Allison’s back–yay! She joins us to discuss the new Charles Darwin bio-pic Creation, starring real-life husband-and-wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin. Creation is based on the nonfiction book Annie’s Box (published in the US as Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution, and reissued in conjunction with the film as Creation) by Darwin descendant Randal Keynes. Creation is currently in limited release, so check your local art cinema to see if and when it might play in your neighborhood. For more visit CreationtheMovie.com.
Thanks to the many fellow science fans who joined us for the Creation screening at Atlanta’s Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. And thanks to Royal Orchid Thai Cuisine for accommodating our unexpected horde.
Also:
David McAllister and Jason Bourque have been arrested in connection with a string of church arsons and burglaries in Texas. There’s a minor storm of controversy in the media over reports that “books on demons and atheism” were found in Bourque’s home. East Texas television station KLTV has offered reports from “anonymous sources” who claim that McAllister was troubled by the death of his mother and was looking to “save people from believing” and trying to “dislodge” church institutions. Clearly, American Freethought condemns arson and vandalism of any kind. And if it turns out that these young men committed these crimes out of some misguided notion of what atheism is, we condemn that as well.
Upcoming events:
John and Allison will be attending a rare joint appearance by Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie at Emory University, Friday, February 26th. If you’re there and you see us, be sure to say hello.
John and Allison will also be at the upcoming American Atheists convention in Newark, NJ, April 2-4. We’ll actually be in the greater NYC are March 31 – April 5, and we welcome suggestions for places to eat, things to do, or stuff to see.
Can you spell C-O-N-T-E-S-T? We have a minor trove of nifty things to give away, including a 2009 American Atheists convention program signed by Richard Dawkins, a handful of books by famous critical thinkers, and an American Freethought t-shirt and coffee mug. To win, simply challenge John C. Snider to a game of “Words With Friends” (the iPhone version of the classic Scrabble). You’ll need an iPhone, of course; and you’ll need to download Words With Friends (created by game developer Newtoy, Inc.). John’s user name is “johncsnider.” The person who beats him by the most points during the month of February wins the tchoch.
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David continues to produce new installments of the Secular Nation Podcast.
Theme music by Body Found.
Recorded February 24, 2010. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.
Really like the Podcast, on my top 5 list, thanks guys!
I just wanted to respond to the discussion on Buddhism in this show. I tend to agree with most of what Alison said, having read quite a bit about Zen and Buddhism. I am not a Buddhist and find the areas of superstition in some sects very unappealing, but I want to make the point that the human mind seems to work best when it’s focused and it’s easier to focus when you have a framework and even easier when you explicitly practice “focusing” several times a week.
I’m sure you have both read Sam Harris’ book: “The End of Faith”. Towards the end of the book are a couple of chapters that touch on Buddhism, “The Science of Good and Evil” and “Experiments in Consciousness” – not that I want to commit the logical fallacy of Appeal to Authority, but he discusses why it seems like a good idea to meditate and why Buddhism has a large “body of knowledge” that can be helpful in our day to day existence.
My point is in response to thinking that Tiger should have just known better and doesn’t need Buddhist practice to fall back on. My observation is that a meditative/contemplative practice backed up by a philosophical/psychological framework is very helpful in becoming aware of our motivations and intentions etc… which in turn helps to live a happier life. Zen and other mostly non-superstitious sects say to “find out for yourself” -and provides a framework for that…sort of.
Anyway – I’m not asking for anyone to take any of this on “faith”, but I was a bit perturbed by how easily it was dismissed as unhelpful and that Tiger “should” have known better. The fact is he didn’t “Know” better, since he cheated multiple times, and I for one think that sitting quietly observing the workings of the mind can only make one more aware and focused and help to avoid impulsive behavior.
Just thought I’d link to a Sam Harris article about self-contemplation too – don’t let the fact that it’s from the Huffington Post distracte you :-):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/a-contemplative-science_b_15024.html
Another case in point about Buddhism being compatible with Atheism,
one practitioner, Stephen Batchelor, is releasing a book next week called: “Confession of a Buddhist Atheist”.
Cheers
I really enjoy the show. I’m a strong advocate of the separation of church and state and the freedom to worship or not worship as one sees fit. I’m deeply christian, but on my own terms, and I find proselytizing abhorrent. I commonly find my moral sympathies lie with the atheist camp and it’s no small irony to my mind that I frequently find atheists are far more christian than those who would name themselves such.
But I’m writing to bitch ya out. Speaking of Tiger Woods’ infidelities in this episode, y’all said something like:
———
“Yeah, you don’t have to be a Buddhist to know it’s wrong to *expletive* 17 women when you’re married.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda… it’s against the vows.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian… I mean, everybody knows that’s out of bounds.”
———
Uh, no. Everybody does not know that. That’s an argument ad populum, and you should know better.
So you listen here. You keep your grubby hands off my wedding vows. Different people regard marriage in different ways, and it ain’t just the Mormons that like the idea of unusually structured marriages. I have a number of friends of various religious stripes (including atheists) who don’t regard monogamy as a critical aspect of their marriage, and several friends who are in happy group relationships. To be direct, it is not necessarily “wrong” to *expletive* 17 women when you’re married.
The issue isn’t that marriage doesn’t allow such behavior, the issue is how Mr. Woods’ and his wife understood THEIR vows. I think you would agree that it’s actually none of our business, though the immense religious controversy is certainly worthy of comment and ridicule.
A bigger chunk of the population than you might expect agree with me, and genetic studies have well-established that monogamy really isn’t human nature. It’s myth, pure and simple. We would all do well to acknowledge such and get over our society’s silly attachment to this strange, twisted ideal.
You of all people should know that a popular perception does not make a universal truth. So have a care and make your point more precisely in the future, or I’ll sic all my freaky friends on ya.
That being said, I’m lookin’ forward to seein’ y’all at Dragon Con again this year. The Skeptic Track is the best thing to hit DC since the invention of room parties, and my memory goes all the way back to DC 1989. (Fuck, I’m old.)
Peace.
JB
Y’know, I was just reading back over what I wrote, and I just realized that the exchange I quoted could have been from _Fox and Friends_. A whole room of people selling soap by agreeing with some unsupported advocation.
Really, guys, you should aspire to higher standards. :-)
JB
What struck me most about the “Atheist Books Found In Arson Suspect’s Home” stories was the list of things that didn’t make the headline: semi-automatic weapons, for example (it’s it more relevant that someone who’s already engaged in violent and potentially lethal destruction of property is heavily armed?) — or, for that matter, the fact that (according to one report) three Bibles were *also* found.
I’ll also throw in some agreement with James Brown above: not all of us use the standard wedding vows. :)
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