This Friday we will have a special showing of Jesus Camp. Jesus Camp follows several young children as they attend an evangelical summer camp and allows the audience a look at some of the shocking things that occur there.

Please RSVP on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205567502815908#!/event.php?eid=205567502815908

You can find out more about Jesus Camp here

The room was overflowing with people. Many of the panelists invited their friends, so we had a very mixed audience. One panelist, Jennifer, was part of the Passion for Christ Movement, so we had several audience members wearing their distinctive T-shirts with words like “EX-Hypocrite” and “EX-PornAddict”. Someone from the Passion for Christ Movement was also kind enough to videotape some of the discussion. I will let you know if these videos are made available online.

The following is not a transcript. I simply took detailed notes of the discussion. Nothing is quoted, everything is paraphrased. I try to be fair and accurate, but I apologize in advance for any important omissions or errors.  No attempt has been made to verify the various claims which were made.

Introductions

The first introduction was by Shoshana, a conservative Jew. She explained that Judaism is primarily based on the Old Testament and the Talmud. The Talmud consists of two parts: Mishna, the oral laws, and Gemara, which is basically commentary. There is a range of different positions in Judaism, going from orthodox, to conservative, to liberal. She is part of the smallest group in the middle, the conservatives.

The second introduction was by Ben, a deist. Deists are monotheistic, but they believe the Bible is a metaphor. They don’t believe in miracles or in the divinity of Jesus. They believe in using reason to justify faith. It is more a philosophical position than a religious one. Ben listed a few Deists including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and possibly Benjamin Franklin. Deism originated in Europe, and declined around the time of the French Revolution, but there has been a resurgence in the last decade or so.

Leilani offered her own brief introduction by explaining the historical meaning of “infidel”. Infidel means to cover, as in covering the ears or eyes. The word was not originally intended as an insult, as it is often used now, but as guidance or a warning.

Opening questions

The first question was posed to the Christians, Tim and Jennifer. Why base your theology on an interpretation of Paul? That is, why is the resurrection necessary for forgiveness? Jennifer began by noting that nothing is wrong with interpretation. The crucifixion is based on facts. For example, the Roman historian Tacitus described Christ and Christian beliefs. The Talmud, too, mentions Yeshua, and the historian Thallus mentions a darkness at the time of Christ’s death. Tim discussed God’s justice. According to Tim, if you live under Sharia law, stealing is punished by cutting off the thief’s hand. This is a just punishment, because you are under Sharia law. Likewise, we are part of God’s system, so God’s justice must be just. Under God’s justice, God used an innocent man to forgive everyone’s sins.

The second question was posed to the atheists, Andrew and Daniel. What is the purpose of life? Andrew said that there is no inherent purpose. He assigns the meaning and purpose himself. He would like to have a life which is sustainable and enjoyable. Although the freedom to assign one’s own meaning can be scary, he feels more peaceful and content to rely on his own values. He is free to make himself a better person. Rather than being a pawn, he is actively responsible for changing the world. Daniel said that this made him feel more empowered, though Andrew disagreed on this point.

The third question was posed to the Muslims, Nader and Naqib. How do you weigh the evidences for different gods? After opening with a prayer, Nader explained that our purpose is to worship the greater. If we study past societies, we find that they always have a higher figure, though they often have different characteristics. To understand the details of this higher figure, it is best to ask God himself. Nader then pointed to the Koran as a book without contradictions, and some scientifically confirmable facts. The Koran refers to male and female parts of plants before people would have known it was true. It refers to the earth as egg-shaped (the kind of egg in question is a spheroid). The Koran is only a book of guidance, an instruction manual for life, but these things confirm it. While other texts have made predictions, only the Koran is perfect. The Koran says that Allah is absolute one, has no beginning or end, and has no family. Jesus clearly doesn’t fit this description. Nader said that the creation will not have evidence of the creator. Naqib added that intuition of God is not sufficient. That’s why we need the prophets.

The Muslims were also asked what they thought of the story of Abraham (summary: God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, but stops him at the last moment). They described the story as a test of faith.

More prepared questions

Each of the next four questions was asked of all three groups. Each group was allowed about 20 minutes total to answer all the prepared questions (including the ones above). If some answers are longer or shorter than others, that means that the group allotted more or less time to that question (or I took worse notes).

Prior to these questions, Jennifer took a moment to explain the “EX-Hypocrite” T-shirt she was wearing. She said that labeling oneself a Christian does not make oneself a Christian. At an earlier point in her life, she may have thought of herself as Christian, but she wasn’t. She went on to say that she thinks there is clearly design in the universe. And she referred to the Job verse 37:18 which says that God “spread out the sky”, in agreement with current cosmological science.

What books and authors do you recommend? Jennifer recommended C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She mentioned C.S. Lewis’ Liar, Lunatic, or Lord argument. Daniel first recommended the Bible, followed by authors Carl Sagan and Dan Barker. He liked Dan Barker’s harm principle and Carl Sagan’s logic and reason. Naqib first recommended the Torah, Psalms, the Gospel, and the Koran. His final recommendation was a book called Muhammed: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, by Martin Lings.

What led you to your beliefs? Tim said that he was a missionary child. However, he remarked that Christianity is set apart from other religions in that everyone has freedom to choose Christianity. And so he freely chose Christianity rather than just being brought up into it. Andrew explained that he came from a Christian family. When his family stopped going to church, he continued going with friends, but he eventually stopped. The concept of hell was one of the sticking points for him. So he explored many other religions (mentioning Alan Watts and Zen Buddhism), eventually deciding that the scientific is what’s most reliable. Nader explained that he is a Muslim because he wants to be. He explored other religions. He read the Koran and other books, and found the Koran to be the best.

What do you believe happens after death? Jennifer said that we have all sinned, and we are enslaved by sin. As sinners, we will experience hell after death, which is a separation from God. Daniel said that nothing happens after death. That’s why he must try to enjoy this life. He would like to help you enjoy your life too. Naqib said that when you die, you will be asked three questions: Who is God? Who is the prophet? What is your religion?

Do you try to convert other people? Tim explained that no one can be saved without Christ. So he’d have to be a monster not to try to help people. Andrew said that he wants everyone to have the freedom to choose. He wants the ideas to become well-known so that people can choose. Some atheists try to smash belief, but this isn’t very common. No one wants to force people to give up religion. However, he wants to counteract some of the negative forces from other religions. He commented that in the story of Abraham, the first question that should be asked is “Am I being deceived?” He noted that when the Jim Jones cult committed mass suicide, no angel came in to save them, as they saved Abraham’s son. We need to be more independent-minded. Nader said that Mohammed was the last prophet, and that we should share the message. But he does not convert, he only invites people to investigate. Nader also commented that Jim Jones was an atheist and communist, and was not guided by an angel.

Q&A session

The following questions were submitted by audience members.

To the Christians: What middle ground can you find with the atheists? Jennifer related an anecdote of a computer science guy to whom physics proved God. She agrees with the atheists that there is a lot of mystery in the universe to be satisfied by.

To the atheists: Could you comment on the statistics which show that atheists donate less to charities, and have higher rates of depression? Daniel thought that the relationship between atheism and depression might be going in the other direction. Depression can lead to questioning, among other things, God. He also said that there are very few explicitly atheist aid missions, and atheists often donate to religious charities too.

To the Muslims: Is it true that the Koran says that Jesus was not crucified? Naqib explained that the Koran is ambiguous about this. The Koran talks a lot about what did not happen, but does not say much about what did happen. There is a lot of controversy between traditions on Jesus. But Islamic tradition usually emphasizes the life of Jesus rather than the death.

To the Christians: Do you believe in the Rapture or the endtimes? Tim said he does not believe in the rapture, which was an idea developed in the middle ages. However, tribulations will occur. Jesus will return. Tim believes that we are in the endtimes, and that it has been the endtimes since the crucifixion.

To the atheists: Hitler destroyed millions of lives. How is this wrong? Daniel said that we decide it is wrong. We decide that destroying innocent lives is wrong.

To the Muslims: Do you believe in the endtimes? Nader said Mohammed left minor signs of the endtimes, but no one but God knows when it will occur. Since people only have free will up to their death, we can say that in a way, judgment starts at death.

Announcements

We are hosting a debate between Matt Slick and John Shook. It will occur on Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 pm, in Humanities A51. The topic is “Christianity or Secular Humanism: Which is ethically superior?”  Expect to see more advertisement of this event soon.

Some of you may have seen the signs on Bruin Walk which say “Is God a Delusion?” This event is hosted by the Lutheran Campus Ministries (the same people who have that “Religion is for the weak” table in front of Pauley Pavilion). The talk, given by Angus Menuge, occurs on Thursday, April 16, 6:00 PM in Broad 2100A.

David proposed an idea: BASS talks. If there’s any topic you find interesting, and think BASS should find interesting too, then you can contact any of us. You can give an organized presentation, about 10 minutes without being interrupted. This gives you an opportunity to practice public speaking, and allows us to devote a small section of meetings to a more structured discussion. (Of course, the opportunity to give a talk was always available, but now we’re making it official.)

Meeting Discussion

We started out by watching a video with James Randi, Hugh Laurie (actor of House), and an Astrologer. And then we watched a clip from Alexander Pelosi’s documentary, Friends of God.

The latter video showed a lot of cute kids parroting creationist mantras. Some of us find this a little disturbing. On the other hand, kids can just as easily be taught to say the opposite the next day, so maybe there’s no need to read too much into it. Another discussion point was the phrase “War on Christians” which was used near the end of the video. Some find this persecution complex to be unjustified, since Christians constitute a powerful majority. Maybe they’re referring just to Fundamentalist Christians, who compose only 25% of the population (still a powerful majority).

To kick off a more politically oriented topic, we watched a video of a “man of truth” who advocates getting rid of paper money. From what I understand, the New World Order plans to make your paper money worthless in the very near future. We started discussing why the gold standard is supposedly good, and why it is supposedly bad. Matthew explained that money is currently worth something because it’s backed up by the government. If we were using the gold standard, then money would be worth something because it’s backed up by gold, which has been historically very consistent in its value. Matthew questioned the need for a persistent currency. Ben thought that having a depreciable currency stimulates the economy because it encourages cash flow. After more back and forth, we watched Scrooge McDuck’s explanation of money.

To cap the meeting, we watched this strange advertisement for the Nation for Marriage, an organization which opposes gay marriage. I would like to see some of the claims in this ad supported by evidence, wouldn’t you?

Reminder: This website is a resource for all members of BASS.  If you want to contribute anything, just contact us or talk to an officer.  There are a lot of events going on this quarter, and we would be very pleased if any attendees could write about their reactions.

Announcements

On April 29, we are hosting a debate between Matt Slick and John Shook. The proposed topic is “Which is ethically superior, Christianity or Secular Humanism?”

UCLA’s Objectivist club, LOGIC will be hosting a panel called “A Critique of Climate Change Science and Policy” on Monday, April 13^th. BASS does not endorse the denial of anthropogenic global warming, nor does it endorse this event. However, we encourage people to attend and ask the panelists questions!

We are thinking of having a field trip in the coming weeks to the Church of Scientology’s “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” museum. This is the same museum which was mentioned last meeting.

Meeting Discussion

Today, we discussed the Pope’s recent comments on contraception. The pope said that the distribution of condoms “aggravates” the problem of AIDS in Africa. Obviously, this has no basis in reality. Indeed, Catholicism’s position against contraception seems to be ignored by most Catholics, who use contraception anyway.

We moved on to the topic of Mother Theresa, who probably has a much better reputation than she deserved. In fact, from her own statements, her goal was never to alleviate suffering; suffering is good because it is Christ-like. When she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, she took the opportunity to say “abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace.” At one point she accepted $1.25 million from a man named Charles Keating. When Keating was put on trial for defrauding investors of $250 million, rather than returning the money to the rightful owners, Mother Theresa sent a letter to the judge urging him to consider Keating’s generous donations. One wonders where all that money went, considering how poor the conditions of her missions were. They didn’t even have any medicine, except for aspirin.

We also discussed LOGIC’s panel about climate change (see above announcement). LOGIC approached us to ask us to promote it. However, based on the speakers, it seems that the panel is advancing the position that climate change is not caused by anthropogenic (ie human) sources. Most of us disagree with this position, so we cannot endorse it. We are skeptics, not nay-sayers—they are two different things. Nonetheless, Andrew made the point that it is worthwhile to listen to alternative viewpoints and know opposing arguments.

Other topics that were mentioned during the meeting:

• The Quiverfull movement, which believes in having as many children as possible.
• Baptizing the dead – Mormons have posthumously baptized Genghis Khan! And holocaust victims.
• What do they put in our water that it creates rainbows?! That said, schizophrenia is a serious illness.
• Are pheromones really involved in human attraction? Brief, but intense debate ensues.

Dan Barker is coming to give a presentation sponsored by BASS on Feb. 18th and so I decided to listen to a couple of his old debates. Well I totally forgot how awesome of a debater he was against all the sleazy-type debaters. People like Todd Friel, a host on Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron’s radio thingy or Dinesh D’Souza, who is sleazy beyond words in his debate style–these guys are able to one up people like Daniel Dennett or Christopher Hitchens but not Dan Barker. Barker knows exactly how to handle these type of guys who hit below the belt and well maybe I should link you all to some examples!

First, here’s the link to the Facebook event page:  http://tinyurl.com/DanBarkereventFacebook

Make us look good by at the very least saying you MIGHT attend. Haha.

Here are the debates:

Dinesh D’Souza vs. Dan

Dinesh D’Souza vs. Dan Round Two – I highly HIGHLY recommend this one.

Todd Friel vs. Dan (if you can stomach Friel)

Enjoy!

Fred Phelps and the WBC are most widely known for the website www.godhatesfags.com.  The first I had heard of them was back around 2000 for having a running counter of how long Matthew Shepard has been in hell. They also run www.godhatestheworld.com, www.americaisdoomed.com, priestsrapeboys.com, www.hatemongers.com (No, I’m not making that one up), www.signsofthetimes.net, and their blogging site, blogs.sparenot.com. So you’re prepared, everything is, “fag.” As in, “fag,” is an adjective.

So you realize, we’re talking about someone who protested at Jerry Falwell’s funeral because Falwell didn’t hate homosexuals enough.

I do have something nice to say about them. They have very nice webpage design. That’s about as nice as you can get.

See, they say things like

WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.

Perceiving the modern militant homosexual movement to pose a clear and present danger to the survival of America, exposing our nation to the wrath of God as in 1898 B.C. at Sodom and Gomorrah, WBC has conducted over 33,000 such demonstrations since June, 1991, at homosexual parades and other events, including funerals of impenitent sodomites (like Matthew Shepard) and over 200 military funerals of troops whom God has killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in righteous judgment against an evil nation. America crossed the line on June 26, 2003, when the Supreme Court (the conscience of the nation) ruled that we must respect sodomy. WBC teams have picketed all over the United States, and internationally (including Canada, Jordan and Iraq). The unique picketing ministry of Westboro Baptist Church has received international attention, and WBC believes this gospel message to be this world’s last hope

You see, where your average proselytizer will try to woo you with God’s love, the WBC wants us all to know that God doesn’t love anybody..

You’ll say “but doesn’t ‘whosoever believes’ mean that everybody has the chance to believe?” Nope. Turn a few pages to John 10 (you may be surprised to find that there is actually more to the Bible than John 3:16, but believe me, there is). You will find in John 10:11 that Jesus says “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Later on in verse 26, Jesus says to some unbelievers: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” Uh oh – you John 3:16 heretics have a few problems on your hands. Jesus says He came to die for the sheep, and then proceeds to say that only His sheep can believe. In other words, only the people for whom Jesus died will believe. Note that the reason that unbelievers don’t believe is BECAUSE they are not His sheep. This passage explains who the world is in John 3:16, and it’s clearly not everyone. Furthermore, the only people who can believe are the ones whom God has ordained to eternal life. “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Acts 13:48. So, if you have been ordained to eternal life, that means that you will believe, you are one of God’s sheep, God loves you, and He sent His Son to die for you so you wouldn’t be condemned. If you have not been ordained to eternal life, that means you are not one of His sheep, you NEVER will believe and are already condemned.

…

Our message to this evil world is that God hates you, and you better prepare for the return of Christ in power and glory. Jesus came the first time to save; and Jesus will come the second time in vengeance, because you do not obey the Gospel. It will be soon, and you will experience the wrath of the Lamb, face to face. (Deut. 7:10, Rev. 6:16).

There you have it folks. Wrath of Lamb.

At GodHatesTheWorld, they’re putting up sites for every country that God hates. (If you haven’t been following along, I’ll clue you in. It’s all of them.) Generally, it’s because of, “fag,” things. Nigeria is hated because the age of consent is 13. Oh and Fags. Pakistan for being Muslim. And Fags. And Divorce and Abortion and Prostitution. Japan? Fags. China? Fags. Mexico?

Sodomite Mexico is fast reverting to the vile Satanic ways of the filthy faggot Mayan and Aztec empires, which were obliterated by God Almighty because of their sins: Mexico – Land of the Sodomite Damned.

This is pretty much par for the course. Every disaster they rejoice. Katrina, they rejoiced. Floods in MO, they rejoice. Soldiers die in Afghanistan and Iraq , they rejoice. Hangnail? You’ve incurred God’s wrath by not hating fags enough.

Let’s take a look at a few videos of Shirley Phelps Roper who does the media rounds on their behalf.

Shirley Phelps Roper on Hannity & Colmes

Shirley Phelps Roper and Children on Tyra

Shirley Phelps Roper on Fox News Again

Michael Moore vs. Westboro Baptist Church

There’s an upside to this and that’s that they’re composed mostly of Fred Phelp’s family and a few others. It’s apparently a non-recruiting cult that revels in being hated.

Oh and they don’t just hate gays.

“Whatever righteous cause the Jewish victims of the 1930s-40s Nazi Holocaust had, (probably miniscule, compared to the Jewish Holocausts against Middle Passage Blacks, African Americans and Christians — including the bloody persecution of Westboro Baptist Church by Topeka Jews in the 1990s), has been drowned in sodomite semen. American taxpayers are financing this unholy monument to Jewish mendacity and greed and to filthy fag lust…Homosexuals and Jews dominated Nazi Germany…just as they now dominate this doomed U.S.A….The Jews now wander the earth despised, smitten with moral and spiritual blindness by a divine judicial stroke…And god has smitten Jews with a certain unique madness, whereby they are an astonishment of heart, a proverb, and a byword (the butt of jokes and ridicule) among all peoples whither the Lord has driven and scattered them…Jews, thus perverted, out of all proportion to their numbers energize the militant sodomite agenda…The American Jews are the real Nazis (misusers and abusers of governmental power) who hate God and the rule of law.”
– “WBC to picket Holocaust Memorial Sodomite Museum in D.C. Jan. 20,” WBC “News Release,” December 26, 1996

From the ADL

“We understand that Iraq is the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets without fear of arrest and prosecution. Alas, the United States no longer allows the Gospel to be freely and openly preached on the streets, because militant sodomites now control our government, and they violently object to the Bible message…The same majoritarian sodomite tyranny that now guides the Clinton administration’s repressive policies toward Gospel preaching on America’s streets, is apparently responsible — at least in part — for the merciless slaughter by starvation of 400 innocent Iraqi babies each day in your country. If our government and laws will allow it, and at the invitation of your government, we would like to send a delegation from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, to preach the Gospel on the streets of Baghdad for one week in the near future.”

– Fred Phelps, in a letter to Saddam Hussein,
November 30, 1997

ADL

Reportedly, the WBC were invited to Iraq, went and then proclaimed how much God Hates Fags in Baghdad.

It’s easy to laugh them off, but this handful of folks have proved such a nuisance, especially with their recent protests of military funerals that there’s a federal law governing protesting military funerals. A handful of nutters that generally consists of one family and a few others.

There’s much more to be found on this cult if you’re up for the very easy Googling.

You can hear the entire sermon here (thanks to Crooks and Liars for the link) -

I realize that John McCain needs to appeal to the Religious Right to secure the Republican base… so despite being a die-hard partisan and Obama apologist, I don’t think his seeking Hagee’s endorsement is that big of a deal. But my question is – why is this (in my opinion) profoundly evil man still allowed to preach his message of hate and divisiveness without being marginalized by even the Religious Right? Why is John Hagee not in Fred Phelps/Westboro Baptist Church territory right now? Does he have to personally defecate on a soldier’s grave to merit the outrage and negative press that he so well deserves?

EDIT: It looks like Obama over performed in both North Carolina and Indiana by 10% over what most of the polls were claiming. All the pundits at this point say that the primary is basically over and that he won – so I was completely wrong about the first part.

Yes, ‘wrongness’ is an actual word; I looked it up. And unfortunately for the candidate who I hope to have the privilege to vote for in November, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Affair has again reared its ugly head and threatens Barack Obama’s chances of winning Indiana and even North Carolina in the primaries.

Granted, many of the comments were taken out of context, and I think that it is extremely important to have a long-overdue discussion about the many times the United States has committed wrong during its long history than the “we’re the best country in the world, cover your ears” crap that has become the mainstay of political commentary. On the other hand, Wright wasn’t very tactful in driving across any of his points, and other contentions such as “the government created AIDS to harm black people” simply have no basis and definitely are insulting.

It is clear that Reverend Wright’s radicalism stems mostly from his political rather than religious views; all his points are political and are not mired in the fundementalist rhetoric used by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Unfortunately Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens took the bait and automatically attributed Reverend Wright’s political views as his religious views; in my opinion Jeremiah Wright would still hold such views regardless of his religion or even if he were a non-believer. But as I discuss below, religion may have played a role in his personal decision to come out last weekend and create even more controversy.

Of course Barack Obama had to respond to such a scandal, and defied political convention in his Philadelphia Speech by trying to shift the political discourse towards trying to understand the simmering interracial tensions that persons of all colors feel to a degree and away from the one-dimensional tirades of his former pastor. As part of this discourse, Obama refused to disown his pastor and instead urged the public to understand that Wright was a “child of the 60s” who had gone through the pain of the Civil Rights Struggle only to see that African Americans in his community were just as destitute as before; such an experience, Obama argued, molded the political views of Wright and more than a few of his colleagues and formed a generational as well as a racial rift.

Wright finally broke his silence over the weekend, appearing on a three-stop “media tour” which included the Bill Moyers Show, the NAACP, and the National Press Club. Wright’s appearance on Bill Moyers was harmless enough, and he did a good job at framing his previous arguments in the appropriate context. But upon appearing in front of the NAACP, Wright essentially caricatured himself and at one point resorted to a painfully bad imitation of John F. Kennedy. Things only got worse at the National Press Club, where Wright defended both Louis Farrakhan’s denunciation of Judaism as a “gutter religion” as well as his own comments about the government causing AIDS. So essentially Rev. Wright again adheres to his black-and-white caricatures on race, having this whole non-issue being brought up to the forefront again is – and I am certain that Wright is aware of this – very damaging to Obama. Keep in mind that Obama did essentially the opposite, took a political risk, and defended Rev. Wright earlier.

So what does this whole debacle have to do with religion? Well, it appears that the root of the problem is with the capacity (or lack thereof) of individuals to change their beliefs or admit their own mistakes in the fact of reality. I will be the first to admit that we are all guilty of this no matter what belief system we adhere to. This applies for atheists too – Christopher Hitchens, for example, still adheres to the hideously flawed foreign policy of the neoconservatives. However, would not the knowledge that an omnipotent, static entity endorses your belief system be the greatest encouragement for both arrogance and absolutism?

So my question is (and keep in mind I’m not quite sure about this myself) – did the fact that Jeremiah Wright is a pastor and the possible belief that he was justified by God compel him to defend indefensible comments as arrogantly and vociferously as he did, or something else? Or do you think that old age, resentment of Obama, some other non-religion-related factor was the primary reason why he decided to appear at the National Press Club and make those outrageous claims?

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Retarded Fiction #2) Evolution by means of natural selection is not only implausible, but has never actually been proven.

Really, Stein?

Both of these delicious-looking specimens were originally bred from ferocious wolves.

The next time you see any domesticated animal, fruit, or vegetable, remind yourself that practically everything you see in the produce aisle came about through minute genetic changes sustained over thousands of years.

Here are just a few of the tremendous phenotypic changes that can result from a few thousand years of human-guided artificial selection.

Despite their remarkable dissimilarity to each other, broccoli, kohlrabi, black mustard, brussel sprouts, and swedish turnips were all bred from the same wild ancestral species, Brassica Oleracea– each over the course of mere thousands of years .

Human beings have similarly produced all sorts of genetic monstrosities through artificial selection– cows with udders bulging with gallons of surplus milk, dogs that can fit inside designer purses, ponies that a child can easily mount and ride, bananas with easily transplantable parts, seedless watermelons, 300-kg pumpkins, purple carrots, Frankenfood corn, and much, much more.

Similarly, the environment can act as an unconscious selector, simply because it changes constantly over geological time. Due to the Earth’s precession and variations in the Sun’s radiation output, among other factors, the Earth’s climate is constantly changing– sometimes according to regular cycles, such as the Milankovich cycle , but more often due to irregular climatic cycles, each of which drive constant adaptation on the part of Earth’s organisms.

We know from geological evidence and astronomical evidence that the Earth is much, much older than 6,000 years, which is the figure most commonly cited by Young-Earth Creationists . Due to the gradual motion of tectonic plates over the Asthenosphere, the Earth’s continents have broken apart, collided with each other, and rearranged themselves in countless different ways. Hot spots above the mantle are raising new islands from the seafloor as we speak, creating a plethora of new ecological niches for preexisting organisms from other parts of the world to fulfill.

Hawai’ian island forming off a benthic sea floor.

The Earth’s biosphere is not a constant mechanism that was specially created six thousand years ago by a bearded man in the sky. Just like a farmer breeding healthier strains of wheat or corn, the environment is constantly selecting for certain variables among all of Earth’s organisms, thereby creating an undeniable impetus for evolutionary change. The diagram I posted above demonstrates how easily organisms can gradually alter their appearance and biochemical structure due to the differential survival of their offspring. You don’t need to understand anything about genetics to grasp this basic principle. (And not surprisingly, neither did Charles Darwin.)

STOP, STOP! But wait, what you’re describing is microevolution , not macroevolution . Godless atheists and Evolutionists have proven microevolution , true, but they have never proven macroevolution ! Praise Jesus Chraaaahst Almighty! There truly is an intelligent designer!

You precious little retard. You just wait and watch what I’m about to do to your pathetic arguments, you fucking miserable piece of dessicated Theistard offal, you.

Creationists love to create a false dichotomy between “micro evolution” (small changes sustained over short periods of time) and “macro evolution” (large changes sustained over long periods of time), as if one somehow precludes the existence of the other. This is practically the same as agreeing that yes, 1+1 does = 2, but 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+… etc. will never = 1,000,000.

Speciation events (which typically confirm the viability of so-called “Macroevolution”) have been observed through laboratory experiments performed on microorganisms, plants, fruit flies of the genus Drosophila , and other organisms with relatively short lifespans. Here is just one example:

Rabe and Haufler (1992) found a naturally occurring diploid sporophyte of maidenhair fern which produced unreduced (2N) spores. These spores resulted from a failure of the paired chromosomes to dissociate during the first division of meiosis. The spores germinated normally and grew into diploid gametophytes. These did not appear to produce antheridia. Nonetheless, a subsequent generation of tetraploid sporophytes was produced. When grown in the lab, the tetraploid sporophytes appear to be less vigorous than the normal diploid sporophytes. The 4N individuals were found near Baldwin City, Kansas.

Here is another, this time referring to an experiment performed on Drosophila fruit flies:

Dobzhansky and Pavlovsky (1971) reported a speciation event that occurred in a laboratory culture of Drosophila paulistorum sometime between 1958 and 1963. The culture was descended from a single inseminated female that was captured in the Llanos of Colombia. In 1958 this strain produced fertile hybrids when crossed with conspecifics of different strains from Orinocan. From 1963 onward crosses with Orinocan strains produced only sterile males. Initially no assortative mating or behavioral isolation was seen between the Llanos strain and the Orinocan strains. Later on Dobzhansky produced assortative mating (Dobzhansky 1972).

Talkorigins.org has some more articles demonstrating proof for “Macroevolution”, which include (but are not limited to) transitional forms between animal species, fossil records, molecular evidence, and laboratory experiments.

Yeah, okay, so a fruit fly turned into another fruit fly and a fern turned into another fern. This is still Microevolution, okay!

Mutations are mostly lethal. Artificial selection can’t increase the amount of genetic material in the cell! What about the different chromosome numbers between all of God’s species? This surely didn’t come about through Satanic “evolution”. Praise the Lawd, Glory Hallelujah!

You tongue-speaking imbecile, polyploidy occurs all the time in plant species. If you had spent your high school years actually reading your biology textbook instead of glossing over dumbed-down Creationist literature, you might have gleaned this simple fact by now. Visit Talkorigins.org, and you’ll soon find that there are quite a few peer-reviewed scientific papers confirming its occurrence in lab experiments. Polyploidy also occurs (to a lesser extent) in animals, and it certainly can result an increase in the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce.

Dr. P.Z. Myers (author of the blog Pharyngula ) recently published an excellent post on how chromosome numbers in organisms change over evolutionary time, complete with diagrams simple enough for even the most reason-deprived Theistard in the reddest red state to comprehend.

The Earth is NOT six thousand years old. No matter how slow evolutionary processes may seem on a human timescale, they will inevitably result in remarkable phenotypic changes over the course of millions of years.

Here are some interesting videos posted by a Neuroscience PhD on youtube, debunking some of the most common Creationist misconceptions about evolution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnu-O5x_pRU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDFJviGQth4&feature=related

But my grandpaw did NOT come from a mud puddle!

Now, does the evolutionary theory have anything to say about the origin of life on Earth? Of course it doesn’t, but that’s not what Ben Stein claims throughout his crockumentary, and the awful stench of it all is already starting to disable my olfactory nerves.

(to be continued… Stay tuned for an addendum to Part II of my multi-part series debunking Expelled : No Intelligence Allowed : “My grandpaw did NOT come from a mud puddle!”)