Archive for the ‘cults’ Category
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
We talk with Christina L. Graves, a biology student (and prebiotic chemistry researcher) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Christina walks us through the recent announcement by the J. Craig Venter Institute that they have created a self-replicating, synthetic cell. We also discuss the reaction to Venter’s news from religious groups like the Catholic Church, Creation Ministries International, and even the Raelians.
Briefly mentioned: The new Adrien Brody/Sarah Polley film Splice, a sci-fi-horror shocker about genetic engineering gone very very wrong.
Glossary of terms:
Abiogenesis – the theory of how life on Earth could have arisen from inanimate matter.
Prebiotic Chemistry – the field of study involving the spontaneous chemical reactions which may have led to the formation of biomolecules and/or life on early Earth.
Stanley Miller (1930-2007) – an American chemist and biologist who is known for his studies into the origin of life, particularly the Miller-Urey experiment which demonstrated that organic compounds can be created by fairly simple physical processes from inorganic substances.
Atheopath – A neologism, coined by Creation Ministries International’s Jonathan Sarfati and used (as far as we can tell) by no one else, which combines the word “atheist” and the suffix “-path” (”one afflicted by a specified disorder”) to create a word meaning something like “one afflicted by atheism.” Apparently it’s intended to echo scary words like sociopath and psychopath. Perhaps we should coin the counter-term “theopath.”
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Tags: abiogenesis, atheopath, j. craig venter institute, jcvi, prebiotic chemistry, raelians, splice, synthetic cell, venter
Posted in christianity, cults, interviews, medical research, new age, news, podcast, religion, science | No Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
Even if you’ve never heard of monologist Mike Daisey, you owe it to yourself to see him perform at the first opportunity. Daisey (who hails from the same county in Maine as AF’s David Driscoll), is a one-man-show whose storytelling is comparable to that of Julia Sweeney or the late Spalding Gray. (Incidentally, Daisey is also an atheist and was the victim of a notorious “mass walk-out” by a Christian group protesting his show “Invincible Summer.”)
In “The Last Cargo Cult”–playing at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta through April 11th–Daisey fuses an account of his trip to celebrate John Frum Day on a tiny island in the South Pacific to the recent near-meltdown of the American financial system. (The photo I snapped with my iPhone isn’t really representative of the show, although it does look pretty dramatic. At no time during the monologue did Mike Daisey set himself on fire.)
For more about Mike Daisey visit MikeDaisey.com or watch a preview of The Last Cargo Cult.
Tags: john frum, last cargo cult, mike daisey
Posted in arts, cults, humor, religion | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Or at least so says Christopher Hitchens, responding to Robertson’s claim that the devastating Haitian earthquake (which may have killed upwards of 200,000 innocent people) was the result of “a deal with the devil” made during the Haitian Revolution in 1791. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called Robertson’s remarks “utterly stupid.” Barry Lynn of Americans United said they were callous and grotesquely insensitive. And Keith Olbermann says Robertson is full of “senile crap.”
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Tags: earthquake, ezekiel 25:17, haiti, pat robertson, pulp fiction, sonny chiba, trijicon
Posted in christianity, cults, history, movies, news, podcast, religion | No Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2009
Cecil Bothwell has just been elected to the city council of Asheville, North Carolina. He happens to be an atheist. The North Carolina state constitution bars atheists from holding elected office. (For what it’s worth, seven other states still have constitutional provisions that discriminate against non-believers.) Is this a case of continuing institutionalized bigotry, or just an amusingly unenforceable “quirk” left over from the 19th century? (For more on Mr. Bothwell visit cecilbothwell.wordpress.com)
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Tags: asheville, cecil bothwell, hr951, north carolina, same-sex marriage, war on christmas, washington dc
Posted in atheism, christianity, civil rights, cults, gay rights, podcast, politics, religion, religious rights | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
We interview Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. The Family is both an investigation into the organization that has influenced presidents from Eisenhower to Obama, and a history of American fundamentalism from colonial times to the present. If you don’t read any other book this year about religion in America, read this one. You can buy The Family at Amazon.com.
Sharlet is the co-creator of Killing the Buddha, a literary magazine about religion, and The Revealer, “a daily review of religion and the press.” Sharlet is also a contributing editor to Harper’s and Rolling Stone.
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Tags: jeff sharlet, the family
Posted in books, christianity, cults, history, podcast, politics, religion | No Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Review by John C. Snider © 2009
It is possibly the most influential organization you’ve never heard of. They observe a fanatical devotion to the person of Jesus Christ, yet they are unrestrained by quaint notions of rule-based morality. They are invited with open arms into the halls of power in Washington, DC. Their members include congressmen, senators, governors, ambassadors, generals, captains of international industry, even ruthless dictators. For half a century, no president has dared ignore their annual summons. Their goal is no less than global theocracy dominated by America military, economic and cultural power. Theirs is a “long-term project of a worldwide government under God…more ambitious than Al Qaeda’s dream of a Sunni empire.”
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Tags: abram vereide, doug coe, jeff sharlet, john ensign, mark sanford, national prayer breakfast, the family, the fellowship
Posted in books, christianity, cults, history, politics, religion | 3 Comments »
Friday, August 28th, 2009
By now you may have read of the disturbing case of Phillip Garrido, a California man now in custody for the 1991 kidnapping of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard. Jaycee’s mother and stepfather have long since assumed she was dead; indeed, the stepfather has been a suspect for years, although he was a helpless witness to the kidnapping.
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Tags: jaycee lee dugard, phillip garrido
Posted in children, cults, religion | 2 Comments »
Goodbye, Neumanns…
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009Earlier this year, Neumann’s wife Leilani was found guilty of the same charge. They could each get as much as 25 years in prison, although if there were any justice they’d get life in prison with no medical benefits other than prayer.
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Tags: dale neumann, leilani neumann
Posted in children, christianity, civil rights, commentary, cults, news, religion, religious rights | 1 Comment »