Clips from 2005 talk radio appearances show that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt does not believe in Evolution and wants to amend the Constitution to ban abortion and ban marriage equality.

“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution, and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” Pruitt said on an Oklahoma radio program in 2005. https://t.co/20oZv5lOG8 pic.twitter.com/i8QpcYvfkQ

— POLITICO (@politico) March 2, 2018

Courtesy of Politico:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005. 

Pruitt, who at the time was a state senator, also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a “judicial monarchy” that is “the most grievous threat that we have today." And he did not object when the program’s host described Islam as “not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.”

The views he states, in discussions peppered with references to inalienable rights and the faith of the nation's founders, are in line with those of millions of other conservative, devout Christians. But they also show stances that at times are at odds with the broader American mainstream, and in some cases with accepted scientific findings — an issue that has more recently come up with his skepticism about the science behind climate change. 

“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution (Actually there are.), and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” he said in one part of the series (That is actually untrue as well.), in which Pruitt and the program's hosts discussed issues related to the Constitution. 

Of course Republicans were quick to defend Pruitt and his primitive superstitious views.

Republicans in Congress defended Pruitt, saying his religious beliefs should factor into how he does his job. 

"All of us are people of faith and obviously influenced by our faith and the role it played in our life … and continue[s] to play in our life on a daily basis," said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees EPA. "It’s a part of who we are."

Actually since protecting the environment is an entirely science based policy, a person's religious beliefs serve only to interfere in their ability to understand the data they see in order to help direct their decision making.

ANY potential cabinet member who espouses such arcane and outdated opinions should NEVER be put in charge of any agency which requires at least some understanding and respect for science.

Period.

Anti-science Christians sign petition urging future VP to ban the teaching of Evolution.

Here is the petition in question: 

To Mike Pence, Vice-President of the United States of America: 

We the undersigned note that, when you were a member of the U.S House of Representatives, you spoke out on the subject of science education and for presenting students with all available information. Recently, we have seen the passage of academic freedom bills in Louisiana and Tennessee which have allowed for critical evaluation in the classroom and improved educational standards. However, whilst an important development, they were only enacted owing to the need to protect students from indoctrination. We object to the teaching of the very controversial theory of evolution as part of the K-12 science curriculum which we regard to be unnecessary and unhelpful. 

It is obvious to us that Evolutionism-Darwinism is an anti-Christian atheistic dogma masquerading as science. According to renown philosopher of science, Professor Michael Ruse, himself an ardent evolutionist, there is no doubt that the theory of evolution represents a philosophical worldview: “Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion—a full-fledged alternative to Christianity.”

Evolutionists, indeed, themselves speak about their “theory” with an unmistakably religious fervour.

The petition then goes on to trip all over itself misrepresenting, and misunderstanding the science in order to claim that Evolution is false and should not be taught to children.

Now this would usually be dismissed as laughable as Mike Pence really does not have the power to simply strip the teaching of Evolution from school books in every classroom, and in every state, in the country.

However the signers of this petition clearly recognized that if Mike Pence could, he would do just that. It is a new dawn in America my friends.

A dumber, religiously fundamental, scientifically illiterate, new dawn. 

Creationist Ken Ham laments the millions "wasted" researching the origins of life. Yeah, it's all in the book right?

Think of the millions & millions of dollars wasted by scientists attempting to research false belief of molecules to man evolution-sad waste

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) November 16, 2016

Imagine the benefit to humans if scientists had the right worldview for their research--that God created a perfect world now marred by sin

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) November 16, 2016

Yes let's just imagine how much spare time scientists would have on their hands if they just accepted the fact that "God did it."

The millions of dollars wasted on researching the lie of Evolution could be used to benefit the human population in so many ways--sad

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) November 16, 2016

Does he mean like discovering how diseases evolve over time in order to invent better treatments to prevent them?

Because if true I have some bad news for him.

Millions of dollars are wasted on researching evolution--an anti-God false religion--what a shocking waste of money

— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) November 16, 2016

You know you would think that a guy who built a park celebrating a Biblical bedtime story would have a firmer grasp of the word "religion."

Science ain't religion.

It is probably not fair to target Ken Ham after all this guy is a special kind of stupid, but for anybody who listens to his bullshit if might be helpful for them to learn that studying evolution has provided invaluable insights into how our bodies developed the means to overcome dietary restrictions and to fight diseases, and also how many diseases evolved to overcome those developing defenses.

In fact the study of evolution and biology has provided so much data that now we are seriously discussing the possibility of immortality.

Which I would assume is yet another reason that Ken Ham hates science.

After all without impending death it is kind of hard to scare small children into fearing Hell, now isn't it?

Just a reminder of who the REAL newly elected President will be.

While we are all shaking in our boots over the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency, we need to remember that when his son approached John Kasich about the VP position it was with the understanding that Kasich would do the actual work while Trump went around "making America great." (What ever the fuck that means!)

Mike Pence ended up with that job, so yes Trump is terrifying at the top of the ticket, but Mike Pence is just as terrifying doing the actual job.

Students walk out, start arguing, after Texas professor informs them that they are all descended from Africa. Update!

My Professor just said all living ppl are descendants from Africa and ppl got up and walked out and now their arguing 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/TNj6EDmybv

— Aj (@amvrion) October 18, 2016

Courtesy of The Tab:  

Some Texas State University students in Dr. McGee’s Cultural Anthropology class left the lecture hall after he said in a lesson that all living people originated in Africa. As the exiting white students left the classroom, some remaining in class reportedly called after them, “Black Lives Matter.” 

The lecture started out with a message from the professor that the day’s class would be a lesson on race and it would be particularly interesting so everyone should listen, said Justine Lundy, 20. The professor began talking about the Black Lives Matter movement and how it had come about before stating that all living beings descended from east Africa. 

“It was dead silent,” Lundy said, before a student retorted with a “sarcastic ‘sure.'”

At that point, students began to leave the class. A few disagreeing students who didn’t leave the classroom in a huff stayed behind to argue with each other. 

“A lot of people left,” said class attendee Karene Taylor, 19. “It was embarrassing.”

Of course the professor is right, but you can understand the frustration of some the students.

After all it is so much harder to hate a group of people once you learn that you are all related.

Besides how dare this professor not recognize what these students surely know to be the absolute and undeniable truth. Which is that the first people came from the Garden of Eden and that women are made out of an old rib that Adam was not really using anymore.

Pfft, and he calls himself a "professor."

Update: Snopes is not denying that a walk out took place, only that it was on a smaller scale than indicated by the original article. 

Still worthy of discussion in my opinion.

Ray "Banana Man" Comfort wins award for best science film. Wait, what happened?

So this is apparently an award given to Comfort for his ridiculous attempt to attack Atheism in a film which uses clips of Banana Man confronting scientists and college students with poorly presented "facts" and then carefully editing their responses to make them seem incapable of responding rationally.

Comfort claims to attack Atheism with science, but in fact the simply misrepresents science, refuses to accept correction, and calls that a win.

Here is how The Friendly Atheist responded to news of this "award.":  

The only time “science” appears in the movie is when Comfort asks random people how DNA could have possibly evolved on its own, a rhetorical question that he believes points to the truth of Intelligent Design. It’s not like he explains DNA. He doesn’t add to our scientific understanding of anything, unless you count ignorance as a virtue. 

The Friendly Atheist also points out that "Int'l Christian Film Festival" seems like a fly by night organization, and that there appears to have been no other films competing against "The Atheist Delusion." 

I think it is quite telling that a Christian film festival only gives a "Best Science Film" award to a movie that does nothing but attack scientific knowledge.

Pretty much says it all, don't you think?

Mike Pence completely misrepresenting the theory of Evolution, and attempting to argue that Creationism should be taught to our school children.

I thought this video would be a reminder that as bad as Donald Trump is, and he is indeed quite bad, his running mate is not really muhc better.

Pence's ignorance concerning what constitutes a "theory" in science and his argument for why it should be taught alongside Creationism is almost painful to watch.

But we need to constantly remind ourselves that THESE are the people making our laws, influencing our culture, and helping to decide what gets taught to our children.

And this one wants to be the Vice President of the United States.

As President Obama would say, "Don't boo, vote."

State board of education in Alabama votes to keep Evolution disclaimer in biology books. You know, because religion.

Courtesy of WKRG:

Last week, state board of education voted to keep the disclaimer in textbooks. 

It has only been a year since Alabama was mandated to teach evolution at all; there had been a prior requirement that included theory and diversity, but the 2015 change solidified the requirement in the list of standards, which states classes must “analyze scientific evidence (e.g., DNA, fossil records, cladograms, biogeography) to support hypotheses of common ancestry and biological evolution.” 

Minimum state standards are are set but local school districts can make their own decisions.

Here is what the disclaimer says in full:

BIOLOGY TEXTBOOK INSERT A MESSAGE FROM THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

The word “theory” has many meanings. Theories are defined as systematically organized knowledge, abstract reasoning, a speculative idea or plan, or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations. 

 Many scientific theories have been developed over time. The value of scientific work is not only the development of theories but also what is learned from the development process. The Alabama Course of Study: Science includes many theories and studies of scientists’ work. The work of Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, to name a few, has provided a basis of our knowledge of the world today. 

The theory of evolution by natural selection is a controversial theory that is included in this textbook. It is controversial because it states that natural selection provides the basis for the modern scientific explanation for the diversity of living things. Since natural selection has been observed to play a role in influencing small changes in a population, it is assumed that it produces large changes, even though this has not been directly observed. Because of its importance and implications, students should understand the nature of evolutionary theories. They should learn to make distinctions between the multiple meanings of evolution, to distinguish between observations and assumptions used to draw conclusions, and to wrestle with the unanswered questions and unresolved problems still faced by evolutionary theory. 

 There are many unanswered questions about the origin of life. With the explosion of new scientific knowledge in biochemical and molecular biology and exciting new fossil discoveries, Alabama students may be among those who use their understanding and skills to contribute to knowledge and to answer many unanswered questions. Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.

Gee if only they encouraged similar skepticism and critical thinking while reading the Bible, or attending church.

By the way there are many unanswered questions and controversies within virtually EVERY scientific discipline. The only reason that Evolution gets singled out all of the time is because it endangers people's ability to embrace the comforting mythologies of religion.

Another story about a parent suing a school over Evolution in the classroom. Wait, this one seems different.

Courtesy of WPBF: 

A Boca Raton father and son have filed a lawsuit claiming the Palm Beach County school board isn't teaching the theory of evolution. Brandon Silver, 11, and his father, attorney Barry Silver, filed an 18-page lawsuit last month but plan to serve the board Wednesday night. 

"We've been taught about adaptations to the environment but that's not really a direct concept to evolution," said Brandon Silver. 

"It's such a magnificent story and it's being neglected. The students are being deprived of learning from it because certain religious people don't like the story because it contradicts the Bible and we think it is terrible that children shouldn't learn the truth about where they came from," said Barry Silver. 

Barry Silver said he filed the lawsuit last month.

Well good for Mr. Silver!

Now this is the kind of parent that we need to see more of. 

The kind of parent who defends his child's right to learn facts instead of fantasy. 

I think at this point we can officially say that Sarah Palin has made the transition from politician to pastor.

Yes I recognize that Palin has not been ordained, and really does not live a Godly life, but I really think that with this new book she has for all intents and purposes slipped into her new role as Christian evangelist.

Take a look at this interview on Right Wing Watch:  

“You talk about how we’ve turned our back on God’s definition of marriage, how we’ve absolutely trampled underfoot this principle of the sanctity of human life,” Parshall said. “And some might say we’ve gone too far, God is no longer going to shed his grace on us. Do you think it’s too late for America?” 

Palin responded that she didn’t think it was “too late” because “we know where the answers are and we know that God has so blessed this land with resources and with intelligent workforce and everything that God has blessed us with and our founders knew to dedicate that all to him when America came to be.” “We need to do that again,” she continued. 

“We need to not be afraid to even tell our elected leaders that that’s what they need to be doing too, on our knees, rededicate this land to God as our founders did, though some want to deny that truthful history, as our founders did and get back to God and quit kicking him out of the public square, otherwise, yeah, you wonder how long he is going to be patient with us but, no, it’s not too late.” 

"Rededicate this land to God." That sounds EXACTLY like something one would hear from the pulpit on a Sunday morning in the Bible Belt.

Palin went on to blow the Fundie's favorite dog whistle about Christianity being under attack in this country, which of course is well traveled terrain for Sister Mary Hypocrisy.

Also from Palin's Facebook page we have this today: 

One of the truly great things about Christianity is that it reminds us that everyone—rich or poor, black or white—is created in God’s image. ‪#‎SweetFreedom‬

Sure she's still hawking her stupid book, but that is really no different than Robert Tilton's prayer cloths or Jim Bakker's "Apocalypse chow," and THEY call themselves preachers.

Of course this is an evolution that most of us have been predicting for at least six or seven years now, and in fact Palin has used religious language since her earliest days in Wasilla politics.

Even before Pastor Muthee inoculated Palin against witchcraft, and she faked the birth of her pro-life prop, her fundamentalist creds were already in place. There are even stories of Wasilla prayer warriors laying hands on the outside of city hall in order to bless Palin during her time as mayor.

So yes, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that after being fired from her Fox News gig, after her short lived Sarah Palin channel died of neglect, and with her career as a book author clearly in the crapper, that Palin will move on the easiest gig of all, fleecing the faithful sheep.

And with her very convenient cancer "survival" story making the rounds on the internet she is positioned perfectly to glue that halo to her wig and start passing the collection plate.

Essentially it's what she has done all along with SarahPAC. Only now instead of teasing them with the possibility of running for President she will grab them buy their cankles, turn them upside down, and shake the loose change out of their pockets with the power of the Lord.

I imagine her sex scandal and fall from grace will occur any day now.

Watch the face of man evolve over 6 million years.

I understand that if you watch it backwards it eventually shows you the face of creationist Ken Ham.

In America young people are helping Evolution finally overcome Creationism as the accepted explanation for life on this planet.

Courtesy of Slate:  

Few issues have divided the American public as bitterly as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Since On the Origin of Species was published in 1859, it has driven a wedge between those who accept that humans and this planet’s other inhabitants have evolved over time, and those who believe that our species was created in its current form with no alterations. While the majority of people in Europe and in many other parts of the world accept evolution, the United States lags behind. Today, 4 in 10 adults in America believe that humans have existed in our present form since the beginning of time, and in many religious groups, that number is even higher. This is woeful. 

Now, at long last, there seems to be hope: National polls show that creationism is beginning to falter, and Americans are finally starting to move in favor of evolution. After decades of legal battles, resistance to science education, and a deeply rooted cultural divide, evolution may be poised to win out once and for all. 

The people responsible for this shift are the young. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, 73 percent of American adults younger than 30 expressed some sort of belief in evolution, a jump from 61 percent in 2009, the first year in which the question was asked. The number who believed in purely secular evolution (that is, not directed by any divine power) jumped from 40 percent to a majority of 51 percent. In other words, if you ask a younger American how humans arose, you’re likely to get an answer that has nothing to do with God.

First off I would like to correct the author of this piece that people do not have a "belief" in Evolution, but rather they come to accept the facts of Evolution.  

Belief is only required for things without a factual basis.

However it is great news that our young people are throwing off the fears and superstitions of their parents and grandparents and embracing the reality of the world as it is, rather than as ancient mythologies would represent it.

Just one more reason to be hopeful for our future, and those who will someday assume the mantle of power.

Ben Carson says that one cannot have morality without faith in God. How did this idiot become a doctor again?

Courtesy of Buzzfeed: 

“Ultimately, if you accept the evolutionary theory, you dismiss ethics, you don’t have to abide by a set of moral codes, you determine your own conscience based on your own desires,” Carson told Adventist Review, the magazine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of which Carson is a member for a 2004 cover story. 

“You have no reason for things such as selfless love, when a father dives in to save his son from drowning,” Carson continued. “You can trash the Bible as irrelevant, just silly fables, since you believe that it does not conform to scientific thought. You can be like Lucifer, who said, ‘I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Have you ever read anything so stupid that you felt your brain start bleeding? Well I just did.

Actually the morality of the non-theist is far superior to that of the believer due to the fact that it is not based on the carrot and stick paradigm.

If you are a good person because you fear burning in the fires of hell for all eternity, or because you want to get rewarded with eternal life, then you are not a good person.

You are a selfish POS who is only doing the right thing so that your sky papa will spare the burning rod of hellfire and spoil you with everlasting life.

But wait Buzzfeed has more from a 2012 speech: 

“Can you prove evolution? No. Can you prove creation? No. Can you use the intellect God has given you to decide whether something is logical or illogical,” added. Carson. “Yes, absolutely. It all comes down to ‘faith’ — and I don’t have enough to believe in evolution. I’m too logical!” (Hang on that made me choke on my spit a little. Okay let's continue.)

Carson said the consequences for accepting the theory of evolution would be an abandonment of the human moral compass. 

“By believing we are the product of random acts, we eliminate morality and the basis of ethical behavior,” stated Carson. “For if there is no such thing as moral authority, you can do anything you want. You make everything relative, and there’s no reason for any of our higher values.”

God what a load of horseshit!

Morality has existed in one form or another LONG before Christianity, or even Judaism.  In fact it has existed long before religion itself, and even exists in the animal kingdom.

I cannot remember ever coming across a better example of a stupid smart person as Bill Maher has labeled these people.

Ben Carson reminds me of an autistic teenager who cannot tie his own shoes or remember his home address, but can flawlessly play Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 without ever having taken one piano lesson.

In other words he is an idiot savant.

And what's with him never opening his damn eyes?

2011 video of Ben Carson shows him claiming that the flood of Noah was real and that Darwin was encouraged by Satan to come up with Evolution.

Now that video up above is over 48 minutes long so I don't expect anyone to sit through the entire thing without ripping their hair out.

I certainly couldn't.

However here is a brief synopsis by the blog  Danthropology followed by some snippets of Carson's remarks:

Most people know that Carson denies evolution is a fact and instead subscribes to young earth creationism, believing the earth is only 6000 years old and humans were created as is. Whether he is stupid enough to actually believe this or is pandering to the ignorance of the GOP voter base has been up for question among some, but a video discovered from 2011 seems to close the door on that idea.

And here are some of the actual remarks that Carson offered during an event called “Celebrating Creation":

 [20:56] “… there is abundant evidence, geological evidence, that there was a worldwide flood. Go up into the Andes Mountains and see all those fossils on the top of those mountains. I mean, these things, when you talk to the evolutionists about them, they always say the same thing … ‘well, we don’t understand everything.’ And I just say, ‘I’m not sure you understand anything.’ You know, they look at all those layers, and then they find some fossils in one of the layers, and they says this fossil is this many years old because it’s in this layer. So, that means this fossil is like a million years old. And then later on they say, ‘well, this layer is a million years old because this fossil which is a million years old is in it.’ You know, that’s like saying, you know, ‘the sky can be red or blue’. And you say, well, the sky is blue. And you say why is it blue? ‘Because it is not red.’ Well why is it not red? ‘Because its blue.’ Yeh, you know that’s known as circular reasoning. That’s how they explain the age of all these things, its very circular reasoning, and really it has no real scientific validity.” [22:22]

How interesting that he recognizes the term "circular reasoning" but does not seem to understand that his entire argument is based on the premise that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and therefore any evidence which disputes that claim must be rejected, and only evidence which supports the Biblical accounts will be accepted.

By the way that is a consistent theme throughout his Q and A.

[27:24] “You know, according to the theory [of evolution] it [the eye] had to go pukh! and there was an eyeball, overnight, just like that, because it wouldn’t work in any other way. And when you ask the evolutionists about that they say, ‘well, we don’t understand everything.’ And I say, ‘well, I don’t think you understand anything.” [27:48] 

That is of course completely false, and evolutionists indeed have a working understanding of how the various eyes in the animal kingdom developed. (As you can see for yourself in this Ted Ed video.)

The fact that a medical doctor does not understand this is more than a little troubling.

[answering a woman’s question, 45:07] “I personally believe that this theory that Darwin came up with was something that was encouraged by the adversary [Satan], and it has become what is scientifically politically correct. Amazingly, there are a significant number of scientists who do not believe it but they are afraid to say anything.” [45:38]

So to be clear the man who is currently polling at number two for the GOP presidential nomination, believes that things which disagree with his religious perspective are the work of an evil entity whose job it is to undermine Christianity by introducing doubt.

The thing that I noticed while watching the video is how utterly convinced Carson is that he is absolutely correct in his thinking.

So sure is he that he feels comfortable ridiculing those who dare to consider that science may have the answers instead of the Bible.

That kind of absolute certainty is frightening to behold, and reminds me in no small way of George W. Bush in the lead up to the Iraq war. In my opinion Carson is a truly dangerous person who should be kept far away from the levers of power.

People of faith seem to feel confident in their belief, regardless of the evidence, while people of science are always searching for that next bit of evidence which will change their minds completely.

Personally I am much more comfortable with the uncertainty of the thinker, over the certainty of the believer.

The history of the universe in ten minutes.

Amazing isn't it?

Of course this is only for those who are willing to accept the brutality, beauty, and unpredictability to nature.

For everybody else the go to explanation is, God did it.

I feel badly for those people.

New public school standards in Alabama require students for the first time to understand the theory of Evolution and to address climate change.

Courtesy of AL.com: 

Alabama is updating its decade-old science standards to require that students understand evolution and learn about climate change, topics that can still be controversial in the Bible Belt state. 

Educators say the new rules — part of a major change that includes more experimentation and hands-on instruction and less lecturing — don't require that students believe in evolution or accept the idea that climate is changing globally. 

But public school students will be required for the first time to understand the theory of evolution. And teachers will be required to address climate change, which wasn't a focus the last time the state set science standards in 2005. 

The new standards take effect in 2016 after being unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Alabama State Board of Education on Thursday.

This may seem like a small step, and indeed it is, but since it is taking place in Alabama it is also noteworthy.

However just in case you thought that the Christian Right had caved in altogether, there is still this: 

Textbooks used in Alabama science classes have carried a disclaimer sticker for years stating that evolution is a "controversial theory," not fact, and the new course of study doesn't change the warnings, which were advocated by Christian conservatives.

Like I said it IS Alabama.

Oh well, baby steps are still steps in the right direction.

Private letter in which Charles Darwin admits he is an Atheist goes up for auction.

Courtesy of the Mirror: 

A private letter where Charles Darwin confesses to not believing in the bible or that Jesus was the son of God is set to sell for more than £50,000. 

The esteemed naturalist and geologist was famous for keeping his religious views to himself and very rarely discussed the existence of God. 

It is thought the scientist, famous for his pioneering research on evolution, avoided the subject so he didn’t offend friends and family. 

But in a handwritten letter to a potential reader he shared his honest thoughts.

Here is what the letter says:   

“Dear Sir, I am sorry to have to inform you that I do not believe in the Bible as a divine revelation & therefore not in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Yours faithfully Ch. Darwin”.

As I am sure many of you know Darwin studied theology at Cambridge with the aim of becoming a member of the clergy.

It was during his voyage on the "Beagle" that his ideas about God, man, and nature were challenged, and perhaps changed forever.

And we can all give thanks that they were. For if Darwin had done what many religious folks still do today and rejected any evidence that God is not the architect of all that we see, we would not have the scientific discipline of Evolution and the wealth of information that it has provided about who we are, and where we come from.

A scientific discipline by the way that continues to provide new information all of the time, such as the recently discovered fossils of an entirely new human like species found in South Africa.

Yet another reminder of why it is so important to educate our children and help them to become freethinkers unburdened with the mythologies and superstitions of their fore-bearers.

Creationist Ken Ham knows why women suffer during childbirth. It's because you're all sinful little bitches that's why!

Ken Ham basking in the ignorance that his crappy beard covers his pock marked face.

So Ken Ham, who tells children that dinosaurs and people totally used to hang together, read about a lecture given by a certain Dr. Scott Simpson, who is a Professor in the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy.

According to Dr. Scott the reason it hurts like the dickens when women make little people is because:

“One reason is that we have evolved to walk upright and the human pelvis has tried to accommodate that. Also the human brain has grown, which makes for proportionately bigger heads and a more difficult time getting through the birth canal.”

That by the way is exactly what I was taught in my college biology class as well.  And it is supported by virtually everything that I have read since.

But clearly that is because I have been reading textbooks, and THAT, according to Ken Ham, is NOT where one finds the answer:

So bigger brains and upright walking—that’s why women supposedly have pain and difficulty in childbirth. And that answer is just totally wrong! In fact, anyone who can read the Bible can find out the true answer to that question. 

Because Eve took the fruit (being deceived by the devil), we are told what God did: 

To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children’ (Genesis 3:16) 

And God reminds us in Romans 8 that because of our sin in Adam, 

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:22) 

Evolved bigger brains are not the reason for why there is pain in childbirth—we could say it’s because of fallen brains!

So there you science loving smarty britches. Now you know the truth about painful childbirth according to the superstitious imaginings of an ancient people who believed that the sky was a body of water with the moon, stars, and sun trapped in it.

And that should be a lesson to you ladies that making men eat apples when they totally would never do that if you did not trick them with your feminine wiles, can lead to incredible pain and probably stretch marks as well.

So the next time you are screaming with pain because of a little parasite slithering out of your nether regions, remember that it is not because you are a highly evolved species at the top of the food chain, but rather because you are sinful will vixens that are wholly responsible for the fall of man.

Man Christian men have it made! Blaming all of societies ills on women and everything. I think I'm beginning to see the attraction.

(H/T to The Friendly Atheist.)

Is Antonin Scalia a young earth Creationist?

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Justice Antonin Scalia spoke on Thursday at his granddaughter’s graduation from a Catholic high school in Bethesda, Maryland. During the speech, however, the sitting Supreme Court justice offered a subtle nod to young earth creationism, the belief that that the earth was created by God and is only several thousand years-old. 

“Class of 2015, you should not leave Stone Ridge High School thinking that you face challenges that are at all, in any important sense, unprecedented,” Scalia said, adding that “Humanity has been around for at least some 5,000 years or so, and I doubt that the basic challenges as confronted are any worse now, or alas even much different, from what they ever were.” 

Humanity began to develop much more than 5,000 years ago. Early human ancestors began to diverge from the chimpanzee lineage about six million years ago. The first members of the species Homo sapiens are believed to have lived in Africa about 100,000 years ago, and cave paintings and other evidence of human culture exist that are believed to have been created 50,000 years ago. 

Young earth creationists generally believe that God created the earth within the last 10,000 years. This is a fringe view, however, within Scalia’s Catholic faith. In 1950, Pope Pius XII wrote in a letter to bishops that the Catholic church “does not forbid” research or discussions regarding “the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter.” More recently, in 1996, Pope John Paul II wrote a similar letter to bishops saying that evolution is “more than a hypothesis.”

Remember this idiot is not simply a judge in traffic court, he is a justice on the freaking Supreme Court!

And let me remind everybody that if a Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, or Mike Huckabee wins the presidency in 2016 that he will be joined, or replaced, by others just as ignorant and backward thinking as he is.

Some very nutritional food for thought this morning.