Evolution Predicts: Benedict Will Dig Catholic Church's Grave

The Roman Catholic Church is falling victim to one of the best-understood aspects of Darwin's evolution – sexual selection. They're becoming a self-perpetuating failure.

Sexual selection is one of the most interesting and weird aspects of evolution. I'll explain using an example. Suppose some women, due to random genetic variations, just happen to like men with unusually large noses. Who will they marry? Probably men with large noses. Now think about the children of these unions: They'll inherit the large noses from their fathers, and they'll inherit their mother's fondness for large-nosed men. So at the next generation, and on down through their descendants, men with small noses won't have very good luck, and men with larger and larger noses will be favored.

We see this all the time in nature. The tailfeathers of peacocks and birds of paradise, the huge antlers of moose and the elaborate dances of fruit flies are all excellent examples. We even find it in ourselves. For example, a woman's shapely figure is purely "for show." Other great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas have no trouble producing milk without large breasts. And we men have genitals that are something like four times the size, relative to our body mass, of the other great apes. It's purely for show, and has nothing to do with our ability to have sex. The other apes do it with much smaller "equipment."

What does this have to do with the Roman Catholic Church? Everything.

Jon Stewart skewers Glenn Beck on Beck's Israel Lies

If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to watch Jon Stewart skewering Glenn Beck about the Israel ship attack.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/stewart-slams-glenn-beck_n_600486.html

Beck shows the video of the Israeli commandos being attacked while boarding the blockade-busting ship from Turkey, and then tries to claim that Fox News is the only network "willing to show" Israel's side of the controversy. "Turn on any media out let, other than this one. They're not going to show you this!"

Stewart then goes on to show virtually EVERY other news network airing that video, including MSNBC, before Fox News!

What a hoot!

I guess in addition to being in the Liar's Club and the Hypocrites Club, Glenn Beck now gets to join an exclusive club of his own, the Dumb Reporters Who Don't Check Their Facts Club.

Of course, real reporters will object to Glenn Beck being included in their ranks. It reminds me of the old joke:

The Potato Princess came home one day and announced to the Potato King and Queen that she was engaged! To Dan Rather of 60 Minutes! She was very excited, but the King instantly put an end to her joy. "Why, you can't marry him! You're a royal potato, and he's just a commentator!"

Ok, dumb joke. But Beck is so annoying. Why can't conservative news networks get real, honest conservatives? Remember William F. Buckley? I admired him even though I disagreed with just about everything he ever said. Oh, for the good ol' days when there were conservatives worth arguing with.

The Rapture: Immorality Disguised

Do Christians believe the world will end, that we don't need to plan for the future?

A friend of mine once came into some money and decided to completely gut and remodel his house. To celebrate, he held the biggest, wildest party you've ever seen, and told everyone "Don't worry, I'm remodeling, trash the place!" He even provided plenty of beer and pretzels, and even spray paint for graffiti on the walls. It was quite a party. But even he was shocked at the damage his friends caused. It went beyond spray paint and spilled beer – people got violent and really tore the place up.

The other day I "overheard" a couple of Christian friends of mine on Facebook discussing some esoteric theological details of the rapture, the idea that some day soon Jesus will return and all Christians (dead and alive) will be gathered together to meet Christ on his return to Earth. They were contemplating what the various Bible verses mean: is rapture a worldwide event or something that happens to each person? Is it coming soon or is it some far-future event? There are dozens of these confusing and unanswerable questions about the rapture.

I think they overlooked the most important aspect of the rapture. The very idea of a rapture, that the world will end, makes Christians immoral. It's just like my friend's house: if you think the end is near, there's no reason to take care of anything. Trash the place! Use it up! Throw it away!

James G. Watt, who was Secretary of the Interior under President Ronald Regan, once famously told Congress,

Most Incredible Prophecy: Incredible Horse Hooey

I obtained a copy of The Most Incredible Prophecy via an inappropriate proselytizer – a doctor who forces it on her HMO patients! That's unethical, but I figured as long as I had the video it might make good blog material. So I sat down with my Coke and notepad for a good study ...

It's so bad I couldn't even watch it to the end. I hereby nominate the producers and writers to The Liar's Club. It's incredible all right. Incredibly bad science.

Are Americans Any Better Than Terrorists?

The ultimate test of a civilized people is not how they act when things go well. It's easy to be kind, fair, charitable and forgiving when there's no war, the economy is strong, and the weather is great.

No, the real test of a civilized people is how they behave when the chips are down. Do they turn mean when attacked? Do they forget about forgiveness when someone they love is hurt? Are Constitutional rights forgotten when vengeance is needed?

The other day I saw this posted on a Facebook page. WARNING: This is graphic and shows a man dying.



The video itself is shocking enough. I don't care who it is, watching a man die should never be funny. Even our enemies are human beings, and at the least we should mourn the tragedy that made this man want to kill us.

But what's really disturbing are the comments, both on the YouTube page and on the Facebook page where I saw it. People think this video is funny. There are comments like, "Hahahaha" or "LOL!" or "He deserves it the f---er!".

God: The Ultimate Wife Beater and Child Abuser?

Why is God like an abusive spouse or parent?

This isn't a trivial question or a joke. A couple days ago I had one of those "Aha!" moments in which I realized there is an incredible parallel between how religion works and how abusive men keep their victims in line.

Read the following statements, and see what you think. Can you tell God from a wife/child abuser?

Victims feel unworthy.	Christians feel unworthy.
Victims feel guilty.	Christians feel guilty.
Victims blame themselves for things they didn't do.	Christians blame themselves for things they didn't do.
Victims feel that when bad things happen to them, they're being punished.	Christians feel that when bad things happen to them, they're being punished.
Victims feel responsible for the abuser's anger and unhappiness.	Christians feel responsible for God's anger and unhappiness.
Victims want to appease their abuser.	Christians want to appease God.
Victims get huge rewards from a tiny morsel of approval from the abuser.	Christians get huge rewards from a tiny morsel of approval from God.
Victims have an inexplicable love for and attachment to the abuser.	Christians have an inexplicable love for and attachment to God.
Victims reject advice from anyone who doesn't like the abuser.	Christians reject advice from anyone who doesn't like God.
Victims claim that their relationship with the abuser is normal and healthy.	Christians claim that their relationship with God is normal and healthy.

Now try it for God vs. the abuser...

The Hypocrite's Club: Glen Beck Attacks Obama's Children

Last week I wrote about The Liar's Club, people who are willing to lie for their political viewpoint. Glenn Beck made it into that club with no dissenting votes.

Well, today he's joining the rarefied strata of society of people who belong to both the Liar's Club and the Hypocrite's Club! Congratulations, Glenn, it's quite an accomplishment. After making a huge stink about how the media should leave politicians' children alone, Glenn spent over four minutes insulting the intelligence and education of Malia Obama, the President's eleven-year-old daughter.

We're not talking about a passing joke. We're not talking about a mild insult. We're talking about an extended conversation filled with cruel, satirical imitation and insults.