THE Abdul Alhazred's Blog

Not blogging any more, but ...

... you can still turn in a sicko.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 04:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Turning off comments again.

If you are looking for me, you can probably find me HERE.

If you found this site with a search engine, but you aren't looking for me, you may enjoy THIS.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 08:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Creationism doomed?

From Answers in Genesis BUSTED:

Creationism is doomed

I have come to realize that creationists' philosophy is fundamentally very inconsistent in a way that I had not before thought of. Take a look at the Answers in Genesis Statement of Faith. It says:

"No apparent, perceived, or claimed interpretation of evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record. "

Notice that they said "interpretation of evidence" rather than just "evidence".

...

I commented that he's too optimistic.

It's worth reading the whole thing.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 11:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee

Book excerpt. Long but worth the read.

An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee by Matt Taibbi -- Rolling Stone via Alternet

I pulled into the church parking lot a little after 6:00 p.m., at more or less the last possible minute. The previous half hour or so I'd spent dawdling in my car outside a Goodwill department store off Route 410 in San Antonio, clinging to some inane sports talk show piping over my car radio -- anything to hold off my plunge into Religion.

...

I had been attending the Cornerstone Church for weeks, but this was really my first day of school. I had joined Cornerstone -- a megachurch in the Texas Hill Country -- to get a look inside the evangelical mind-set that gave the country eight years of George W. Bush.

...

I dispute the conventional wisdom of the emphasized bit (I contend it was "swing voters" and the war issue), but that has no bearing on the peek inside Cornerstone Church.

Enjoy! 


Also, tip of the hat to The Atheist Jew


Yes, commenting is turned on again.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 08:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bananas versus atheism!

It's making the rounds again.

It really should be bananas versus evolution, but creationists conflate evolution with atheism. As if poking holes in the theory of evolution were evidence for the Adam and Eve story; and the Adam and Eve story were the only alternative to atheism.

Here is a link to the video, with reader comments:
Behold the Atheist’s Nightmare: the Banana (Neatorama)

For reference, here is a picture of a wild type banana.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 05:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Oops!

Did I really say Adlai Stevenson was a Republican?

Sorry about that.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 06:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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About reverends in politics

This piece by Christopher Hitchens in Slate -- Blind Faith -- provoked me to write this post.

Let's go over some Democratic Party presidents of the of the past, all considered great by today's Democratic Party: Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson.

Can anyone name the spiritual leader of any one of them?

Now consider some prominent Republicans of the same era: Dwight Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson, Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater.

Can anyone name the spiritual leader of any one of them?

None of these men were anti-religious. They mentioned God in speeches and were sometimes pious. But no spiritual leaders that we know about.

And why are African American community leaders usually reverends? Sure it worked out OK with Dr Martin Luther King Jr, but that's one exceptional individual. How does that work in a general way?

Look at successful minorities in the USA, even religious ones. Is their success marked by prominent reverends leading the community?


Edited to add: Links to discussions:
at Skeptical Community
at JREF

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 11:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No, not that one.

Turns out there is another "Abdul Alhazred's Blog" out there.

Well OK, I don't own the name.
Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character of great (fictional) wisdom.

So if you see a bunch of ranting about the evils of Zionism attributed to "Abdul Alhazred's Blog", it's the other one.


Edited to add -- I have changed the name of my blog accordingly.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 06:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Rabbi, Rabbi

Rabbi, Rabbi (Answers in Genesis Busted)

Answers in Genesis Busted reviews the recent debate between Christopher Hitchens and Schmuley Boteach.

In my opnion AIGBusted goes a little easy on Schmuley.

It appears that Schmuley has been misrepresenting the theory of evolution. Unlike the Adam and Eve story itself, these misrepresentations are not "originally Jewish". He is mimicking well established Christian apologists.

Having been rejected by the sect where he got his education, Schmuley now hobnobs with whoever has enough spiritual razz-ma-tazz to generate publicity. In a way that even includes Christopher Hitchens, as well as Deepak Chopra and various religious right types.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 12:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What is an astronette? I fail to resist the fanboy temptation.

I fail to resist the fanboy temptation because I've been blogrolled by The Comics Maven.

What is an astronette?

What makes that guy The Comics Maven?

Why are astronettes still important?

Anybody know if and where the short story AWF Unlimited by Frank Herbert is still in print? Or online?

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 09:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Science, Evolution and Creationism (brochure)

The National Academy of Sciences
The Institute of Medicine

Science, Evolution and Creationism (pdf file)

Excellent overview without overheated polemics. Enjoy!


Tip of the hat to Eos of the Eons.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 10:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Christopher Hitchens and the hole in the sheet

I am currently reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens, a book I heartily recommend.

However, Hitchens retails the canard about Orthodox Jews making love through a hole in the sheet. In fact pretty much anything goes in the bedroom within marriage modulo the menstrual taboos. No nonsense about the missionary position even, let alone the hole in the sheet.

His uncritical acceptance of this urban legend weakens his credibility. Particularly unfortunate in that his criticism of Jewish doctrine  is good  in a general way, especially concerning the practice of circumcision.

In addition to my anecdotal evidence, here is what Snopes has to say: Sheet dreams are made of these.

I should mention that Hitchens is not particularly obsessed with Jews. All religions get their turn in his new book -- and not just the monotheistic ones.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 03:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Muslim science today.

What we now call the Renaissance started in the Arab world and spread to Europe, mostly by peaceful commerce. The name Fibonacci comes to mind.

But in the Muslim world as later in Europe, there was a religious reaction against science. To speak of Muslim science in that era (as some apologists do) is like calling Galileo's work Roman Catholic science.

In Europe, the Christian authorities were too distracted fighting each other, so science managed to flourish and spread its influence world wide, incorporating information from many cultures.

But what of science in the Muslim world today?

Here is a link to an article in Discover magazine that I recommend to all.

Science and Islam in Conflict

All over the world, no matter what the cultural or language differences, science is more or less guided by scientific principles—except in many Islamic countries, where it is guided by the Koran. This is the ultimate story about science and religion.

(more)

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 02:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

Just in time for Hanukkah.

---

If you went to public school in New York City when I did, you probably learned The Dreidel Song as part of what later developed into multiculturalism.  I never heard any Jews singing it around the Menorah and certainly not in shul. Can anyone tell me the origin of that song?

Here is a set of atheist lyrics for The Dreidel Song that I snagged off USENET many years ago and have lovingly preserved.

Credit where credit is due. The author is Bernard S Greenberg.
The same one who wrote THIS, and developed THIS SOFTWARE.

I had a little dreidel, I made him out of clay,
I breathed into his nostrils so dreidel I could play.

I made my little dreidel a friend for his own sake,
With gardens trees and apples, and a wonderful pet snake.

I took my little dreidel out just to have some fun,
I told my little dreidel to kill for me his son.

I flung my little dreidel o'er Egypt's burning sand,
But soon again I found him and gave him his own land.

So much I loved my dreidel and feared I'd be forsook,
That I wrote for my dreidel an interesting book.

Wherein I told my dreidel exactly how to play,
Just dread and fear and worship, and bless me all the day.

I twirled my little dreidel in Warsaw and New York,
And taught him to grow sidelocks, and never to eat pork.

But then my little dreidel began of me to tire,
So I showed who the boss is, and thrust him in the fire.

And when my little dreidel refused to give up hope,
I shook my head in wonder, and made him into soap.

So now my little dreidel knows just how rough I play,
For sure my little dreidel won't ever run away.

ETA: Do I need to emphasize these are the atheist lyrics?

---

Happy Hanukkah everybody.

Merry Christmas.

Salubrious Solstice.

A penny for the wren Missus Clancy.

Seasons Greetings.


ETA: Link back to SC thread.

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 04:00 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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How to have an evolution disputation

Before entering any disputation about evolution, it's important to define your terms.

Most of you will know these things, but I'm trying to lay it all out in convenient form. Nor can such a list be complete, but I'll try.

The theory of evolution purports to explain the development of the variety of life. No more no less. As with any scientific theory, it can be examined and disputed. But you need to stay on track.

It does not cover everything in science that may contradict something in Genesis.
more...

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 02:36 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Swiss orb cam

Hmm. Will this work?

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 07:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Armadillo Teens?

Should I revive my old Amadillo Teens site?

http://skepticalcommunity.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=252294#252294

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 08:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Testing 1 2 3

How would you like to turn in a sicko?

Posted by: Abdul Alhazred at 08:44 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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