Clipmarks | JohnWaterman's 'superstition' clips

Destroying the argument that Einstien was a believer

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:05:05 GMT

clipped by: Oortcloud
clipper's remarks: I think this puts THAT failed argument to rest.

In January of 1954, just a year before his death, Albert Einstein wrote the following letter to philosopher Erik Gutkind after reading his book, 'Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt'. Apparently Einstein had only read the book due to repeated recommendation by their mutual friend Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer. The letter was bought at auction in May 2008, for £170,000. Unsurprisingly, one of the unsuccessful bidders was Richard Dawkins.

The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. ... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition.

Catholicism and superstition 2

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:01:53 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.silive.com

Advance photo/Jan Somma-HammelA gold reliquary containing a piece of skin from St. Anthony of Padua is the centerpiece of a prayer service at St. Francis Friary.

Hundreds of Staten Islanders showed up at the St. Francis Friary on Todt Hill today to welcome the relics of St. Anthony of Padua.

A gold reliquary containing a piece of the 13th century saint's skin was the centerpiece of a prayer service led by the Rev. Philip Blaine of the friary. The Rev. Mario Conte, who traveled with the relics from Italy, gave a talk about the saint, a Franciscan who was revered as a theologian and preacher. Afterward, people were invited to venerate the relics, with many stroking or kissing the reliquary and touching Bibles to it.

Catholicism and superstition

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:43:23 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Pot, Kettle?

Clip Source: blog.newhumanist.org.uk

Imagine our delight when we read this story in today's Guardian - the Catholic Church in America has banned the use of reiki in Catholic institutions, branding it "unscientific" and "inappropriate". The Conference of Catholic Bishops has warned that reiki, an alternative therapy involving the channelling of "energy" from the therapist to the patient, "lacks scientific credibility" and also risks exposing people to "malevolent forces", a notion which is of course hugely credible and strongly supported by scientists, particularly those working in Malevolent Forces and Evil Spirits research departments around the world

"A Catholic who puts his or her trust in reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition

Superstition corrupts one's worship of God by turning one's religious feeling and practice in a false direction."

Unfortunately, New Humanist was unable to find a reiki practitioner to comment on the scientific credibility of the Vatican stance on condoms and the spread of HIV...

Alcoholics Anonymous Not As Helpful as Secular Alternatives

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:44:57 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

I’ve written about the topic before: Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs which require participants to submit to a higher power (PDF).

You would think that, because AA is so famously known and its program so widely used, it would at least be effective… right?

New research says otherwise.

So what works better than AA’s 12 steps?

secular psychotherapy. Because of the enduring popularity of AA and similar programs that involve a spiritual component, Miller and his team expected the patients in the spiritual group to do better than those in the secular group. They were wrong — at least in the short term

it took longer to see improvement among those in the spiritual group

those who received spiritual guidance reported being significantly more anxious and depressed after four months than those who got secular help

Simply put, programs without God/superstition worked better than programs with God/superstition.

God seems to just make the problems worse.

Atheist Politicians

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:52:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: I am by no means a Tory but good for them.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

This is just the craziest thing I ever heard. Politics where you can actually have politicians who don't believe in god, and where you can talk about removing the privileged status of religion from the legislative body, and where all the major political parties have organized representation by freethinkers? Yeah, and they also have gumdrop trees and rivers of chocolate and beer volcanoes, too, I bet. Where is this magical place? Middle Earth, maybe? Nah, it's called England

Many leading Conservative thinkers have not required religious belief or superstition to define their lives or their political views

The creation of the Conservative Humanist Association means that all three major UK political Parties now have associations aligned with the British Humanist Association. We hope that all UK political parties will now recognise that the majority of our people want a more secular political system

Can you imagine a statement like that from either of our major American political parties?

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:52:35 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." So said Albert Einstein, and his famous aphorism has been the source of endless debate

A little known letter written by him

may help to settle the argument

no supporter of religious beliefs, which he regarded as "childish superstitions

he states: "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions

Despite his categorical rejection of conventional religion, Brooke said that Einstein became angry when his views were appropriated by evangelists for atheism. He was offended by their lack of humility and once wrote. "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."

Parents kill their daughter with prayer.

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:45:21 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: If allowing your daughter to die because of a primitive superstition isn't abuse - what is?

Very, very sad.

Clip Source: www.madison.com

An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday.

the girl died from diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body, and she had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness

The girl's parents

attributed the death to "apparently they didn't have enough faith," the police chief said.

They believed the key to healing "was it was better to keep praying. Call more people to help pray," he said.

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected

The parents told investigators their daughter last saw a doctor when she was 3 to get some shots, Vergin said. The girl had attended public school during the first semester but didn't return for the second semester.

three siblings

are still in the home

no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is real!

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:52:16 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Well at least as real as God

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is real!

(Not that you ever doubted.)

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is listed under Non-Fiction in this Toronto library

Tags: religion, atheism, fact, fiction, superstition, pastafarianism, flying spaghetti monster

Homeopathy is bunk.

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:44:56 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

On 1 December, faith healers will meet at Roots & Shoots in south London to discuss how to treat Aids with magic pills. They won't call themselves faith healers, of course, or shamans or juju men. They will present themselves as 'homeopaths': serious men and women whose remedies are as good as conventional medicine

say that 'in just a few days or weeks' African Aids patients he treated became 'symptom-free and able to return to their jobs and schools or to look after their children again'. All in all, the Society of Homeopaths promises to provide 'fascinating insights' for World Aids Day

It can do no such thing. Of all the pseudo-sciences on offer, homeopathy is the most obviously spurious

Yet dismissing homeopathy as quackery given by and for the feeble-minded is surprisingly hard. Anti-elitism dominates our society

might have thought that the medical establishment would make a stand

they happily go along with fake treatments

GPs use homeopaths as a dumping ground for hypochondriacs

Tags: woo, superstition, alternative, crank, aids, homeopathy

Australians!?!!?

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:56:25 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

“Dolphins used to look like humans and lived in Atlantis”

Category: Weirdness
Posted on: October 25, 2007 12:54 PM, by PZ Myers

While the Weekly World News may be on the verge of extinction (although it still seems to be surviving online), at least Pravda labors on to deliver the truth…

Recent studies of Australian scientists indicate that Atlanteans, the people who lived on a legendary island first mentioned by Plato, may have been the ancestors of dolphins.

Huh. Like we're supposed to believe a bunch of Australians.

Tags: pz, myers, atlantis, gobbledigook, superstition, myths, nonsense

Dawkins: Militant-atheistman - my hero!!

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:22:40 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: "no cause for alarm God-boys"

Clip Source: slimeculture.tv

Tags: humour, humor, atheism, religion, evolution, superstition

Tell me again why this isn't child abuse

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:53:55 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Pint-Size Preachers

Young Preachers Say They Save Souls, but Should Someone Save Their Childhoods?

Seven-year-old Samuel Boutwell is an outgoing and well-spoken second grader.

Samuel is a Baptist preacher at a church in his home town

Like many, Samuel said he became a preacher after he was "saved" by Jesus -- he just happened to be 3 years old at the time.

Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest and preacher and a professor of religion at Barnard College, wondered if Samuel's words truly come from divine inspiration. "Is he merely parroting some line…that he gets from a parent, or from a minister, or is it something that comes from the wellspring of the soul?" Balmer asked.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Another child minister, 9-year-old Terry Durham bills himself as the "little man of God.

grandmother, Pastor Sharone Monroe, said that "ever since he was a baby he was layin' hands and praying for people.

Terry calls himself a prophet, not a healer

When asked if he knows how babies are made, Samuel said that he doesn't

Tags: religion, children, abuse, indoctrination, superstition, preaching, gullible

Godchecker

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:52:45 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.godchecker.com

Welcome to Godchecker - your Guide to the Gods

We have more Gods than you can shake a stick at. Godchecker's Mythology Encyclopedia currently features over 2,850 deities.

Browse the pantheons of the world, explore ancient myths, and discover Gods of everything from Fertility to Fluff with the fully searchable Holy Database Of All Known Gods.

THE PANTHEONS

AFRICAN GODS
AUSTRALIAN GODS
AZTEC GODS
CARIBBEAN GODS
CELTIC GODS
CHINESE GODS
EGYPTIAN GODS
FINNISH GODS
GREEK GODS
INCAN GODS
JAPANESE GODS
MAYAN GODS
MESOPOTAMIAN GODS
MIDDLE-EASTERN GODS
NATIVE AMERICAN GODS
NORSE GODS
OCEANIC GODS
ROMAN GODS
SLAVIC and BALTIC GODS
SOUTH AMERICAN GODS
SOUTH-EAST ASIAN

CHRISTIAN SAINTS

Now featuring over 3,400 Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, Demons and Saints!

SAINTS ALIVE! - Hermits and Martyrs now online

By popular demand, we present a bundle of Christian Saints.

Check out the strange stories and comforting peculiarities of notables like St John, St Germanus and St Simeon Stylites

Tags: god, gods, religion, mythology, superstition, saints

Skeptic's Circle 69 - links

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:46:25 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.brentrasmussen.com

Skeptic's Circle (SC #69) - Plain Jane Links List

Here you go!

Steve Snyder from The Socratic Gadfly - World-renowned scientist wants new 9/11 investigation, but unfortunately appears to be adding to conspiracy thinking

Trent M. Toulouse from RationalWiki - Non-Materialist Neuroscience

Whorechurch from My Other Blog Is A Porsche - Conspiracy of Conspiracy Theorists

Greta Christina - Does The Emperor Have Clothes?

Blake Stacey - Stuart Pivar Sues PZ Myers!

Peter A. Lipson, M.D. - Will Vitamin C Save Your Life?

Mark from Denialism Blog - Mythbusting Is Harder Than You Think!

Dr. Martin Rundkvist of Aardvarchaeology - The Intelligence of Game-Playing Software

Richard of Skeptico - The Parsimony of the Multiverse

Orac of Respectful Insolence - How "evidence-based" is evidence-based medicine?

Until next time at the Conspiracy Factory on September 27, 2007. Thanks for letting me host! Get your submissions in!

Tags: skepticism, skeptic, superstition, de-bunking

The British: We want to believe in something.....

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 07:08:54 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: ... but we don't know what, and we can't really be bothered.

Clip Source: friendlyatheist.com

A new poll by YouGov in Britain has some surprising results (emphases mine):

Only 16% of those polled called themselves atheists; 28% believed in God; 26% believed in “something” but were not sure what; and 9% regarded themselves as agnostics - like [poll commissioner John] Humphrys himself, who had a religious upbringing in Wales but calls himself a “doubter”.

He writes: “Even though the dominant faith - by a massive margin – is Christianity, only 17% thought the influence of religion was beneficial. That is even fewer than those who claim that they believe in a personal God.

There was one more interesting result, too:

In the survey 43% said they never prayed, 31% hardly prayed, and 10% prayed every night. “More than half of those who say they believe in a personal God cannot be bothered to pray to him every night,” writes Humphrys.

Humphrys is the author of the forthcoming book In God We Doubt: Confessions of an Angry Agnostic.

Tags: religion, atheism, agnosticism, belief, prayer, superstition, pojj, uk, britain