May 5th was the anniversary of the day in 1925 when John Scopes was charged with the hideous crime of teaching evolution to schoolchildren. Today, 83 years after the event that culminated in the Scopes Trial, we’ve come a long way; evolution is now part of the science curriculum in every US public school. Still, there are many who would take us back to those days, banning scientific theory in favor of mythological studies of the nature of life. Many creationists and their less honest “Intelligent Design” brethren (who hide creationism behind a politically correct facade) would happily greet a return to the era when an educator could be arrested for presenting course material which had no biblical basis. The leaders of this movement have deep pockets, numerous followers, tremendous political power, and the support of much of the right-wing punditry in America. They’re well organized, through groups like the Discovery Institute, and they’ve got the wherewithal to produce major motion pictures based around their propaganda. They’re a legion of quote-miners and defiers of logic, they’re relentless, and they only need one judge in one state who supports their tactics at the right moment to start us on that slippery slope that leads us downhill toward theocracy.
Fortunately, we have one great defense against this encroachment of faerie tales into science: observable reality is on our side.
Ironically, this close to the anniversary of Scopes’ arrest, another teacher was fired this week for an alleged offense against all that is holy. Jim Piculas, a frequent substitute teacher in Pasco County, Florida, lost his job because a sleight-of-hand magic trick he did in front of students was deemed to be the practice of wizardry. The district has said in its defense that there were other performance issues involved in the dismissal, but if that was the case, why bring up Piculas’ diabolical spell-casting at all?
The Evangelical Manifesto released this week by a group of conservative Christian leaders purports to be a call to “find a new understanding of our place in public life”, but a quick read through it hints that the “new understanding” is pretty much the same as the “old understanding”. Evolution is wrong, gays are bad, et cetera.
The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views
Hey, maybe we are making some progress after all!
without regard to the truth of the Bible
Then again, maybe not.
The writers do seem to have some understanding of what has happened to their movement, though:
“[…] Christians become ‘useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology,” according to the draft.
Could recognizing one’s own useful idiocy be a first step toward recovery?
Face it, evangelicals, maybe your efforts aren’t bearing the fruit you’d wish them to because your creeds are at best shortsighted and bigoted, very often dishonest, and yes, at times downright crazy.
Lastly we turn to this week’s litany of sex crimes and murders brought to us courtesy of the various Sky-Daddies and their most ardent followers.
The Messiah himself (at least according what Wayne Bent, AKA Michael Travesser, proclaimed about himself in 2000) was arrested on multiple charges of sex with minors. A former member of Bent’s The Lord Our Righteousness Church said Bent had told him to have sex with seven virgins, including two of his own teenage daughters.
But for the last and sickest godcrime this week, we turn to Islam, the good old Religion of Peace. A Pakistani woman named Rukhma was brought across the border into American-made Free Afghanistan in recent months. While there she was able to enjoy the freedom to be raped and the freedom to watch her rapist beat her three year old son to death. Charges were filed, though, and the man was sentenced to 20 years in prison. That means Rukhma will be released from her own prison cell, where she’ll spend four years for committing adultery in allowing herself to be raped, sixteen years before her assailant is released.
The chief prosecutor of eastern Nangarhar province, who oversaw Rukhma’s case, suggested she got off lightly.
“If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture,” Abdul Qayum shouted scornfully.
His colleagues laughed approvingly. “This is Afghanistan, not America,” Mr Qayum said.
Aaah, sometimes it’s heartening to be reminded just what it is we’re fighting for over there.
EDIT: Almost forgot! Great writeup on Alternet this week by an atheist who attended a fundamentalist religious retreat undercover.