Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's 'religion' clips

Byzantine Art

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:38:29 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

The nearly forty-year reign of Emperor Justinian I (527–65) heralded extensive territorial expansion and military success for the Byzantine state.

distinguished by an exceptional record of architectural and artistic production

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Fragment of a Floor Mosaic with a Personification of Ktisis

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Two Panels of an Ivory Diptych Announcing the Consulship of Justinian

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Byzantine Art under Islam

The Byzantine empire's interaction with Islamic culture had a profound effect on its art. Islam's rise and military success were the greatest threat to the stability of the empire and its territories

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Byzantine Ivories

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Byzantium (ca. 330–1453)

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Constantinople after 1261

The Crusades (1095–1291)

The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages

The Face in Medieval Sculpture

Frescoes and Wall Painting in Late Byzantine Art

Hagia Sophia, 532–37

Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium

Monasticism in Medieval Christianity

Banking with Jesus is a bad idea

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:40:22 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Integrity Bank in Georgia decided to build their business model on Christian principles.

Integrity's employees regularly prayed before meetings or in branch lobbies with customers, while the bank gave 10 percent of its net income to charities.
"We felt if we prayed and obeyed God's word and did what He asked, that He would help us be successful," the bank's founder, Steve Skow, told the Journal-Constitution in 2005.

Chalk this one up to another example of how religion fails and we really ought to base our decisions on reality: the bank failed. You really can't rely on that God fella, you know.

Perhaps one contributing factor was their obedience to that other Christian principle, greed.

CEO Steve Skow earned $1.8 million that year, while senior lender and executive vice president Doug Ballard earned $847,222. A typical community bank CEO, banking consultants said, earn roughly $300,000 per year.

And say…isn't there something in the Bible that prohibits lending at interest, too?

A question science can't answer?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:49:55 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

"Can anybody think of a question science can't answer?"

"Is there a God?" shot back a boy near the window.

"Good," said Mr. Campbell, an Anglican who attends church most Sundays. "Can't test it. Can't prove it, can't disprove it. It's not a question for science."

I despise that chicken-hearted answer. There are two reasonable ways to address that. One is to accept the usual open-ended, undefined vagueness of the god entity and point out that the reason it can't be answered is that it is a bad question — it's not even wrong. Science doesn't answer it, but then no discipline can, because it's a garbage question like "what color are invisible elephants?" If that's what window-boy intends with his petty little gotcha, he deserves to have the inanity of his idea disparaged.

The other approach

pin the question down. What god? What actions has it taken in the natural world? How does it influence us specifically? Then you can tackle that god with science by testing the purported effects it has

Tags: religion, science, atheism, god

Maps of War

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:21:30 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: mapsofwar.com.nyud.net:8080

Maps-of-War presents a special list of the best
multimedia war maps from the world wide web.

Play-by-play history of WWII from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 to the unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945.

>> - Go to Site - >

Simplistic, yet effective, animations of the major battles of the Pacific Theatre. The animation of The Battle for Iwo Jima comes highly recommended; this map portrays the lead-up and the invasion of the island including the locations where Medal of Honor recipients earned their decorations.

> The Battle for Iwo Jima

>> - Go to Site - >

Detailed summary of the crisis in Darfur including key facts, timelines, and an interactive country map.

>> - Go to Site - >

Clip Source: mapsofwar.com.nyud.net:8080

Iraq

Clip Source: mapsofwar.com.nyud.net:8080

More Sweet Dreams: the Womb project

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:22:17 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Thanks to John W for initial idea. I thought this project may interest some. I should know by now that flickr doesn't like its images clipped.

Clip Source: www.mommytoo.com

Clip Source: blackcelebkids.com

Clip Source: pro.corbis.com

Clip Source: www.savvy-baby-gear.com

Clip Source: flickr.com

Clip Source: op-for.com

Clip Source: www.jupiterimages.com

Clip Source: flickr.com

Clip Source: sakurabloombabyslings.wordpress.com

Clip Source: raymondlauchengco.wordpress.com

Clip Source: i173.photobucket.com

Clip Source: pro.corbis.com

Clip Source: science.uwe.ac.uk

Clip Source: www.artinliverpool.com

Planet Art eXchange 'The Womb' Project

Dubbed ‘The Womb’, the project is a monumental installation designed by a renown designer and will be created by artists over 4 years’ period, it will explore the birth of our consciousness and the rise of our differentiations. By placing the artistic expressions of our differences in the very core of the womb, the artwork invites the viewer to look at our differences with fresh eyes, foetus eyes. For the initiated viewer, there’s no more ‘I’ and ‘He/She’, but only one connected complex being that embraces the most contradicting views of the world.

Clip Source: www.pax08.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.pax08.com

Described by her curator Lotfi Kaabi as an artistic Olympic torch, this wholly autonomous and nomad structure of monumental proportions, the collaborative creation of hundreds of established and up and coming artists, will traverse continents over a four year period exploring the birth of our consciousness and the rise of our differentiations: culture, race, religion, politics and socio-economics.

Tags: womb project

Douglas Adams on religion and puddles

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:53:58 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: talkingincircles.net

. . . imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in’an interesting hole I find myself in’fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!’ This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it’s still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.

From a Speech given by Adams at Digital Biota 2, Cambridge, UK, 1998. Later quoted in Richard Dawkin’s Eulogy for Douglas Adams.

The Genius of Charles Darwin

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:23:04 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

It's on the internets. The opening is something that I can't imagine flying by on American television: he simply says that evolution is a vastly superior explanation to anything religion has ever provided.

[Video]

Tags: science, biology, evolution, darwin, dawkins

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:21:33 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: www.amexpat.com

This famous book recounts extreme mass delusion (the "madding of crowds") which has periodically afflicted large groups of otherwise normal people over the centuries, not infrequently those living in the most "civilized" of nations.

These group manias, especially those involving financial "bubbles", starkly and darkly reveal humanity at its very worst. (The Salem witch trials obviously come to mind — and national elections, of course!)

Here we present Volume One, the most popularly known and widely read.

Index

Index National Delusions
The Mississippi Scheme
The South Sea Bubble
The Tulipomania
Relics
Modern Prophecies
Popular Admiration for Great Thieves
Influence of Politics and Religion on the Hair and Beard
Duels and Ordeals
The O.P. Mania
Popular Follies in Great Cities
The Love of the Marvellous and the Disbelief of the True
The Thugs, or Phansigars

Year: 1841

Tags: books

A secular world is a sane world - Pat Condell

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:28:33 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.patcondell.net

Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, welcome to my website.

HERE'S MY LATEST VIDEO

Tags: atheism, religion, secularism, islam

Is atheism a religion?

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:58:36 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.theatheistmama.com

Start your own religion (and win prizes!!)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:32:27 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

The Washington Post’s Style Invitational column has a contest this week that some of you may want to enter:

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul is flung onto a roof and just stays there.

And perhaps that's where the soul of the famously atheistic George Carlin is currently residing. If one can believe a single phrase occurring in dozens of obviously copied Internet hits, Carlin "invented the parody religion Frisbeetarianism for a newspaper contest." Unfortunately, it wasn't ours. Fortunately, it's your turn: This week: Coin a religion or belief system and tell us its basic tenet or distinguishing characteristic.

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

I’m sure Pastafarianism would apply as well.

Clip Source: www.itchstudios.com

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Winner gets the Inker, the official Style Invitational trophy. Second place receives "Brides Behaving Badly," a collection of wedding photos from what must have been the alumnae of the Tonya Harding School of Elegant Deportment and Apparel.

entries by e-mail to losers@washpost.com or by fax to 202-334-4312

Create your own timelines (and more)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:41:30 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Very good history site

Clip Source: www.historyworld.net

TimeSearch

Search the Web through Timelines

OCEAN Index
An index to history on the net

Clip Source: www.historyworld.net

WORLD

Africa

America

Latin America

North America

Asia

Australasia

Europe

British Isles

ALL

Architecture, literature, music, the arts

Regions, empires, nations, politics

Religion

Social history, economics, travel

Science, technology, medicine

War, weapons

Children's questions about God

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:39:53 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: new.iheyo.org

ten questions (with sub-questions) that bright kindergartners have asked, thought about asking, or should have thought about

1. Who created God?

This is the first question my Rabbi refused to answer, and now I understand why

2. What was God doing before He created humans?

3. Since we are created in God’s image, does He look or act like us?

4. Why did God stop talking to humans (me)?

If people today claim that they have regular conversations with God, we think they are crazy. Were those so-called ancient prophets also crazy?

5. Why do bad things happen to good people?

6. Does God ever change His mind when we pray?

7. Why is belief so important to God when He judges us?

8. How much better is the worst person in heaven than the best person in hell?

9. Will I be the same person in heaven that I am on earth?

If I can sin on earth, but not in heaven, then I will be a different person

10. Why are there other religions?

After all these millennia, can’t a benevolent God help us get it right?

Tags: religion, atheism, children, god

One More Time for the Learning Impaired

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:14:20 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: It always helps to reiterate for the scientific challanged among us (and in the US that's a majority of the population) the difference between law, theory, guess and wishful thinking. Pay attention people, my patience is running out. And yes, you'll have to read the whole article to reap it's rewards. Learning does have it's costs so ante up! Don't let ignorance keep you sounding like a complete idiot.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

Mailbag: Creation vs. Evolution

The Theory of Evolution is not a scientific law or a law of biology. A scientific law must be 100% correct. Failure to meet only one challenge proves the law is wrong. This web page will prove that the Theory of Evolution fails many challenges, not simply one. The Theory of Evolution will never become a law of science because it is wrought with errors. This is why it is called a theory, instead of a law.

Sometimes I think that it would be almost an understatement to say that people who are in denial about evolution are also in denial about science generally. It's almost inevitable that someone trying to defend some form of creationism will demonstrate some misunderstandings about science and above we see what are not only some of the most common but also some of the most fundamental misunderstandings. I don't think it would be going too far to say that Cris has no idea how science proceeds or even what science really is.

Tags: evolution, creationism, fundamentalism, religion, education

Bishop Refuses Church Wedding to Impotent Paraplegic

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:07:02 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

In Italy, a 26-year-old paraplegic has been denied a church wedding ceremony because the car accident which caused his disability also left him impotent. Technically, this was the appropriate decision according to church law — which ultimately helps demonstrates just how inhumane Christianity can be. What can you expect from a religion which places more emphasis on the demands of an unknown deity over the needs of very real people?

This incident is also important because it represents an unusual amount of consistency among people who are otherwise complaining about gay marriage because such unions are "unnatural" for their inability to lead to procreation. Logically speaking, opposition to gay marriage requires opposition to any union which also cannot lead to procreation, but few anti-gay bigots are willing to go that far.

Here, though, we can see what it's like when such religious ideology is adhered to consistently —