Find on all DianaHsieh.comjust NoodleFood / Most Recent Comments / NoodleFood RSS Feed

Saturday, May 10, 2008 Venn and Non-Venn Diagrams By Diana Hsieh @ 1:01 PM Who knew diagrams could be so darn fun? The Eucharist The Nature of God Seven Virtues Seven Deadly Sins Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Saturday, April 19, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #8 By Diana Hsieh @ 6:58 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the eighth and final video: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Friday, April 11, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #7 By Diana Hsieh @ 8:57 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the seventh: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Sunday, April 06, 2008 Pat Condell on Fitna Fiasco By Greg @ 8:45 AM Pat Condell is at it again with this commentary on Fitna (all 15 minutes of the film were made available again at LiveLeak.com, now that they've beefed up their security against death threats from adherents of the Religion of Peace™): Great stuff, except for the line about prosecuting criticism of his culture as a "hate crime". That's not a rights violation. (And thinking something viciously stupid while actually violating someone's rights wouldn't make it a worse crime; that only makes the criminal a worse person.) [HT: LGF] Labels: islam, Religion E-mail Greg    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Thursday, April 03, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #6 By Diana Hsieh @ 7:26 PM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the sixth, featuring Leonard Peikoff speaking on the morality of the Old Testament: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, April 02, 2008 The Essence of Muslim Fundamentalism By Diana Hsieh @ 8:10 PM Back in April 2006, when I was blogging about the brouhaha over the Ayn Rand Institute's panel on the Danish cartoons at NYU, I received about eleven awful e-mails from "Shamyl" -- a vicious, Jew-hating Muslim -- in response. The e-mails mostly consisted of bizarre texts and links on Jewish conspiracy, the Israel lobby, the evils of Judaism, and so on. Some were directed at me, e.g. "STOP HARASSING ISLAM AND THE MUSLIMS YOU FACIST ZIONIST SOW!!" Although some of the e-mails were seriously disturbing, I wasn't too concerned about my safety, as the e-mail address and sending IP were out of the UK. However, I didn't want to receive more, so I stopped them by blocking the e-mail address on my server. In retrospect, I probably should have reported them to the authorities. I've decided to post two of those e-mails now -- in the wake of the fatwa against Wafa Sultan -- to make crystal clear the thoroughly disgusting nature of threats against critics of Islam. It is quite frightful to have such sentiments personally directed against you -- and I can only admire the bravery people like Wafa Sultan, Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Yaron Brook, and John Lewis who've been subject to serious harassment, threats, and worse for daring to criticize Islam. My brief encounter with "Shamyl" was nothing in comparison. So, without further comment: Vicious E-mail #1 and Vicious E-mail #2. Beware of the second, as it contains some particularly revolting anti-Semitic cartoons. Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Ten Commandments Weekend By Diana Hsieh @ 7:56 AM In the comments, Mel McGuire recently posted a link to Senate Resolution 483 for a "Ten Commandments Weekend" in the first weekend of May 2008. Here's the relevant bits of text: Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as 'Ten Commandments Weekend'. March 13, 2008 Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as 'Ten Commandments Weekend'. Whereas the Ten Commandments are precepts foundational to the faith of millions of Americans; Whereas the Ten Commandments are a declaration of fundamental principles for a fair and just society; Whereas, from the founding of the United States, the Ten Commandments have been part of America's basic cultural fabric; [Quotes from past presents omitted] Whereas, in addition to being understood as an elemental source for American law, the Ten Commandments have become a recognized symbol of law in our Nation's culture; Whereas a marble relief portrait of Moses, the Hebrew prophet and bearer of the Ten Commandments, is located prominently in the United States Capitol over the gallery doors of the chamber of the House of Representatives in honor of his work in establishing the principles that underlie American law; Whereas images of the Ten Commandments are prominently displayed in many Federal buildings, including the United States Supreme Court, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress; and Whereas the first weekends of May in 2006 and 2007 were celebrated by many Americans as 'Ten Commandments Weekend' in recognition of the importance of the Ten Commandments in their faith and the history and culture of the United States: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate-- (1) recognizes the first weekend of May 2008 as 'Ten Commandments Weekend'; (2) celebrates the Ten Commandments as a significant aspect of the national life of the United States; and (3) encourages citizens of the United States to reflect on the integral role that the Ten Commandments have played in the life of the Nation. UGH. If you want to know why the basic moral view endorsed in this resolution -- Divine Command Theory -- is so totally, awfully, and completely wrong, regardless of the contents of the actual commands, I'd recommend Onkar Ghate's lecture: Religion and Morality. It's available for free to registered users of the Ayn Rand Institute web site. Labels: Politics, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Tuesday, April 01, 2008 Fatwa against Wafa Sultan By Diana Hsieh @ 6:55 AM LGF reports that "Wafa Sultan has been forced into hiding, after her appearance on Al Jazeera prompted a death fatwa from a scholar of the Religion of Peace." From Israel National News: (IsraelNN.com) Dr. Wafa Sultan has been forced to go into hiding with her family following a fatwa (religious edict) from an Islamic scholar, according to Omedia. Sultan faces the fatwa following a recent debate on Al-Jazeera in which she challenged Egyptian Islamist Talat Rheim over Dutch cartoons of Mohammed, who Muslims revere as a prophet. Sultan argued that Denmark had the right to print the cartoons. Sultan joins a growing list of public critics of radical Islam facing death threats. Her supporters have asked the American public to join them in writing to the embassy of Qatar, the country which sponsors Al-Jazeera, as well as to United States President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking them to defend Sultan's right to free speech and personal safety. I'm not sure that's the most effective response, so more suggestions for action would be much appreciated. (Via Brian Smith) Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Monday, March 31, 2008 Fundamentalism in the Military By Diana Hsieh @ 7:14 AM US military accused of harboring fundamentalism: Feb 13, 2008: Since his last combat deployment in Iraq, Jeremy Hall has had a rough time, getting shoved and threatened by his fellow soldiers. The trouble started there when he would not pray in the mess hall. "A senior ranking staff sergeant told me to leave and sit somewhere else because I refused to pray," Hall, a 23-year-old US army specialist, told AFP. Later, Hall was confronted by a major for holding an authorized meeting of "atheists and freethinkers" on his base. The officer threatened to discipline him and block his re-enlistment. "He said: 'You guys are being a problem and problems can be removed,'" Hall said. "He was yelling at us and stuff and at the very end he says, 'I really love you guys, I want you to see the light.'" Now Hall is suing the major and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, accusing them of breaching his constitutional rights. A campaign group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is waiting for the Pentagon to respond to a lawsuit filed in a Kansas federal court on Hall's behalf. It alleges a "pernicious pattern and practice" of infringement of religious liberties in the military. The group's founder, former Air Force lawyer Mikey Weinstein, said he has documented 6,800 testimonies by military personnel -- nearly all of them Christians -- of sometimes punitive or humiliating attempts to make them accept a fundamentalist evangelical interpretation of Christianity. "I am at war with those people who would create a fundamentalist Christian theocracy in the technologically most lethal organization ever created by our species, which is the United States armed forces," he said. He plans to add extra charges and possibly other lawsuits this month. "It violates title seven of the US code for an employer to push their Biblical world view on an employee," he said. "But it's a trillion times worse when that is not just your shift manager at Starbucks but that is your military superior." He singles out one of the major Christian groups in the military, the Officers Christian Fellowship (OCF). The group represents 15,000 US military personnel around the world, according to its director, retired Air Force general Bruce Fister. "It is not the position of OCF to try and coerce people to believe what we believe," Fister told AFP. OCF's aim, as stated on its website, is to achieve "a spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit." It professes belief in "the eternal blessedness of the saved; and the everlasting, conscious punishment of the lost." ... Un-freaking-believable. Update: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation can be found on the web at militaryreligiousfreedom.org. Labels: Politics, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Saturday, March 29, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #5 By Diana Hsieh @ 7:55 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the fifth: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Friday, March 28, 2008 FITNA By Diana Hsieh @ 5:05 PM Probably for only a brief time, you can watch the short movie Fitna on YouTube, via this page on Little Green Footballs. (I'm linking to that page rather than the YouTube video directly, in the hopes that if that version is taken down, LGF will post a new link if available.) You can also save a copy of the video for yourself. Paul and I just watched it; I strongly recommend that you do so while you have the chance. What I find so astonishing is that the video does absolutely nothing but accurately report the violent words and deeds of Muslims -- yet Muslims are threatening violence at this supposedly unjust accusation of their faith. By those very threats, the Islamic totalitarians prove their harshest critics right -- yet again. Update from Greg: Looks like LiveLeak.com beefed up their security against the death threats for hosting the film, and now the full 15-or-so-minute version is available at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d9_1206624103. Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Bin Laden Wants My Blood By Diana Hsieh @ 2:43 PM Paul recently sent the following to the OActivsts list, and I thought it worth reposting here: Flemming Rose, the courageous newspaper editor made world-famous for publishing the "Danish Cartoons" depicting Mohammed, has just written another good column on free speech: "Bin Laden Wants My Blood" (Those of you who attended the special ARI conference on the "Jihad Against the West" may recall his fantastic talk entitled, "Islam and Europe after the Cartoon-Crisis.") As Rose asks, "What kind of civilization are we, after all, if we refrain from mocking and ridiculing bin Laden and his followers?" If only we had more news editors like him in the United States... Indeed! Labels: Politics, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #4 By Diana Hsieh @ 8:46 PM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the fourth: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Tuesday, March 25, 2008 John Lewis Versus Islamic Totalitarians By Diana Hsieh @ 6:22 AM John Lewis recently e-mailed me the following about his recent speech at Georgia Tech: I spoke at Georgia Tech last week on "No Substitute for Victory: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism." A pro-Islamic group in the audience (some at least were students) tried to filibuster the Q&A. Their attacks openly called for Islamic law (a "good thing"), praised jihad as a "wonderful" concept, and proclaimed that subjugated peoples forced to pay the Islamic tax should be "grateful" for the "protection" they receive. They whitewashed history as well as the present situation, demanded that we stop "offending" them, said that the Iranians had no reason to trust the United States, and called me a "criminal mind." This was all-out support for a category of thoughtcrimes in American universities. You can find the full report on Principles in Practice. It's pretty stunning -- and I can only admire John for keeping his cool in the face of such dishonest yet explicit Islamic totalitarians. Also, here's an update on a conference of Muslims reported by an audience member to have condemned terrorism. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Friday, March 21, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #3 By Diana Hsieh @ 12:28 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the third: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Thursday, March 20, 2008 Easter Safety By Diana Hsieh @ 12:26 AM So much is horribly wrong with this news report that I just don't know where to begin... Easter warning: crucifixion is bad for you By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 2:54am GMT 20/03/2008 Many people in the Philippines consider crucifixion and self flagellation good for the soul, but it is bad for your health according to new government advice for penitents. This Holy Week, the thousands of guilt stricken or pious worshippers who will flay the skin off their backs, and the handful who will crucify themselves, are encouraged to get a tetanus shot first and be sure to use a clean whip or nails. "We are not trying to go against the Lenten tradition here because whipping has somewhat already become some form of 'atonement for sins' for some of us," Health Secretary Francisco Duque the 3rd said. "Getting deep cut wounds during whippings or lashings is inevitable and being so exposed during the course of the penitence, with all the heat and dust blowing in the wind, welcomes all sorts of infections and bacteria like tetanus," he explained. Re-enactments of the Passion of Christ are common in many parts of the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines but frowned upon by the church authorities. In San Fernando City 23 people, including two women, have signed up to re-enact the crucifixion at three "improvised Golgothas" around town. Four of them will use real nails. The city government's website trumpets the preparations. "The City Health Office (CHO) autoclaved all the nails to be used and will administer anti-tetanus vaccine to all the "Cristos" to ensure their protection from possible infection," it points out. City officials will conduct an inspection of the Golgothas on Thursday. The festival is sponsored by Coca-cola and a company called Smart Telecommunications. In a break from the original tradition, penitents are encouraged to "bring enough drinking water for the whole course of the pilgrimage to avoid dehydration, rather than buy bottled drinking water from unfamiliar sources." There is also government advice for the many tourists and spectators who attend the events. "It is also better to bring self-prepared foods such as sandwiches, not only to save money, but also to avoid getting diseases such as diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid after eating food bought from street vendors," the health secretary suggested. Wow. Why can't they just do a nice quiet egg hunt?!? (Oh wait, that's the pagan tradition. Silly me!) Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Monday, March 17, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #2 By Diana Hsieh @ 12:27 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. Here's the second: If you like it, please give it a good rating! You can find links to all eight videos on the first one. Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Saturday, March 15, 2008 Faith Versus Reason #1 By Diana Hsieh @ 8:22 AM The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted eight short Q&As on faith versus reason to its YouTube account. They're an excellent series, and I hope that ARI will post more such videos. I'm breaking them into separate posts, and here's the first: If you like it, please give it a good rating! Also, if you know people who like Ayn Rand yet cling to their faith, you might e-mail them the whole series. Or if a blogger professes the same, you can post links to the series in their comments. Here are the links to copy and paste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1jMD3bFJdI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd-3C9l7d0E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ0i71VuV_o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hxKyIO6YoE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-BEQqDS7Fo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37Kq0ob9MA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYm-U_etSrU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z87IeNbLA0 Labels: Objectivism, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Monday, March 03, 2008 Second Virginity By Diana Hsieh @ 12:06 AM Here's a good article on an insane topic: women who've had sex claiming a "second virginity." Notably, many of these women are not teenagers who regret an early sexual experience. They include women in their twenties with long-term sexual partners and multiple children (!!) and married women spending $5000 to reconstruct their hymens as a present to their husbands (!!!). This notion of a "second virginity" is obviously repugnant for its dishonesty: the simple fact is that a woman with years of sexual experience cannot honestly claim to be a virgin. However, that's not the worst of it. The worst is that virginity -- i.e. mere ignorance of sex -- is upheld as a major value. Women (and men) should be discriminating in their choice of lovers. A young person ought to think hard about whether and when and with whom to have sex for the first time, just as any person ought to do with any new love interest. However, that need for discrimination does not imply that virginity is any kind of major value, as its champions assume. In modern society, virginity not a value at all -- except to jealous fiends and religious dogmatists. Virginity is not even a real quality of a person: it's just an ignorance of and inexperience with sex. Ignorance of sex means incompetence at sex. So for a rational, value-seeking lover, virginity can only be an obstacle to be overcome in the pursuit of the pleasures of sex, not a positive value. For a person to seek virginity requires a mangled set of sexual values. Our culture worships virginity. Even those who reject the dogma of abstinence until marriage often claim to respect the supposed value of virginity. So next time a person speaks of virginity as a prize to be cherished, speak up! Labels: Love/Sex, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Thursday, February 21, 2008 Deliver Us From Evil By Greg @ 8:04 AM We just finished watching Deliver Us From Evil, an excellent 2006 documentary. Ugh, I haven't felt so nauseated in quite some time. I need a shower. You need to rent it. I didn't really know what it was about, other than that it was a documentary having to do with religion that Tammy had put in our Netflix queue. It started simply enough, circling around the mid-70's activities of one Oliver O'Grady, a Catholic priest in California. "I want to promise myself this is going to be the most honest confession of my life." Confession? The interwoven interview snippets began turning south as the potential for some "inappropriate contact" with a child was turning up in the discussions. With every chapter of the film, it only got worse. Not one, or even a few, but dozens and dozens and perhaps hundreds of children. Both females and males. Sex with parents to get to kids. And he didn't have sex with just young teens, but adolescents, and children... down to five years old, two years old, nine months old! Chapter after chapter showing his eluding prosecution by way of upper-management promises to victims and government officials to get this dirtbag out of the priesthood and away from kids -- only to be quietly moved to another priesthood with more victims another city or two over. Decades of honing and using his predatory skills with the knowledge of the Church. More chapters with the focus shifting out to the patterns of buck-passing, indifference and coverup in the Church leadership as it struggles to deal with similar "issues" across the US, with culpability all the way up to the current Pope who (just prior to becoming Pope) was accused of conspiracy to cover up rampant sexual abuse in the US. He was granted immunity against prosecution for that by President Bush. The film closes with where-are-they-now summary screens and various factoids: "Since 1950, sexual abuse has cost the Church over one billion dollars in legal settlements & expenses." "Over 100,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse have come forward in the United States alone." "Experts say more than 80% of sexual abuse victims never report their abuse." I was struck by how O'Grady's "most honest confession" was nonetheless incredibly evasive; how his ongoing efforts at (ostensively) trying to make himself and his victims better were manipulative and oriented toward excusing and limiting the mind-bending scale of his atrocities. It was particularly chilling to watch him deploy some of the same disgusting manipulations he used on his young victims right before our eyes -- and sadly, we get to watch some of them continue to let him manipulate them. Many of these victims still see the Church in a good light. Just one fellow, the father of a girl of five who was being raped by this monster, was shown feeling such outrage and betrayal that he wouldn't step foot in another church and had dropped his faith. Meanwhile, his daughter is shown smiling toward the Vatican buildings on a present-day trip by victims to address the Church (rebuffed). Near the end of the film we see her kneeling in prayer in some cathedral. This is what faith and submission to authority wreak. Labels: Film, Religion E-mail Greg    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Protestant Monks By Diana Hsieh @ 7:58 AM Strange but true: The unexpected monks: "Some evangelicals turn to monasticism, suggesting unease with megachurch religion -- and the stirrings of rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Church." (The shorter article In the beginning... says a bit about the historical roots of this new movement.) While these new evangelical monks don't embrace the asceticism and isolation of the Catholic tradition, the mere fact that some modern-day Protestants find the deeply religious ideals of the Dark and Middle Ages appealing should be cause for concern to secularists. Christianity was tamed by the Enlightenment, but not permanently. It can and will return to its dark and wild roots, if unchecked by reason. (Via Dan.) Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Turn Jesus On By Paul @ 9:16 AM It's both tasteless and funny! Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Paul    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Saturday, January 26, 2008 Claims Of Supernatural Powers By Paul @ 6:17 PM XKCD.com summarizes the data nicely: Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Paul    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Friday, January 25, 2008 More Wacky Scientology Fun By Diana Hsieh @ 4:35 PM No comment necessary: Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, January 23, 2008 Making Fun of Tom By Diana Hsieh @ 8:44 AM I'm totally in love with Jerry O'Connell, Tom Cruise's co-star in "Jerry Maguire," for making good fun of Tom's insane Scientology video. Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Monday, January 21, 2008 Where’s Jesus? By Paul @ 7:28 AM Where's Jesus? You can take your pick of locations. Labels: Funny, Religion E-mail Paul    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Thursday, January 17, 2008 Huckabee the Theocrat By Diana Hsieh @ 11:09 PM In his October 2006 his statement on the election, Leonard Peikoff urged voting for Democrats rather than Republicans based on an analysis of their respective driving philosophies. He wrote, In essence, the Democrats stand for socialism, or at least some ambling steps in its direction; the Republicans stand for religion, particularly evangelical Christianity, and are taking ambitious strides to give it political power. Socialism--a fad of the last few centuries--has had its day; it has been almost universally rejected for decades. Leftists are no longer the passionate collectivists of the 30s, but usually avowed anti-ideologists, who bewail the futility of all systems. Religion, by contrast--the destroyer of man since time immemorial--is not fading; on the contrary, it is now the only philosophic movement rapidly and righteously rising to take over the government. Given the choice between a rotten, enfeebled, despairing killer, and a rotten, ever stronger, and ambitious killer, it is immoral to vote for the latter, and equally immoral to refrain from voting at all because "both are bad." He concluded his statement by saying that, "If you hate the Left so much that you feel more comfortable with the Right, you are unwittingly helping to push the U.S. toward disaster, i.e., theocracy, not in 50 years, but, frighteningly, much sooner." In response, many people denied -- even scoffed at -- the possibility of theocracy in America. Yet less than a year and half later, Mike Huckabee -- a devout fundamentalist Christian who explicitly promises to make socialist policy based on fundamentalist Christian faith that drives his decisions -- is a serious contender for the Republican nomination for president. As if that's not telling enough, in a prepared speech in Michigan, he said: I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the Living God. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family." Here's the video: Even if Mike Huckabee doesn't win the Republican nomination, more explicit calls to entwine government with Christianity should be expected in 2012. My point? In less than two years, the natural course of politics in America has proven Dr. Peikoff right about the prospects of theocracy in America, "not in 50 years, but, frighteningly, much sooner." Frankly, I wish the definitive proof offered by Huckabee's candidacy had trickled in rather more slowly. (As for the much-asked question, "But shouldn't we vote for the better Republicans?", you can find Dr. Peikoff's reply to that and more in his fifth podcast, starting at 2:50.) Labels: Politics, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Tom Cruise, Scientologist Nut By Diana Hsieh @ 7:46 AM "We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on the mind, we are the authorities on improving conditions. We can rehabilitate criminals, we can bring peace and unite cultures." Oh, and only a Scientologist can really help at the scene of an auto accident. Yup, that's what Tom Cruise says in this leaked Scientology video interview. It might not be available for long, so I'd recommend watching it sooner rather than later. It's definitely ... um ... interesting. Some terminology: An "SP" is a "suppressive persons" or critic of Scientology. KSW refers to L. Ron Hubbard's letter "Keeping Scientology Working" that demands accepting Scientology beliefs and practices wholesale, as dogma. Labels: Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Monday, January 14, 2008 Huck’s Army By Paul @ 6:30 AM The January 13, 2008 New York Times has an interesting article on the split amongst evangelical Christians as to whether to support Mike Huckabee for president ("Huckabee Splits Young Evangelicals and Old Guard"). In particular, most of the older leadership of the evangelical Christians have chosen not to endorse Huckabee, instead dividing their support amongst the other Republican candidates: While Dr. Dobson and Mr. Perkins remain on the sidelines, many in the old guard are actively backing Mr. Huckabee's rivals: Pat Robertson is for Mr. Giuliani, Gary Bauer for Fred D. Thompson, and Paul Weyrich, a founder of the movement, for Mr. Romney. The few national conservative Christian political advocates who have rallied to Mr. Huckabee say they are dismayed by the reluctance of their best-known leaders to do the same. These are the ones that have some fading attachment to capitalism, even though it conflicts with their explicit Christian philosophy. In contrast, many of the younger evangelicals are fervently drawn to Huckabee precisely because of his support for the environment and his "populist" economic views. At some level, they recognize that these positions are more consistent with their altruist Christian philosophy: ...Rick Scarborough, an aspiring successor to the previous generation of conservative Christian leaders... recently argued that his allies were wrong to balk at Mr. Huckabee’s turn toward environmentalism and "social justice." "Can you imagine Jesus ignoring the plight of the disenfranchised and downtrodden while going after the abortionist?" Mr. Scarborough wrote on the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. Brett and Alex Harris, the young evangelicals who created the online network of Huckabee supporters "Huck's Army" explained: ...[H]e believed in a Christian obligation to care for prenatal "life" and also education, health care, jobs and other aspects of "life." "It is a new kind of evangelical conservative position," Brett Harris said. Huckabee's appeal has crossed over to many Catholics, for similar reasons: ..[T]he Web site Catholic Online, a hub for dedicated church members, prais[es] Mr. Huckabee’s opposition to abortion rights and his empathy for the poor as consistent with the social teachings of the church. Although mainstream conservative publications like the Wall Street Journal have correctly categorized Huckabee's views as "religious left", that's entirely all right with these young evangelicals. The NY Times quotes one of them as saying, "Huckabee is a change for the conservative Christian movement, and a welcome one." This is yet another instance of the playing out of the principles identified by Ayn Rand in her classic essay, "Anatomy of Compromise" in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal: In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins. ...When two men (or groups) hold the same basic principles, yet oppose each other on a given issue, it means that at least one of them is inconsistent. Since basic principles determine the ultimate goal of any long-range process of action, the person who holds a clearer, more consistent view of the end to be achieved, will be more consistently right in his choice of means; and the contradictions of his opponent will work to his advantage, psychologically and existentially. Psychologically, the inconsistent person will endorse and propagate the same ideas as his adversary, but in a weaker, diluted form and thus will sanction, assist, and hasten his adversary's victory, creating in the minds of their disputed following the impression of his adversary's greater honesty and courage, while discrediting himself by an aura of evasion and cowardice. Existentially, every step or measure taken to achieve their common goal will necessitate further and more crucial steps or measures in the same direction (unless the goal is rejected and the basic principles reversed) thus strengthening the leadership of the consistent person and reducing the inconsistent one to impotence. The conflict will follow that course regardless of whether the basic principles shared by the two adversaries are right or wrong, true or false, rational or irrational. In other words, the less-consistent older evangelicals who still support some diluted form of capitalism, because they (erroneously) believe that their economics follows from their Christian philosophy will eventually lose to the more-consistent evangelicals who (correctly) recognize that their Christian altruist ethics will require government redistribution of wealth, "universal health care", environmentalism in the name of "Christian stewardship", etc. Even if Huckabee does not win the Presidency in 2008 (and I do not believe he has quite enough support to do so), his candidacy will have seeded the ground for a future Christian president much like Huckabee, but who is even more explicit and consistent in his opposition to capitalism and individual rights due to his Christian philosophy. And that is the real danger that Huck's Army poses today. Labels: Politics, Religion E-mail Paul    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Thursday, December 20, 2007 Monica on Stuff By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM Monica of Spark A Synapse has blogged some good stuff of late, e.g. on grading public school exams, on overcoming hatred of Christmas, and on whether Scientology should be banned. As for Scientology, the major question for me is whether the Church of Scientology is a fundamentally or substantially criminal organization or not. I can't pretend to answer that question definitively. My understanding is that the protection from scrutiny given by the designation of the Church of Scientology as a church, combined with its own secrecy, makes certain knowledge of any criminal wrongs rather difficult. The stories commonly heard about it are deeply worrisome, however. In any case, my own years-long nightmare of being sued by a Scientologist for making unfavorable public comments about the religion he wouldn't even admit as his own made perfectly clear that the organization and its members ought to be prevented from abusing the legal system as they so often do. A person doesn't deserve "a day in court" just because he managed to file a lawsuit, particularly not when that costs others acting within their rights years of peace of mind and many thousands of dollars. Of course, that problem isn't limited to Scientologists; tort reform is needed to protect all people from unjust lawsuits from all corners. Scientologists merely seem particularly apt to abuse the system whenever someone displeases them. Labels: Law, Religion E-mail Diana Hsieh    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Outlawing the Traditional Incandescent Light Bulb By Paul @ 8:30 PM The new energy bill (passed by Congress and just signed into law by President Bush) will outlaw the traditional incandescent light bulb over the next several years, requiring instead more expensive "energy efficient" bulbs as part of the fight against global warming. Of course, if these new bulbs are more cost-effective in the long run, then there's no need to mandate their use. And if they aren't, then this is just another burden on consumers. Either way, it's a violation of the individual rights of producers and consumers of the incandescent bulbs. This is on top of the recent shameful capitulation by the US on global warming policy at the recent international Bali conference, in which the US gave into the demands of the rest of the world. Those who think that the Republicans and/or the religious conservatives will provide any kind of principled defense against the anti-reason and anti-human views of the environmentalists are in for a rude awakening. Here are some links to recent news stories. From USA Today, 12/16/2007: "It's lights out for traditional light bulbs" Turn out the lights on traditional incandescent bulbs. A little-noticed provision of the energy bill, which is expected to become law, phases out the 125-year-old bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lights that will cost consumers more but return their investment in a few months. The new devices include current products such as compact fluorescents and halogens, as well as emerging products such as light-emitting diodes and energy-saving incandescent bulbs. ...Under the measure, all light bulbs must use 25% to 30% less energy than today's products by 2012 to 2014. The phase-in will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. By 2020, bulbs must be 70% more efficient. (Disclaimer: I have no idea how the still-legal "energy-saving incandescent bulbs" differ from the forbidden "traditional incandescent bulbs".) From AP News, 12/19/2007: "Bush signs bill boosting fuel standards" President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming. ...The bill also calls for improved energy efficiency of appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers, and a 70 percent increase in the efficiency of light bulbs. It also calls for energy efficiency improvements in federal buildings and construction of commercial buildings. From the Christian Science Monitor, 12/17/2007: "Bali Climate Deal Marks a Geopolitical Shift" ...South Africa said that the US position "was most unwelcome and without any basis." Then Kevin Conrad, who headed Papua-New Guinea's delegation, rose and turned Mr. Connaughton's comment on its head. ...Confronted with the prospect of overwhelming isolation, [chief US negotiator] Dobriansky relented, saying, "We will join the consensus." ...Many longtime observers say it was the most stunning reversal they had ever seen at one of these meetings. From the Christian Science Monitor, 12/20/07: "Many Religious Leaders Back Climate-Change Action" Religious groups in the United States and around the world have steadily adopted pro-environment positions. At Christmastime this shift has been particularly evident regarding global climate change. ...More than 100 influential evangelical leaders have signed the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) to fight global warming, the [Christian] Post article says. They're asking governments and individuals to reduce CO2 emissions. The ECI concludes that global warming is real. The Post article quotes from the initiative's statement: "Christians, noting the fact that most of the climate change problem is human induced, are reminded that when God made humanity he commissioned us to exercise stewardship over the earth and its creatures.... Climate change is the latest evidence of our failure to exercise proper stewardship, and constitutes a critical opportunity for us to do better." ...According to one recent poll mentioned in a story by The Economist, two-thirds of Evangelicals want immediate action on global warming. The story continues: "The new mood reflects a generational change among evangelicals, says Andrew Walsh, a religion-watcher at Trinity College, Hartford [Conn.]. The younger lot wants to focus more on issues such as AIDS and the crisis in Darfur – a cluster of concerns that have more in common with climate change than with crusading against homosexuality." Although I'm sure it's unintentional, I find it ironic that the environmentalists and the evangelicals are teaming up to extinguish Thomas Edison's traditional incandescent light bulb, the long-time symbol of reason and thought. Labels: Environmentalism, Religion E-mail Paul    PermaLink    Comments (Popup)    BloggerThis