A person has dignity, legal protection, bodily safety, freedom of conscience, and freedom of expression. A belief has no skin to bruise, no liberty to imprison, no mouth to silence, and no claim to immunity from scrutiny.

You have rights; your beliefs do not.

Religious freedom is a subset of freedom of conscience. A healthy separation of church and state is key to ensuring those freedoms.

The dark and dangerous world of…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
But that doesn’t make for lines or melodies you remember and hum or sing while in the shower, folding laundry, or preparing a meal.

Well, this “you” (i.e. I) like it, and it gave me an earworm. I just now looked for a reaction with a translation, and the first one I found is still new… only 72 comments so far, and if you feel s…[Read more]

What I’m pushing back on is the physics habit of treating “fundamental” as meaning “smallest,” “indivisible,” or “basic ingredient.” I agree that something can…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
What physics gets wrong about the idea of “fundamental”.

Yes, I think a model should be “thorough” as well as “fundamental”.  Some fundamental elements are not just individisible particles – they’re also structural factors, for example, that form the fabric of reality.  So, the fundamental constants of the unive…[Read more]

I generally try to leave personal commentary out of the main page and just publish the linked headlines. But I am in no mood for any religious bigots or theist bullshit this week. 🙂

Has the federal government used official authority, public funds, or privileged access to sponsor a Christian-nationalist religious ceremony as part of a national civic celebration?

Trump and senior officials are joining the Rededicate 250 prayer event, which p…[Read more]

Then I heard about Genesis 25: 29-34 where Esau came home exhausted and hungry after hunting. Jacob was cooking a red stew — traditionally understood as lentil stew.

Esau said “Give me some of that red stew.” Jacob replied: “Sell…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Don’t honeybees tell each other (reporting information) where to find newly-discovered nectar-hunting grounds, which then send other bees (behavior) to exploit them?

Apparently, when a bee goes to a flower, it leaves sweaty footprints on the petals.  Another bee can come along and smell the footprints and determine how long ago th…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Yes, chimpanzees exhibit culture, defined as behaviors that are socially transmitted rather than genetically inherited or caused solely by ecological factors.

Don’t honeybees tell each other (reporting information) where to find newly-discovered nectar-hunting grounds, which then send other bees (behavior) to exploit…[Read more]

What new Pew data reveals about faith and who we marry.

MAGA Religious Right reject efforts to shape a more humane Immigration Policy.

A chronic US blind spot: Iran’s religious motivations for war.

Americans think that these two shouldn’t talk about god…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
1812 Governor Elbridge Gerry and a Boston district shaped like a mythological salamander

Whoa, nice factoid. I think I’ll remember this. I mean, I want to transmute enough brain cells to accomodate a more permanent memory. Salamandering, too? I always recall seeing districts with only a highway-wide corridor connecting…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
That was two years ago.

Yaeh, about 2-1/2 years ago was Pepsi Center, which was iconic. But you made me think, and I think my perspective’s different because about 95% of my TW experience is in watching reactors, especially first-time reactors. So I’m getting extra mileage on re-hearing their older stuff and seeing how amazed…[Read more]

Strega wrote:
@regthefronkeyfarmer Apparently I’m no longer a moderator (!) so you’re on your own if anything gets rowdy

Bring it on if you have a god on your side!! 🙂

Seriously Strega, that is not good enough. You will always be more that a participant to us all !!! I am making protest signs. We need more god mods!!

Being secular in Trump’s America (subscribe for free…it’s worth it). When Trump plays favorites with faith, we all pay the price.

Pastor who wrote book on biblical marriage arrested for alleg…[Read more]

Short:

We t…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Why humans are not clever chimps. (interesting site)

Theophilus Painter was not a very rigorous thinker, he kept making mistakes, of assuming things when he didn’t know, sometimes rooted in racial bias it is probably true.

New data from the National Institutes of Health show the human genome varies from the chimp…

[Read more]

I…[Read more]