Month: October 2014

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The opposite of science

No one complains about science when it doesn’t affect them.   There’s no movement arguing against the theory of gravity.

But if it challenges something they believe strongly, then clearly science must be denied;  then, scientific laws are just “theories.”tyson

If your religion tells you God created us in a specific way, then evolution has to be challenged.  If your politics tells you that climate change will require us to change our way of life, then climatologists must be denied.  And if you want to find someone to blame for autism, then vaccines are a good scapegoat.

Sure, science can be wrong.  Science acknowledges that, and there are plenty of scientists out there who would love to make a name for themselves by proving that the past theories were wrong and should be replaced with their new ones.  But there’s a process for that, and it includes peer-reviewed analysis and experimentation to confirm.

Somehow, we all love to believe that we’re smarter than the people who have the education and do this for a living.  It makes us feel special. And where certainly we should always challenge authority, you should have proof just as strong on your side.  Saying “Well you can’t prove what causes autism so therefore my idea that vaccines do it” is not intellectually honest — you might as well say “so therefore tiny elves cause it.”

People who come up with their explanations in the absence of facts are not scientists;  they are the opposite of scientists.

And there’s nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know” to something, so long as it’s followed with, “but I hope to one day find out.”

 

Editorial cartoon: Oklahoma romance

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Idaho and Nevada join the 21st century

Thanks to the recent Supreme Court decision not to take the appeals, 30 states now have marriage equality.

Oops, make that 32.

Yesterday, Idaho and Nevada’s bans were struck down as well. MarriageEqualityMap_GIF2

That means that the majority of states, containing over 60% of the population of the United States, have finally entered the 21st century.

It’s not all smooth sailing, of course. Some Republican governors are refusing to follow the court’s orders, despite the fact that such a thing is, you know, a violation of their oath of office and basically a form of treason. Like George Wallace standing in front of the schoolhouse blocking black children, they will serve as a reminder to future generations of how mean-spirited bigotry can be.

Editorial cartoon: Breaking free

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Bill Maher was right

You can criticize a religion without advocating for discrimination against the people who practice that religion.

Bill Maher had a great debate with fellow liberals on his show last week.  Ben Affleck accused him of being biased against Muslims for the things Maher said about their religion.  But those are two separate things.

It appears to me that the Islam religion (to some of its followers) is where Christianity was 500 years ago — it does not tolerate dissent, and punishes its enemies with death.affleck3-640x350

Does every Muslim follow that strict doctrine?  No, of course not, just like every Christian does not follow the terrible things in Christianity’s doctrines, either.  Even 500 years ago, there were progressive Christians fighting against the terrible things their church was doing.

So it’s clearly wrong to assume every Muslim believes in the extremist views of that religion any more than you should assume every Christian thinks that adultery or eating shellfish be punishable by stoning to death.

But you can’t deny that there are many more Muslims who believe that certain blasphemy should so be punished.  Don’t believe me? Try drawing a picture of Mohammad and see if you don’t have to go into hiding, even in America.

The key is that liberals need to be consistent and not hypocritical.  You can’t criticize southern Christians for being prejudiced against gays while looking the other way when Muslims sentence their gay citizens to death.  And why do they do that?  Because of their religion … which is not exempt from criticism.

Some people get hung up over the fact that this is a religion, and believe that we should treat it differently.  As I’ve said before, the fact that your bigotry is based on your religious belief doesn’t cancel out the bigotry.  It’s still bigotry no matter how you came by it, and the fact that you really, really believe it doesn’t excuse it.

Followers of Islam who do not believe in such extremism need to force their religion to change.

Partially the problem is the liberal goal of accepting multiculturalism — to embrace our differences, in the same way Mr. Spock teaches us that Vulcans love “infinite diversity in infinite combinations.”  But there are some things we should never accept.  Taking away the rights of others in any culture is wrong.  And, you know, beheading innocent journalists to appease your god is also wrong.

And if we don’t call them out for it, and lay the blame where it belongs with the religious belief that encourages such actions, then we are partners in the crime.

Editorial cartoon: Sointainly!

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Breaking: Supreme Court Does Something Right!

The U.S. Supreme Court today just announced that it would not accept appeals from states fighting to keep gay marriages from happening.

This means that in those states where a Federal Court (or highest State Court) held that the state could not deny marriage equality, their decision stands.  Supreme Court

The Supreme Court gets thousands of appeals, and can decide which cases to accept. By refusing to accept these cases, the court has said that the lower decision stays, and that’s the end of it.  There’s no where else to appeal to.

So Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin will have to start allowing gays to get married as soon as possible.

Let’s hope this sends about as clear of a signal as possible to all those other states that are still fighting this.  Give up. History is not on your side.  Justice has won.

EDIT:  Apparently, the court did not take a position on other cases that are similar and pending.  I am not sure exactly where they are, but it is likely that the appeals from North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado will also either die because they will be withdrawn or will be similarly decided soon.

That means that the number of states with gay marriage is likely to quickly jump from 19 to 30, for more than half of the country.

Editorial cartoon: Mixed message

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Obama is worstest President ever

“Absolutely terrible,” say Republicans about Obama.  “He’s hardly accomplished anything and what he did accomplish is ruining the country!”obama_100906.gi.top

Leaving aside the point that the reason he may have hardly accomplished anything is because the GOP has blocked everything and has passed fewer laws than any Congress in the history of our country, the real problem is that, by any objective standard, Obama has greatly improved many things in this country since he took office.

Unemployment is down to 5.9%, the lowest it has been since 2008.  The stock market is at an all-time high.  Crime is down, and it’s at the lowest rate since 1963.  Illegal immigration has declined.  The budget deficit is at the lowest it has been in years.

And then there are social issues.  Gays can serve in the military and can get married in many places.  Women and minorities have made great gains.  And people can get health insurance without being screwed over by insurance companies.

And there’s plenty more.

This doesn’t mean things are perfect.  Wall Street Banking criminals are still out free;  income equality is still outrageous; we’re spending too much on military hardware we don’t need and the army doesn’t want; there are still terrorists out there wanting to kill us;  we’re doing practically nothing about climate change; insurance companies are still ruining health care — but those problems would still exist under a Republican administration (and in many cases, would be even worse).

No, Obama hasn’t ruined our country.   You’re thinking of George W. Bush.  Obama has brought it back from Bush’s destruction.

So when Republicans say Obama has ruined the country, what they really mean is one of four things:

1. “He’s doing things I don’t like!  Gays getting married!  Claiming there’s climate change!  Giving poor people health care!  Damn socialist!”

2.  “He’s a Democrat and therefore I have to say he’s ruining everything because that’s what we Republicans do!  We don’t need facts!”

3.  “What’s the matter with you?  Isn’t it clear?  He’s a black man!  What, are you blind?”

4.  “Benghazi!”*

 

* Yes, that last one doesn’t make sense.  It never has.  Somehow, some conservatives think that’s all they have to say and it explains everything.