had planned to write a review of this latest General Conference, but I couldn’t muster up the interest. This conference was particularly dull for me as a nonbeliever, and by that I mean it was controversy-free. Well, almost. Monson’s admonishment to young single men to get married received some attention, as did Packer’s statement that sexual sins are second only to murder and the denial of the Holy Ghost. Pretty unremarkable stuff, really.
Also during conference, the church reported having over 14 million members. The estimated number of active Mormons, however, is between 4 to 5 million, with 80% of them in the Western Hemisphere. The Deseret News reported recently that “[c]hurch growth has been falling for many years, and our current rate of missionary success is the lowest it’s been for decades.” At this rate, there will be more people leaving the church than converting to it by 2032. Richard Packham suggests that this may already be the case.
Speaking of exaggerated or inaccurate demographic statistics*: Kinsey’s oft-cited estimate that 10% of the population is gay is flawed. New research (with its own limitations) puts the number closer to 2%. (Correction: The research is new, but its findings aren’t; most studies have put the number between 2-5%.)
I appreciate dark humor more than most, but this BYU Bookstore treat is just tasteless. Our bookstore is also selling something provocative: poo paper.
In an address to the LDS International Society, University of Utah president Michael Young urged his fellow Mormons to join the ACLU.
A funny joke by Emo Phillips: “A Mormon told me that they don’t drink coffee. I said, ‘A cup of coffee every day gives you wonderful benefits.’ He said, ‘Like what?’ I said, ‘Well, it keeps you from being Mormon.”
The typical LDS chapel houses only a few wards, but a massive meetinghouse that is being constructed in Provo will be able to cater to an astounding 48 wards! Could this be the beginning of mega-church Mormonism?
Mormon sociologist and family friend Darron Smith writes that the BYU Honor Code adversely affects minority students and athletes.
If you’re interested in what’s new in the Mormon/ex-Mormon blogosphere, I’d recommend you read Main Street Plaza’s weekly “Sunday in Outer Blogness” posts. MSP has also created this phenomenal blog aggregator.
Does the universe need god? Physicist Sean Carroll thinks not.
A Mormon friend of mine finds the argument from consciousness the most compelling evidence for god’s existence. He made the case on his blog, and I left my rebuttal in the comments.
Earlier this month, Sam Harris debated Christian philosopher/apologist William Lane Craig about morality and god at Notre Dame. The entire debate can be viewed here. If you don’t have 2 hours to spare to watch it, here are a few summaries and reviews. The consensus seems to be that Craig won the debate, but not necessarily the argument.
Harris is among the better atheist debaters; the debate would have been an unmitigated disaster had this man represented the atheist position.
If patriarchy had an anthem, it’d be this: “I Need a Man”, sung by three single Mormon women to the tune of a Disney song. Maybe they’d have more success with the guys if they could sing it in Klingon.
A Quran is burned, and a violent riot ensues in Afghanistan. The Book of Mormon is satirized on Broadway, and Mormons just give a dismissive (if rather sanctimonious) shrug.
In the U.S., the LDS Church doesn’t have to disclose its finances. The church’s financials are public information in Canada, however. In 2009, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada gave $40,000,000 to BYU Provo—57.9% of the money received from the wards that year.
The 10 things everyone should know about science. To some degree, our scientific illiteracy has been evolutionarily programmed into our psychology.
This is how the Exodus from Egypt might have played out had Moses used Google, Facebook, and YouTube.
Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the internet, in a riveting TED talk.
Pastor Rob Bell has published a book that contends that everyone may go to Heaven, and it’s raising Hell within the evangelical community.
There was a bizarre and violent encounter at an “Ask an Atheist” event at Virginia Tech last week. One Christian student drew a cross on their hand and asked the atheists to stab it to supposedly demonstrate god’s existence. The atheists refused, so the Christian student began to repeatedly stab is hand until the cops restrained him.
Vote for Christopher Hitchens in the 2011 TIME 100 poll, which recognizes this year’s most influential thinkers.
An exhaustive study involving 32,000 high school students confirms that suicide attempts by gay teens are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don’t have programs supporting gay rights. The finding is hardly surprising, but I know that rural areas have higher rates of suicide generally. I wonder if they controlled for that.
This is one brave Bar Mitzvah speech.
Some recently discovered codices, perhaps the earliest Christian writings in existence, are being hailed as the biggest find in Christian history since the Dead Sea Scrolls. One reading of the text suggests that Jesus and his disciples formed a homosexual coterie. (Correction: Ruse’s interpretation may be totally fictitious; refer to the subtitle in the article. Second, there’s a growing suspicion that the codices themselves are forgeries.)
Another interesting historical discovery is a 5,000 year-old painting of the first gay caveman. (I worry, though, about applying terms such as “gay” to ancient or prehistoric peoples. That application could be anachronistic given that our understanding of human sexuality has changed over time.)
Eighteen years after Waco, I’m surprised to learn that David Koresh still has devotees that revere him as a god.
The LDS Church in Arizona is at the center of a sex abuse scandal for failing to report its (alleged) prior knowledge to the local authorities.
Texas Republican Louie Gohmert has introduced a bill to the House that would designate the first weekend of May as “Ten Commandments Weekend” to recognize their importance in our nation’s founding.
*This originally read: “Just as the LDS Church exaggerates its numbers, so too does the LGBT community.” I deleted this sentence because it was unfair. I didn’t mean to suggest that either Mormons or gays were being intentionally dishonest in citing inflated statistics (though that may sometimes be the case), only that the statistics themselves are inaccurate.
Earlier this week, a rather brave group of BYU students wore t-shirts that read, “I’m okay if you’re gay.” (The handsome gent at the bottom right is my friend Cary Crall, who helped organize this event. You may remember Cary from his controversial Prop 8 editorial published in the Daily Universe.)
At most universities, this wouldn’t be a provocative message. At the conservative BYU, however, I’m sure it raised some eyebrows. More importantly, it raised awareness that there exists a community of LGBT students and their allies at BYU.
Wearing t-shirts may seem like an insignificant show of support, but I doubt these students could do much more without jeopardizing their academic standing at the Mormon-owned school. BYU has a history of anti-gay policies, and only a few years ago philosophy professor Jeffrey Nielsen was fired for publicly supporting gay marriage.
This morning I ran across a column from the Trib called “Life in Mormon ads not consistent with reality.” The comments on the piece seem to split between agreeing with the writer and saying that she clearly has not gotten out of Utah or gotten to know her fellow church members very well.
The thing, I think, is that both camps are right. Not only are church members typically a little more diverse outside of the Book of Mormon belt, but I personally know a hugely varied range of people who are LDS church members. Not only do they have many different takes on their own religion, but their hobbies, careers, looks, race and everything else run the gamut.
BUT.
I also think the sort of people I attract as friends are semi-atypical of Mormons. While the people within the church may have individual lives, the capital-C Church has worked very hard for the last 40 years to create uniformity. The Mormons may have started out as a rag-tag bunch of trailblazers, but the implementation of correlation created personal conformity in addition to doctrinal conformity. From the top down a very conservative personal dress and lifestyle is encouraged. Many members feel pressure from leaders and doctrine to look and act a certain way, and (particularly in my area) any deviation from that is met with judgment from friends, neighbors and fellow congregants. Watch an R-rated movie? Expect a few whispers. Grow a beard? Better hope you don’t get called into the bishopric. Feel like you, as a woman, should work outside the home? God give you strength to deal with people telling you how you are hurting your family.* So members stay in line to stay in good standing with the church and because it is culturally reinforced.
I think this video kind of says it all. The church is trying to attract ever more diverse populations with a uniform, conservative message. But most church members I know deviate from that norm, at least somewhat. (Hell, my best friend is planning on getting dreads this summer!) So where is the truth on this issue? Does the new ad campaign reflect the reality of LDS membership, even if it doesn’t reflect the reality of correlation? Do I just know unusual Mormons? Or is the whole issue just shades of gray? Thoughts?
*Many of these are becoming more accepted and recent talks from church leadership have softened pronouncements on such issues as birth control, working moms and other divisive issues, but there are still a lot of traditional expectations for members.
An animated beat poem by the talented Aussie atheist Tim Minchin.
The other day, I was re-evaluating my views on the separation of church and state and a crazy idea occurred to me—a revelation, if you will. Were we to deny the tax exemptions that religions currently enjoy, we should also lift their political prohibitions.
The reason we are currently able to preclude religions from substantial political lobbying and partisan electioneering is because they are tax-exempt. Absent that tax-exemption, how can we justify denying them the First Amendment rights we afford to other special interests and (especially now, after Citizens United case) corporations? Taxation requires representation—that’s a quintessential American belief.
Don’t get me wrong. I think increased religious involvement in politics would, for the most part, be bad. But that I disagree with religions’ agendas hardly warrants their disenfranchisement (again, assuming we tax them).
This is an uncomfortable position for a secularist, and I’m not yet fully convinced of it. What do you think of the argument I briefly sketched out?