Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

SCOTUS is increasingly putting Christians’ First Amendment rights ahead of others’ dignity and rights to equal protection.

A New Jersey man who claims he can’t run for public office because he refuses to swear an oath to God is suing the state over the mandatory religious vow.

Christian Nationalism is one reason that Trump fever won’t break. (Link shared from my NYT sub).

Pastor Steven Anderson is notorious for his hatred of LGBTQ+ people. Now his son is a Nazi.

Nigeria: Nonbelievers facing attacks, threats in a deeply religious country.

World of Woo: Another ‘influencer’ decides to treat her tumor ‘naturally’.

Environment: The white evangelical march toward climate disaster.

I was very happy to have stumbled upon this great article about “The Nones” in different parts of the world.

Former Christians are getting tripped up by these 10 thought processes.

Today is the final day of Banned Books Week but I might read one anytime I feel like it!

Next Saturday, October 14^th, there is an Eclipse of the Sun for all of North America to experience. I wonder if it will melt the ice wall surrounding our Flat Earth upon it mysterious return?

Groundbreaking protein kills cancer cells and boosts the body’s immunity.

Assembly Theory could help unite Physics and Evolution.

Study reveals how early humans left Africa 84,000 years ago while further evidence points to footprints in New Mexico being the oldest sign of humans in Americas.

Could Earth be the only planet with intelligent life?

Long Reads: What can we learn from those who have a moral change of heart? David Brooks thinks Americans are getting meaner. You can be a materialist and find meaning in the universe. Mexican journalists are fighting to tell the Truth, and dying for It. Black swans from MARS?  Iranian Narges Mohammadi, who once sent dandelions to the sky, wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some free online courses from MIT and Stanford.

Sunday Book Club:  The Possibility of Life.

Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break video:  Daniel Dennett looks back on his career. Ten questions atheists can’t answer…easily answered.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Have a great week!

[onyangomakagutuParticipant]

Hello Reg,

What we learn from those who have a moral change of heart

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Thanks for that. Good to hear from you again! It is all down to an education that includes critical thinking and reasoning skills on the curriculum.

[onyangomakagutuParticipant]

I am usually here but not signed in.

Thank you for great Sunday school readings.

[_Robert_Participant]

Priests get no hats; bishops get little pink hats, but cardinals get a serious hats ! What a flock of stooges.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Robert, everyone makes fun of Catholics until they need an exorcism.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

[UnseenParticipant]

Ever wonder why MAGA is so white? I asked Google Bard “Is there a connection between Christian nationalism and white nationalism?” and this was the reply:

There is a connection between Christian nationalism and white nationalism in the United States. Christian nationalism is a political ideology that holds that the United States is a Christian nation and that Christianity should be the basis for American law and policy. White nationalism is a political ideology that holds that white people are superior to other races and that the United States should be a white-majority nation.

There are a number of ways in which these two ideologies overlap. For example, both Christian nationalists and white nationalists often believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that the Founding Fathers were devout Christians. They also often believe that the United States is in a moral decline and that this decline is due to the increasing secularization of the country. Additionally, both Christian nationalists and white nationalists often oppose immigration, particularly from non-Christian and non-white countries.

In recent years, there has been a growing alliance between Christian nationalists and white nationalists in the United States. This alliance has been driven by a number of factors, including the rise of Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s embrace of Christian nationalism. White nationalists have seen Christian nationalists as a potential source of support for their cause, and Christian nationalists have seen white nationalists as a potential source of muscle.

The alliance between Christian nationalism and white nationalism is a dangerous development. It has the potential to legitimize white nationalism and to make it more palatable to a wider audience. It also has the potential to lead to increased violence and hatred.

It is important to note that not all Christian nationalists are white nationalists. However, the alliance between these two ideologies is a growing concern.

[UnseenParticipant]

Yes, contrary to our hopes and dreams (and fantasies), it’s possible that we are the only intelligent life in the universe.

A quick case for Earth being the only place with intelligent life in the universe:

A longer answer from Brian Cox:

[StregaModerator]

Thanks, Reg!

[StregaModerator]

@unseen The convenient similarity between white supremacy and Christian nationalism is that both base themselves on exclusive superiority and both denigrate outsiders. These feelings serve to justify bigotry in all its ways.

The Venn diagram of white supremacy and Christian nationalism would always have had a major overlap.

[PopeBeanieModerator]

Unseen wrote:

A quick case for Earth being the only place with intelligent life in the universe:

It’s just not possible in our current state of technology and knowledge to confidently make this “case”. Trying to prove a negative in such a large universe will be practically impossible for long time, while finding chemical signatures as likely evidence of exobiology is increasingly possible, e.g. with JWST. Intelligent life is of course less likely, although it’s also likely that it has had tens of millions of years more time to evolve than here.

Unseen wrote:

A longer answer from Brian Cox:

First, I looked at other Space Wind youtube productions, and noticed a highly click-baity list of other topics. So I watched a shorter one, only 20 minutes long, and noticed the computer-like, automated narration, expanding a five or six minute expose of information into 20 minutes of repetitious, over-dramatization. It’s just not worth my time, and I’m removing Space Wind from what youtube recommends that I watch.

Unseen, that said, I was able to watch your recommended 28 minute video, but at 2x speed, catching everything! Including where the video says that Cox made a “claim” in a BBC interview on the topic. However, unless I’m mistaken, Cox did NOT make that claim in the BBC video, he only posited his opinion. Fortunately, the video also seemed to have a human narrator, and I felt that all the information and graphics presented would be worth at least 14 minutes of most people’s time, especially if they’re not already familiar with its facts and speculations.

I’ve another long, recent story about how youtube has gotten increasingly atrocious at what it recommends for me to watch, but I’ll save it for a different topic. It’s so bad, it depresses me to realize how many people’s hours of watching so much crap takes away from higher quality productions. Google Search is also getting much worse this way, presenting crap to click on just for their own sake. (I’ve seen more useful results recently from DuckDuckGo.)

Here’s a six minute video narrated by Brian Cox himself, arguing a bit for the opposite point of view:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/are-we-thinking-about-alien-life-all-wrong/p0b6vpk4

Here’s another, Cox-only video, 13 minutes long:

Why haven’t we found aliens? A physicist shares the most popular theories

[_Robert_Participant]

Strega wrote:

@unseen The convenient similarity between white supremacy and Christian nationalism is that both base themselves on exclusive superiority and both denigrate outsiders. These feelings serve to justify bigotry in all its ways. The Venn diagram of white supremacy and Christian nationalism would always have had a major overlap.

We are starting to look like 1920s Italy. complete with an American Mussolini.-from wiki…

….only Fascists would be considered “true Italians”, and membership and endorsement of the Fascist Party was necessary for people to gain “Complete Citizenship”;

Mussolini’s propaganda idolized him as the nation’s saviour, and the Fascist regime attempted to make him omnipresent in Italian society. Much of Fascism’s appeal in Italy was based on Mussolini’s popularity and charisma. Mussolini’s passionate oratory and the personality cult around him were displayed at huge rallies and parades

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg and Fellow Unbelievers,

All great thoughtful topics as always.

I’ll throw in on these topics as well later.

Meanwhile, I am also sending kind thoughts to all the innocents both held hostage and slaughtered in yesterday’s and today’s horrific attacks by Hamas upon Israel. As of this moment, over 1000 dead and hundreds more wounded.

The first video summarizes the religious justification for the atrocities of Hamas. The second video summarizes the proper response of peace-loving and freedom-loving people to religious terror.

The Destruction of Israel Begins! Allahu Akbar!

Israeli Woman Recounts Defending Her Family from Hamas Terrorists
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israeli-woman-recounts-defending-her-family-from-hamas-terrorists/vi-AA1hToJ7

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