SkepChickCon: Don't Feed the Trolls (video)

I wish I could have attended the conference but I don't have the funds to fly all over to meet skeptics and atheists. Fortunately, internet people put their stuff up on the internet, for example, this panel about harrassment on the internet:

Women and a few men talking about sexist attacks on the internet and especially in the Skeptical & Atheist realms.  If you think they're exaggerating, check out the comments people have posted.

Some of my graduate school professors had to deal with a lot of dirty tactics by their male "colleagues" and of course I have known women who have been victimized in a variety of ways. So... I'm a bit shocked but if you are a guy who hasn't been the confidante of a woman who has dealt with abuse, you may be seriously shocked by what these people have to say:

• Women who blog on the internet get rape threats
• Women on the internet get death threats
• Women do indeed get raped in elevators
• Women get stalked by "trolls" who turn out to be dangerous

Men who find women threatening want to shut us up, and we who don't shut up have known this for years. We deal with it in ways that most men would never imagine.

Personally, I don't want to deal with that shit so you won't see my picture and real-life name here.

Quote of the Day: Lawrence Krauss

"The purpose of education is not to validate ignorance, but to overcome it."



...at about 30:00 here:








He said it in reference to the assertion that biology teachers should "teach the controversy."



His comments on cosmology are also very interesting. I admit, I sometimes don't understand him but this talk is excellent an very understandable.

20/20 "What is Heaven?" videos

The videos are up now! (Flash)  Watch the whole 2 hours or the segments:
The whole shebang:  http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55216980/2020-76-heaven

Betty Bowers on Abortion

Your Sunday School teacher never quoted these Bible passages!

If you're not familiar with Mrs. Bowers or Landover Baptist Church check out the True Christian [tm] site.

Some News of the Week

A few newsworthy items of late: 

The Demon Defense doesn't hold holy water but this story does help to explain why there are so many tiny congregations in the crazier denominations

Whites-Only pastors' conference in Alabama.  These nutters believe that "Europeans and their descendents" are the chosen people.  uhhhh have they read the Bible?

Maybe they were just upset about the Black pastors who disagree with Obama about gay rights.


Then there is a pastor who teaches a funny version of genital hygiene.  Apparently you don't have to be Catholic to be a pedophile.

The Catholic Church in Philadelphia continues to clean house

Presbyterians decide against changing the definition of marriage.  The proposed new definition would be "between two people," which imho is a bad idea because it doesn't imply the two have to be adults.  "Man and woman" indicates adulthood on both parts.

The Village Voice exposes Scientology's marriange "counseling" method.  If Katie Holmes didn't know the religion was abusive before trying this, she'd know it afterward.

Circumscision:  Something Muslims & Jews can agree on

Barbara Walters on Heaven

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/

The full show will be on the site soon, but meanwhile, enjoy some clips.  She traveled the world interviewing people about heaven and hell, and let atheists and skeptics have about two minutes out of a two-hour special.

I DVR'd it so I could review it here, but there isn't much to say about it.  The various religions all have a different afterlife belief.  duh   Why she doesn't draw the obvious conclusion from there that heaven is man-made is beyond me.  Well, the ratings would tank but still... what an insipid show about an insipid concept.

Sure, we want to live forever, but forever is a long time and even Heaven would get really really boring.  And all those people who have near-death experiences never see Hell or their uncle who molested him.  Surely at least one person would have a hellish time of it considering how many of us are going there.  The explanation offered about the dying brain was immediately countered by the NDE experiencers with "I know what I saw."

*sigh*

Katie Holmes & Scientology or just another celeb divorce?

Some interesting thoughts here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/07/why-katie-holmes-may-win-custody.html

Many people have noted that all of Cruise's divorces happened when the wives were 33.  Makes me wonder if Scientology has some step-up at that age that makes them go "whoa.... I did *Not* sign on for THIS!"  The Daily Beast article is more down-to-earth, referencing child custody practices, and Suri's age, not Katie's as being the trigger.

Katie can probably never tell the whole truth without becoming a Suppressive Person and being stalked for life by henchment for the cause.  It's bad enough for her to be stalked by paparazzi.

What I find strange is the hoopla about Suri being brought up in Scientology with its special schools and nutty philosophy, but let someone send their kid to a Catholic, Jewish, or fundy school, well that's okay.  Well, no, that's not okay.  Brainwashing little kids is a vile, destructive and abusive practice.