No, studying science will not turn you into an atheist

Image suggested by Zemata and used due to lack of a better idea of what picture to use for this post via Wikipedia

Greetings.

Jewish date:  11 Siwan 5770 (Parashath BeHa‘alothekha).

Today’s holidays:  Monday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Victory over the U.S. Day (Can.) (Church of the Subgenius), Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Christianity), Feast of Hermes (Thelema).

Worthy causes of the day:  “ColorOfChange.org:  Tell Fox: "Fire John Stossel"”, “Blackwater is just the tip of the iceberg”, “Stop the Comcast-NBC Merger | Free Press”, “Stop The Drill | Oceana North America”, “American Insurance Companies: Stop Canceling Women's Policies - Take Action Today @ The Breast Cancer Site”, “Save Gulf Sea Turtles - Take Action Today @ The Rainforest Site”, “action.firedoglake.com | Sign the petition to President Obama: End plans for offshore drilling”, “Take Action: TrueMajority.org:  NO BAILOUT FOR BP”, and “MoveOn.org Political Action: No Bailouts for Big Oil”.

Topic 1:  Today’s anti-Semitism update:  “"Jew Producer" Silenced: Comedy Central Update”.  “No Nukes?” is a cogent argument why Israel should not give up its nuclear weapons.

On the theme of religious intolerance one may also add “Muhammad cartoonist in hiding after arson attack”, “Endless violence against Christian women of Kandhamal”, “Vietnam police charge six villagers over Catholic funeral”, “Beijing warns US over Falun Gong”, “Protestant clergyman arrested in Guangzhou”, “UZBEKISTAN: Large raid and almost immediate trial starts against registered church”, and “Lao Christians Expelled from Village Suffer Critical Illnesses”.  Yes, it is an ugly, intolerant world out there where some people think they can suppress other people’s beliefs out of existence, as if the existence of only one set of beliefs made them true.

Topic 2:  “From Point of Inquiry: Does Studying Science Cause Atheism, or Vice-Versa?”.  The results of someone actually studying the question, rather than just pulling an answer out of thin air, violate common expectations:  people’s basic religious beliefs, whether accepting a religion or atheism, are normally not affected by science education.  Keep in mind that science is only well-suited for dealing with what can be observed.  As such, making good scientific arguments about lies beyond our universe (such as gods) is fraught with serious problems.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor (courtesy of Jason):  Sh'koyach - The New Age Jewish Comic Strip!  And no, this is not a LOLcat image, for a change.  It is a comic strip about a shrimp who moves in with an Orthodox Jew in order to avoid being eaten.

Peace.

Aaron

Bizarre conspiracies and psychologically unrealistic behavior in the Gospels

Greetings.

Jewish date:  2 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Bo’).

Today’s holidays:  Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast of St. Anthony the Great (Greek Orthodox Christianity), Joshmas (Discordianism).

Topic 1:  More religious oppression:  “Two Christians Critically Wounded at Wedding in Pakistan”, “UZBEKISTAN: Illegal Christmas as unregistered religious activity punished”, “Dutch lawmaker fails to avoid hate speech charges” (freedom of speech includes being able to say things others find offensive), and “Copts protest Christmas killings at Cairo cathedral” (they are sick of being treated as second-class citizens).  Meanwhile, Vietnamese Catholics have taken to protesting in a novel way:  “Dong Chiem is becoming a "Mount of Crosses"”

Topic 2:  The more you read something carefully, the more the details stand out.  One of the most controversial questions in the Gospels is who is responsible for the death of Jesus.  The Gospels agree that the Romans did the actual killing, but they shy away from blaming them for it.  If you look in chapters 26-27 of Matthew and chapters 14-15 of Mark, it is the “chief priests” (Sadducees) and “Elders” (= the Sanhedhrin, consisting of Pharisees) who push Pilate to execute Jesus and convince a (presumably Jewish) crowd to cry for the release of the murderous rebel Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus.  This is an unnatural conspiracy.  Under the Roman occupation, the High Priest was a priest (kohen) who got the position by bribing the Romans.  The “chief priests” therefore had every reason to not act against the Romans by pushing for the release of the last person the Romans would have wanted free, Barabbas; if they were ever found out, they would be replaced—if they were very, very lucky.  Furthermore, because the High Priest was corrupt at the time, he and the Sanhedhrin were not on good terms.  They had no reason to cooperate.  Also unnatural is the crowd being so quickly convinced to call for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus.  Jesus previously is reported as being fawned over by crowds, yet in Matthew 27:25 they take responsibility for the death of Jesus not only on themselves, but for their children as well!  Does any of this seem psychologically credible?  Does any of this not smack of anti-Semitic historical revisionism?

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Apparently, Basement cat felt that 4”:

Hint for the uninitiated:  Revelation 6.

Peace.

Aaron