Reality stubbornly refuses to conform to our expectations, and some people really do not understand this

Greetings.

Jewish date:  4 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holiday:  Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “DemocracyForAmerica.com » Become a Citizen Co-Sponsor” (on health reform).

Topic 1:  More anti-Semitism:  “Double Standards? Nato's Afghan Errors:  Why are Afghan civilian casualties "accidents" but Palestinian civilian casualties are "war crimes"?”.  This is even worse than the title suggests.  Not only is an Orwellian abuse of language being perpetrated, but also noted is even outright denial of contradictory evidence.  Major rule to keep in mind:  our universe never changes itself to be as we want it to be.  Therefore denying photographic evidence showing that Ḥamas stores weaponry in mosques is just plain stupid.  (Yes, I know that is not the most polite terminology possible.  But it is the terminology which fits best.)  The theme of denial of reality also shows up in “How Christian Were the Founders?”, which deals with the efforts of conservative Christians to modify textbooks used in American public schools to fit their understanding of reality, regardless of whether or not the available evidence shows they are right.

Topic 2:  “Give up your iPod for Lent, bishops urge”:  I am impressed by this.  Self-denial is not seen as an end it self but as a means towards self-improvement.

Image via Wikipedia; the guy on the right is indirectly responsible

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Cthulhu in Love Perfume”.  This product makes absolutely no sense once you realize what sort of character the fictional pseudo-god Cthulhu is.

Peace.

Aaron

The Holocaust, free speech, Galileo, and Eastwick

Greetings.

Jewish date:  4 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Noaḥ).

Today’s holidays:  Thursday of the Twenty-Ninth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Call them out: Tell Harry Reid to expose the Democrats who want to filibuster a public option”, “Take Action: TrueMajority.org:  Stand with Melanie, not the insurance CEOs”, and “GOP: Stop Spewing Health Care Lies”.

Topic 1:  “Holocaust overload”:  George Orwell wrote a famous essay, “Politics and the English Language” on the misuse and abuse of the English language, often to political ends.  Words can be so misused and overused that they lose their meaning.  This article describes misuse of the word “Holocaust” which threatens to make the term almost meaningless.

Topic 2:  “Free Speech Under Foreign Assault”:  Major rule:  Suppressing free speech does not make one’s views any more true.  Those Muslims who adopt the tactic of abusing libel laws to squelch their opponents are advised to stop this dishonorable course of action and learn to make valid arguments like real men (and real women).

Topic 3:  “Galileo's Contradiction: The Astronomer Who Riled the Inquisition Fathered 2 Nuns”:  There is a common misconception that science and religion are diametrical opposites.  This does not reflect the actual religious views of serious scientists, e.g., the observant Catholic Galileo Galilei.

Topic 4:  Yesterday’s episode of Eastwick (that show I love to hate), “Mooning and Crooning”, deals with much of the town engaging in wild behavior induced by the full Moon.  I suspect that this may have been magicked inadvertently by Kat, Roxanne, and Joanna on Darryl’s suggestion.  Not really anything new theologically, though Darryl does provide the rudiments of a cover story.

Peace.

Aaron