A headline at The Drudge Report made an absurd claim: "Mankind's belief in evil 'caused by disease'." The headline of the actual article in the UK Daily Star was slightly more ridiculous--it prefaced the unbelievable claim with "Scientists discover..." Both headlines are nothing more than click-bait; the substance of the article doesn't come remotely close to justifying the claims of that sensational headline. In fact. if you actually bother to read the article found at the Daily Star claiming that "Scientists discover mankind's belief in evil caused by disease" what you, the reader, will discover is that scientists haven't said they have discovered any such thing. The only thing Brock Bastian and his team of researchers from the University of Melbourne have actually said is that there seems to be some sort of correlation between geographic locations where diseases were known to be more common and a cultural belief in the existence of demons and evil spirits. Once you get into the real "substance" of the article, you'll find the bold declarations have been considerably watered down by the use of all sorts of conditional words...the backpedaling begins with the article's subtitle that says "A potentially-massive breakthrough in our understanding of evil may have been found." Well, which is it? Has this amazing breakthrough been found, or hasn't it? You won't know for sure unless you read beyond the headline. The headline itself is nothing more than a hook to lure readers into learning about what amounts to simply a secular version of a false cause fallacy based on a … [Read more...]
Transgender bullies
James Younger The Babylon Bee satire website has been on fire lately with any number of hilarious articles such as this or that poking fun at the transgender "issue." I'm guessing they've decided it's better to laugh than cry at what seems to be a growing collective insanity. Once upon a time, I tried to show compassion for the transgender crowd because a social media "friend" who was a biological male but also claimed to be a hermaphrodite had convinced me that he was born that way and had transitioned to become female because he felt more like a she. Because I tend to be a somewhat sympathetic person and didn't want to be labeled transphobic I gave that person the benefit of the doubt, only to eventually see my good will abused and personal religious beliefs attacked. I've always tried to get along with other people and try to show respect for their opinions. I'm also cognizant of the fact I'm not always right, and the possibility exists that I can learn from people with whom I currently disagree. Therefore, my approach to friendship on social media to this point has pretty much been "anything goes." Personally, I'm pretty conservative in my politics, and a Christian according to my faith. But I have "Facebook" friends who are atheists, devout Christians, liberal, conservative, gay, straight, you name it...basically if you want to be my friend, all you have to do is ask. We don't have to agree; we only have to be willing to listen to each other. The scientific facts in regard to the transgender phenomena are rather simple, straight-forward, and inarguable: … [Read more...]
(It’s not) The End of the World as We Know It
Remember seeing these guys at Tyrone's for a $1 cover charge? I am being half-serious when I say it might be my fault that the Georgia Bulldogs lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks last Saturday between the hedges in Athens, Georgia so if you really feel the need to vent your anger at somebody, you can direct it at me. By my own estimation, I committed the cardinal sin of any true Dawg fan (and especially an alumnus) of the University of Georgia--I took a game against an SEC opponent for granted. I was so sure that Georgia would easily win the game that I decided to leave for Savannah and listen on the radio instead of watching it at home, as I normally would. Because I'm old enough to remember the pure joy as a child of listening to Larry Munson's famous call of the 80-yard touchdown pass from tight end Richard Appleby to wide receiver Gene Washington on the "end around" pass, the idea of listening to the game "live" and then watching the highlights on replay had some appeal to me. I guess I was feeling a little bit nostalgic. The bottom line is that I had a choice, and in retrospect I chose unwisely. I probably should have stayed home and watched the game, and drove to Savannah later that night. Should have, would have, could have. I should have known better. Because I have played sports myself for much of my life, I've always been a little superstitious about sticking to a routine on Game Day. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to accept that some things are a little more important than who wins or loses a football game and it's important to keep our … [Read more...]
When snowflakes melt
I have this serious love/hate relationship with social media. I love staying in contact with family and friends scattered all over the world. But social media can be a horrific waste of my time, and I don't think of myself as retired or ready to die. As the poet Robert Frost famously wrote, "But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." I am self-employed as a writer. If I don't sell a book or a short story, I don't earn any income. If I waste hours upon hours each day engaged in asinine, juvenile arguments with presumably adult men and women about religion, politics, or Georgia Bulldog football, I'm wasting hours of precious time that should be dedicated to my work. Earlier this year I threatened to quit Facebook entirely, having purged my Twitter account, with the idea that I would focus all of my attention on professional work, instead of writing for fun or worse, arguing with somebody who has assumed they know more about a subject than I do. However, publishers in this digital era of mass communications expect writers to develop and maintain a social media presence. To my eternal surprise, my wife also opposed a permanent self-imposed ban from Facebook, even though I did manage to delete my membership from all the large forums where most of the arguments seemed to take place. This left me in a bit of a quandary. Could I remain on social media, without getting sucked into a black hole of absurd arguments? The challenge may not be insurmountable, but it has certainly proved to be formidable. Today has been a prime example of why I "hate" … [Read more...]
Liberal limbo
How low can you go? According to Roman Catholic theology, limbo is a place where the souls of people who haven’t been baptized into the Christian faith must go when they die. Since we are going to be talking about human beings and I know I'm not supposed to judge other people, this article won't be speculating about whether or not liberal extremists will end up in heaven, hell, or limbo. I don't think limbo is the same thing as purgatory, but I'm not a Catholic, and therefore not an expert on the faith by any means. Perhaps more relevant, there is also a dance contest that originated in Trinidad called the limbo. Participants bend over backwards and compete to see who can go the lowest under a horizontal bar that continues to be dropped slightly with each successful pass. That definition of the word seems to be more apropos for this article, so we'll stick with the conceptual image of political dancing under a bar constantly getting closer to the ground. Liberal extremists hate everyone who isn't a liberal extremists, which includes conservatives, religious people, the police, and most other authority figures. Liberal extremists include most Greens, radical environmentalists, Antifa, BAMN, Black Lives Matter, the "Squad" in Congress, an overwhelming majority of the lamestream media, and a disturbing number of RINOs. In my entire lifetime, I’ve never seen the degree of hatred and disrespect shown toward a U.S. president that could compare to what has been said by television and print “journalists” about President Donald Trump. Nine out of every ten stories … [Read more...]
