Spirits and Souls

The latest Calamities of Nature comic dovetails nicely with Sean M. Carroll's recent comments on the soul and the afterlife.

Jerusalem 'Dog Stoning' Story Untrue, Says Court

Remember the story of the dog who was sentenced to death by stoning by rabbis in Jerusalem?

Untrue, according to the Beth Din financial court.

“There is no basis for stoning dogs or any other animal in the Jewish religion, not since the days of the Temple or Abraham.

“The female dog found a seat in the corner of the court. And the children were delighted by it; there were hundreds outside the court. They are used to seeing stray cats but most have never seen a dog before. The only action we took was to dial the number of the Jerusalem Municipality to get the people in charge to take it away.

“There was no talk of reincarnation, a lawyer has never been mentioned, either now or 20 years ago, and there was no stoning. Such inventions are a kind of blood libel, and we wonder why the inventor of the story did not continue to describe how we collected the blood of the dog to make our matzah.”

It's unclear how the original story came to be, but when it was picked up by news sources, it quickly enraged people around the globe, becoming one of the BBC's 'Most Read' items, and generating nearly 2,000 comments on Yahoo! News.

One Nation (Under God) Indivisible

NBC sure stepped in it this weekend when they omitted the words "Under God" (twice, even!) from a pre-U.S. Open video montage.

Clip of the broadcast below:



As one would assume, the network was swamped with complaints, tweets, and social media tirades. Before the broadcast was over, NBC's Dan Hicks served up an apology:

"It was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time," Hicks said. "Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone, and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."

I am sure that among those complaining, there were many who believed this to be just one more example of America's core values disintegrating -- all part of Obama's secular, anti-American agenda.

We can't know for sure (yet) exactly why the omission occurred (it was pretty obvious), or why the final edit was approved (not that it shouldn't have been approved), but we do know that this particular edit of the Pledge was the truest version that has been broadcast by a network television network in quite some time.

I would suggest that those who complained also pick up a phone and contact Warner Brothers to decry Porky Pig's omission in 1939. Pardon me. He didn't omit it. The words hadn't been added yet.

Miss USA: Some Worry Evolution Questions Cause Anxiety and Compromise

The Christian Post has a piece about the controversy over asking Miss USA pageant contestants controversial questions, including those about evolution.

Agents and pageant directors believe that forcing contestants to answer questions about controversial topics, such as evolution, causes undue anxiety and intimidation.

Past contestants, however, haven't been particularly shy about their views on evolution:

While many contestants expressed an openness to include evolution in public schools, one contestant – Miss Kentucky Kia Ben-et Hampton – said that evolution should not be taught, alluding to the differing opinions expressed in the scientific and religious communities.

Miss Mississippi Keeley Patterson discredited evolution in her answer.  "I think evolution should be taught as what it is; it's a theory, so I don't think it should be taught as fact."

A few other contestants including Miss Nebraska Haley Jo Herold, Miss Alaska Jessica Chuckran and Miss New Hampshire LacyJane Folger answered affirmatively, but expressed their desire to see the other side – such as creationism – given equal time in the classroom.

Chuckran said in her answer,  "I think it's necessary that evolution is taught in schools ... However, personally, I do not believe in evolution. I believe that each one of us were (sic) created for a purpose by God and that just gives my life so much more direction and meaning."

Miss North Carolina Brittany York responded,  "I think it's great to get both sides of the story. I'm personally a Christian so I believe the Bible's version but you can't push opinions or beliefs on children so they need to know every side that's out there. So yes, I do believe that (evolution) should be taught but so should the other side of the story."

If there were ever a perfect vehicle for showcasing the ridiculousness of evolution-denial, it's the Miss USA pageant. We learned so much about maps from Miss Teen South Carolina in 2007. Sarah Palin, with her creative interpretation of the Paul Revere ride, appears to still have quite a bit of pageant blood running through her veins.

I don't mean to be so hard on pageant contestants. I realize that many of these women are intelligent, strong, and are competing because they want to compete. But I also realize that many of them have been indoctrinated as young children.

The concept of creationism, or Intelligent Design, is also a product of indoctrination. If a child were to grow up without hearing the fantastical stories of a 7-day creation of the earth, a man and woman forged from mud and bone, and a global flood, there would be no point in their lives in which it would be necessary, or wise, to accept those stories as true.  There are no credible universities that do not teach evolution as the bedrock of modern biology. There are no credible universities that teach creationism, or Intelligent Design as a plausible theory. And after all, evolution is only a theory. Like gravity. Not that many of these creationist beauty pageant contestants are pursuing a career in the life sciences -- good luck to those who are.

So, I say, let the contestants continue to wax philosophical on the topic of evolution. It's hilarious.

"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." - Thomas Jefferson

Bill Maher: 'Rick Perry's Solution to America's Problems: 'Yee Haw, Jesus Take the Wheel''

Jesus-like People of Faith Rally to Oppose Anti-LGBT People of Faith in NC

Marriage = 1 obese man + 1 obese woman

On Friday, many kind, compassionate, and brave people of faith will gather in Charlotte, NC for a Faith Community Rally Against Homophobia & Transphobia. This is one of many events across the state to show the faith community's opposition to the anti-LGBT amendment currently being considered by North Carolina legislature.

After going blue in 2008, North Carolina has been experiencing a bit of a GOP backlash, with multiple culture war initiatives harking back to the days of Jesse Helms, an era that many had thought was over.

Last week, the NC Senate passed the poorly-named Women's Right to Know Act, which "requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion within which time they must view an ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat of the fetus and be given printed information about the risks that may be associated with the procedure." The bill should have been named the Woman's Loss of Rights Act.

The state senate also passed a Voter ID bill, requiring all voters to show a photo ID, and eliminating Sunday early voting and same-day registration. Guess which voter demographic is statistically more likely to not have a photo ID, and vote on Sundays after church? You're right.

The Senate has passed more bills recently that set the clock back on North Carolina, but getting back to the anti-LGBT legislation...

The bills, SB 106/HB 777, or the "We Hate Our LGBT North Carolinians Amendment," would amend the state constitution to include a new section that reads "Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."

Groups of religious folks who closely resemble their messiah in their attitudes and willingness to stand up for what's right will be protesting those folks who claim to be doing the Christian thing by yelling hateful, embarrassing things and denying the rights of human beings who are being who they are.

Many folks wrongly believe that this bill is only about the word "marriage." That is naive. NC Equality states:

"In addition to limiting marriage to opposite sex couples, as state statute already does, it would prohibit any other form of relationship recognition, such as civil union or domestic partnership. This kind of language has been used in other states to take away private benefits such as health insurance for LGBT couples, unmarried opposite-sex couples, and their children. This is a not a hypothetical issue but a very real one. These amendments have also been used to challenge other private contracts between couples. The amendment would not only write the current discriminatory marriage law into the constitution, it would actually take away rights and responsibilities that are currently available to some couples. Both versions [of the bill] effectively represent divisive, discriminatory and distracting legislation that would actively write discrimination into the state’s founding document by prohibiting some form of legal relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples."

So, if you are in the Charlotte area, and you are one of the religious folks who actually love your neighbors, let yourself be heard.

From the Standing on the Side of Love press release:

Beginning at 4:30 p.m., several hundred people are planning to march on the sidewalks from the Charlotte Convention Center, where the Unitarian Universalist Association is holding its annual meeting, to gather for a 4:45 p.m. rally in Marshall Park that will feature local, national, and international clergy speaking out against proposed legislation that will marginalize and discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

“Locally, some faith leaders are using religious arguments that demean the inherent worth and dignity of gays and lesbians in an effort to promote writing discrimination into our state constitution,” said Rev. Jay Leach, Sr. Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte. “This rally is an opportunity for us as religious leaders to demonstrate a climate of inclusion and acceptance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families. Our faith calls us to stand on the side of love with LGBT people, and honor the challenges they face, no matter where they live.”

“Love is about embracing all people in our communities,” said Rev. Chris Ayers of Wedgewood Baptist Church. “As faith leaders, we have a moral responsibility to remind people that love knows no border, no gender, no race, and no religion.”

Rabbis Sentence Dog To Death By Stoning

Update (6/21/11): The Beth Din financial court has stated that the sentencing never occurred.

Via YNet:

A Jerusalem rabbinical court recently sentenced a wandering dog to death by stoning. The cruel sentence stemmed from the suspicion that the hound was the reincarnation of a famous secular lawyer, who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago.

Several weeks ago, according to the Behadrei Hadarim website, a large dog entered the Monetary Affairs Court near the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim. The dog scared the court's visitors and, to their surprise, refused to leave even after they attempted to drive him away.

One of the judges suddenly recalled that about 20 years ago, a famous secular lawyer who insulted the court was cursed by the panel of judges, who wished that his spirit would move on to the body of a dog (considered an impure animal by Halacha). The lawyer passed away several years ago.

Luckily, secularism won out. The dog managed to escape, and The Let the Animals Live organization filed a complaint with the police against the Rabbi.