It’s not a “god particle”. It’s simply a building block of all matter. The Higgs Boson. Why does the media feel the need to dumb their coverage down for the masses by equating everything to a religious metaphor?
You know that all the ignoramuses out there are going to read this and think “See? The purpose of science is to prove the existence of god. That’s what science is all about.”
That’s a question we atheists get from theists. Often. Almost constantly, when we point out a fallacy in their religious thinking, or try to substantiate why we support the 1st Amendment’s proscription against governmental religious displays, or when we simply say we don’t believe in gods. They want to know why we care that they believe in supernatural spirits, or miracles, or Biblical authority, or other unsubstantiated beliefs. What harm do their beliefs cause, and why are we so damn strident about our opposition to them?
Google Reader is a great little service. I have some of my favorite blogs registered there, so that I don’t miss new posts when they are written. I have a few theist blogs that I monitor, and occasionally comment on, because, well, it good to keep track of the “other side”, so to speak.
In about two weeks we will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous naturalists the world has produced – Charles Darwin. As anyone with a little education knows, he is famous for articulating what we now call the Theory of Evolution. And while he doesn’t have exclusive rights to the distinction (Alfred Russel Wallace stumbled upon it at about the same time) he is the one who put flesh on the skeleton of the theory.
The theory has proven to be quite controversial, from the moment Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species. To this day, it evokes incredulity, vituperation, and pure ignorance from people of a religious bent who find that it conflicts with their precious scriptures. Whole movements have arisen dedicated to obliterating the theory from public discourse. Creationism is just such a movement, and is still alive and well despite being repeatedly discredited by one court decision after another, most recently in the Kitzmiller v. Dover decision in Pennsylvania.
SPANISH INQUISITOR 