MetaFilter posts tagged with Religion and evolution

Since when does Hollywood shy away from controversy?

zarq — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:25:39 -0800

The Producer Cites Religious Controversy. The Director points to a recessionary trend against "serious" movies. A new film about Charles Darwin's life ("Creation") is reportedly having difficulty finding a US distributor. ( Creation: IMDB / Official Site / Trailer / Spoiler-laden review from Roger Ebert / LA Times review // Darwin: Previously on MeFi).

"Greetings from Idiot America"

zarq — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:20:20 -0800

Charles Pierce, author of the 2005 essay "Greetings from Idiot America" decrying the rise of faith-based anti-intellectualism, has expanded his rant into a full length book: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free. (via) Previously on MeFi. (link on that post is defunct) Anti-intellectualism has been around for ages, and has not been restricted to the US. But the American cultural divide was thrust further into the national spotlight during the last election cycle. Further reading: Susan Jacoby's book: The Age of American Unreason (interview on left-wing blog Alternet here,) and 1964's Anti-intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter. Pierce appears regularly on NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me!, and is a feature writer for Esquire, Slate, The American Prospect and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, usually on sports. He's also the author of several books, including Hard to Forget: An Alzheimer's Story.

A Moment in Time

nola — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:53:18 -0800

AronRa has done some really nice YouTube vids on science (previously). In this latest vlog An Archaeological Moment in Time, he take(s) a look at how different societies are advancing at different rates on the same date in the distant past.

God, Memes and Steel

Artw — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:34:29 -0800

Jared Diamond on the Evolution of Religions. (SLYT)

The compatibility of science and religion

homunculus — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:30:23 -0800

Seeing and Believing: The never-ending attempt to reconcile science and religion, and why it is doomed to fail. [Via Pharyngula]

Islam and Evolution

homunculus — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:31:23 -0800

Bracing for Islamic Creationism (PDF). "To avoid a vast rejection of evolution in the Muslim world, scientists can present the theory as the bedrock of biology and can stress its practical applications." [Via]

Charles Darwin to receive apology from the Church of England

finite — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:20:38 -0800

"Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still." The comments are included on a Church of England website promoting the views of Charles Darwin to be launched on Monday.

The 20th Anniversary of Suffer

milquetoast — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:09:43 -0800

The Cornell Evolution Project, which polls prominent evolutionary scientists about their religious beliefs, is part of a PhD thesis by evolutionary paleontologist and UCLA lecturer Greg Graffin. Mr. Graffin is also the lead singer of a band named Bad Religion, whose influential album Suffer turns 20 years old this week. Though Suffer never charted, it became wildly popular in Southern California and helped to define the late 80's/ early 90's west coast sound -- a sound which pervades the rock and/or roll scene even today. Via YouTube, here are some live performances from 1988 - 1991: You Are (The Government) || 1000 More Fools || How Much Is Enough? || When? || Give You Nothing || Land of Competition || Forbidden Beat || Best for You || Suffer || Delirium of Disorder || Part II (The Numbers Game) || What Can You Do? || Do What You Want || Part IV (The Index Fossil) || Pessimistic Lines

Why there are still monkeys

homunculus — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:15:26 -0800

Why are there still monkeys?

3 to 10 classroom hours

Artw — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:09:59 -0800

16% of US science teachers believe human beings have been created by God within the last 10,000 years. 25% of science teachers spend some time teaching about creationism or intelligent design. 12.5% teach it as a "valid, scientific alternative to Darwinian explanations for the origin of species". 2% say they do not cover evolution at all. Teachers who have taken more science courses themselves devote more time to evolution - "This may be because better-prepared teachers are more confident in dealing with students' questions about a sensitive subject."

Trilobite Creationism

homunculus — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:40:27 -0800

Worship the Trilobite. [Via Pharyngula.]

Surrealistic Lilliputian Realm

homunculus — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:56:09 -0800

The Inner Life of an Intelligently Designed Cell? Remember The Inner Life of a Cell animation (discussed here)? Apparently the Discovery Institute (recently discussed here) is showing it in presentations with a new title and narration, and without attribution.

Jonathan Haidt on the "Five Foundations" of Morality

McLir — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:06:18 -0800

"From a review of the anthropological and evolutionary literatures [Edge.org]... there were three best candidates for being additional psychological foundations of morality [embedded video], beyond harm/care and fairness/justice. These three we label as ingroup/loyalty (which may have evolved from the long history of cross-group or sub-group competition...); authority/respect (which may have evolved from the long history of primate hierarchy, modified by cultural limitations on power and bullying...), and purity/sanctity, which may be a much more recent system, growing out of the uniquely human emotion of disgust, which seems to give people feelings that some ways of living and acting are higher, more noble, and less carnal than others. "...It might seem obvious to you that contractual societies are good, modern, creative and free, whereas beehive societies reek of feudalism, fascism, and patriarchy. And, on balance, I agree that liberal contractual societies such as those of Western Europe offer the best hope for living peacefully together in our increasingly diverse modern nations (although it remains to be seen if Europe can solve its current diversity problems). "I just want to make one point, however, that should give contractualists pause: surveys have long showed that religious believers in the United States are happier, healthier, longer-lived, and more generous to charity and to each other than are secular people. Most of these effects have been documented in Europe too. If you believe that morality is about happiness and suffering, then I think you are obligated to take a close look at the way religious people actually live and ask what they are doing right." [$1000 prize for those who can expand or refine the five foundations, scroll down to #2. Previously]

Slate's special issue on the brain

homunculus — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:31:00 -0800

Brains!

Oh my God

inconsequentialist — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 23:49:08 -0800

Darwin's God. "A scientific exploration of how we have come to believe in God." This article tracks the possibility that belief in a higher power is the product of evolution.

Alpha

brownpau — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:59:15 -0800

"Who's afraid of evolutionary biology?" (I've linked Bede before, but this piece bears a much more important message to Christians who feel it their biblical duty to get hot and bothered over evolution and origin-of-life issues.) Also see a Christian response to "Young Earth" apologetics, and the Young Earth Argument Index, both from "Old Earth" Creationists who disagree with 6-Day biblical literalism. (Note that Old Earthers may still be Intelligent Design advocates. Heaping spoonsful of salt all around.) If that's still too "Christian" for you, Talk.Origins has a summary of other Genesis interpretations.

God's Darwin or Chance's Drawin'?

daksya — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 14:13:57 -0800

Did the discovery of evolution lead to Darwin's agnosticism, as claimed? Carl Zimmer wonders. More importantly, can evolution be reconciled with Christianity?

Evolution: Views Differ

digaman — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:15:18 -0800

Bush comes out in favor of teaching "intelligent design" alongside evolution in American schools. Is this the latest evidence of the White House willing to champion worthy but controversial ideas that have been sidelined by liberal bias, or strictly from Paul Krugman's theoretical headline, "Shape of Earth: Views Differ"? [Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Lone Star State, Texas educators ignite brouhaha by adding Bible study to the public-school curriculum].

Uh-uh-uh! You didn't say the magic word!

Pretty_Generic — Sun, 22 May 2005 11:57:23 -0800

Fig-leaf-eating Velociraptor Scandal! Look, I've got nothing against religion but if you believe a word of it you are, in the words of Robert Burns, "a dumbass fuck".

I got your evolution right here!

nofundy — Mon, 09 May 2005 10:39:51 -0800

Move Over Darwin!
Do you believe God belongs in government?
Do you believe President Bush is doing The Lord's Work?
If so, then show your love for God & the USA!

Just a Ruse?

greatgefilte — Tue, 03 May 2005 10:29:30 -0800

Are evolution's advocates giving fire to creationists? So says Michael Ruse, "philosopher of biology (especially Darwinism)", who claims that outspoken evolutionists (e.g. Richard Dawkins) should do more to make evolution compatible with religion, rather than touting it as a worldview of its own.

Tell that to Nosson Slifkin (NYTimes, login required), an Orthodox rabbi whose books were banned by a number of eminent rabbis for "seek[ing] to reconcile, rather than to contrast, sacred texts with modern knowledge of the natural world."

That said, will those like Slifkin and Rev. Dr. Arthur Peacocke be able to make a difference, or will they be ignored and scorned?

Chaz has a posse!

mr.curmudgeon — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:58:06 -0800

Scientific American to stop reporting science, more creationism. There's no easy way to admit this. For years, helpful letter writers told us to stick to science. They pointed out that science and politics don't mix. They said we should be more balanced in our presentation of such issues as creationism, missile defense and global warming...But spring is in the air, and all of nature is turning over a new leaf, so there's no better time to say: you were right, and we were wrong.

My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)

Mwongozi — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 12:30:02 -0800

"The purpose of the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair is to get kids excited about Creation and motivate them to discover the truth of our Lord on their own."
Winning exhibits this year include "My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)", "Women Were Designed For Homemaking", and "Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria".
Via

Dawkins speaks!

skallas — Fri, 03 Sep 2004 20:11:32 -0800

Richard Dawkins discusses religion with a Darwinian outlook. RD: Could religion be a recent phenomenon, sprung up since our genes underwent most of their natural selection? Its ubiquity argues against any simple version of this idea. Nevertheless, there is a version of it that I want to advocate. The propensity that was naturally selected in our ancestors was not religion per se. It had some other benefit, and it only incidentally manifests itself today as religious behavior.

It is well known

isol — Sun, 15 Aug 2004 17:08:04 -0800

It is well known among the computer elite, who are mostly Atheists and Pagans, that Pokemon's pro-Darwinism propaganda is inescapable...