Daily Dose o' Comfort: Man comes from the soil – the proof is we share six common constituents!

It's becoming increasingly hard to read Ray Comfort's daily posts without bursting out in pure derisory laughter. Seriously. The complete absence of any critical thinking or even remote signs of intelligence have me continually baffled – though mostly just amused.

Now, Comfort examines the Biblical claim that humans were created from the Earth and its soil (always fun, Biblical literalism is). And what's his "proof" that mankind was indeed molded from the dirt? That we share six common elements.

Just wait 'til you read it – it's even more mind-boggling.

Right from the very first paragraph he says something completely stupid and contradictory, and this time I honestly did let slip an amused guffaw just reading it:

It was eminent scientist, Stephen Hawking, who said, "There have been various ideas, but for me the most attractive is that the universe was spontaneously created out of absolutely nothing." So it’s not too difficult to take that a step further and believe that it was God who spontaneously created the heavens and the earth.

Uh – what the hell? No, Hawking specifically said "out of absolutely nothing"! What part of "from absolutely nothing" translates into "Goddidit"!?

And now, onto Comfort's unique brand of reasoning that allows him to demonstrate how humans come directly from the soil:

But the Book of Genesis goes on to tell us that God then made man from the soil of the earth. Such a thought seems a scientific impossibility. However, according to Yale university, the elements that make up the soil are:

1. Potassium, 2. Calcium, 3. Magnesium, 4. Phosphorous, 5. Iron, and 6. Manganese .

If God made the human body from the soil, it make sense that both the soil and the body would be made up of the same elements. Let’s then see if these six elements that are present in the soil are also in the human body:

1. Potassium: "Potassium plays an important role in smooth muscular and cellular functioning, cardiovascular functioning, muscle contractions, nerve transmission, in conversion of glucose into glycogen and muscle building etc."

2. Calcium: "Calcium comes in many forms, and is a whitish substance which is a primary ingredient in things such as chalk, ivory, pearls, and bones. It is known as the fifth most common element in the earth’s crust and is a primary mineral in the human body."

3. Magnesium: "Magnesium is essential to the functioning of the human body because it transmits nerve impulses, causes the contraction of muscles and is integral to healthy development of teeth and bones."

4. Phosphorous: "Phosphorus is present in bones and teeth and combines with calcium to form calcium phosphate which is the substance which gives the skeleton rigidity. It is also present in every cell in the human body and in the body fluids as well."

5. Iron: "Iron is a mineral found in every cell of the body. Iron is considered an essential mineral because it is needed to make part of blood cells."

6. Manganese: "Manganese is an essential element to the human body..."

Is it then a coincidence that the same six elements that are in the soil are also in the human body? That’s what you have to figure out before death takes you into eternity . . . when your body decomposes and turns back to the soil, from which it came.

Nearly impossible to read that with a straight face, isn't it?

Sure, those basic six elements are found both in soil and in the human body. But, um – they're also found in animals. And bugs. And trees. And mountains, plains, rivers and oceans. I'll even bet some distant planets have 'em (though I'm not certain, lacking in astrophysicist degrees as I am). That's because they are incredibly basic elements of nature, elements that constitute most of the known world around us. The fact that we also include them is proof of absolutely nothing, other than that we come from this world and not some strange alternate dimension where potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and manganese don't exist naturally.

But that's not the stupidest aspect of his claims. The problem with Comfort's assertions that us containing these six basic elements constitutes proof we come directly from the soil, is that we – and other lifeforms in general – also hold many, many other elements within our bodies. A few seconds of basic biological research will show this. And those are elements not found in the soil, nor found via combinations of earthen constituents. They are unique to biological tissue and life.

Saying that humans and soil having the same six elements is proof of our Creation is tantamount to claiming the Earth comes from the Sun because they also share common chemical and physical elements. It doesn't necessarily prove anything, though, does it now?

(I'm also tempted to point out how humans do not return to the soil per se as he claims, instead undergoing very complex processes of decomposition and basically becoming mulch, but that's time wasted, really.)

Continued ...»

Lying for Jesus, with fraudery!

Remember that ridiculous "Proclamation of Morality" from godbot Oklahoma rep. Sally Kern? You know, the one that basically pinned the blame for all the evils in America on abortion, porn, homosexuals and a lack of Bible-thumpers? Well, it's gaining momentum as it's collected a few signatures from government officials – or at least, it would be, if it weren't a complete fraud:

Now, a new controversy has taken center stage involving The Baptist Messenger, a weekly paper with about 68,000 subscribers put out by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. The publication reprinted the proclamation in its July 16 edition, complete with state seal and a signature by Governor Brad Henry and Secretary of State Susan Savage.

"It is not anything that the state is sponsoring, so to see it on such an official document that we filed is really surprising," Savage said.

Savage's office has to verify the governor's signature on all proclamations and affix the seal. Savage believes the paper took another proclamation signed on July 2 and merged the bottom half with the Kern proclamation.

"I think it's unfortunate especially when it's something that's potentially controversial to have there be any misrepresentation of the state's official position on it," Savage said.

So Bible-thumpers are trying to pass a dubious Christofascist proclamation for (their screwed-up version of) morality via fraudery and forging government officials' names onto the paper? Yeah, I'm shocked too.

Now that the story's been blown wide open the godbots are, of course, backpedaling furiously, claiming that it was just a mistake:

The paper issued a statement saying, "the artwork used was from previous editions of the paper and was used without the consent of the governor and secretary of state."

That's just stupid. So they admit that, on some previous version of the article, they'd purposefully and deliberately Photoshopped the officials' names onto the paper whilst fully knowing they didn't have their consent. Which means ... nothing at all. Other than they flat out lied. Again, how surprising.

Below is a picture of the actual publication itself, courtesy of Bruce Prescott from Mainstream Baptist via Ed Brayton:

Those names do indeed look so accidental, don't they?

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Continued ...»

What it sounds like when Glenn Beck is contradicted – and doesn't like it

Warning to listeners of Glenn Beck's show: don't contradict him. He might pull an O'Reilly on your ass and start screaming like a hysterical old lady:

"I'm gonna lose my mind today!!"

Moot issue, Glenn ... One needs to have a mind to lose it.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Continued ...»

Stupid Quote of the Day: Comfort and the correct answer

Most of Ray Comfort's latest post is him going on and on about how nothing could've come from nothing (*sigh*), but this little quote is of some amusement for those who can think for a few moments:

I am happy to acknowledge that answers have been given to explain the "nothing created everything" dilemma, and I choose to believe that those answers are wrong. There's nothing to refute.

Once again, Comfort shows signs that he and logic are simply incompatible on an atomic level. There is no such thing as "believing" whether a given answer is right or wrong. It just is (either right or wrong). And in this particular case, the answers he was given (which I assume run along the lines of "Atheism doesn't TRY to explain where everything came from so it's a moot dilemma as the origin of the Universe is a totally different field than one's beliefs regarding deities") were most assuredly right.

Continued ...»

Another crappy religious sighting

Okay, you can shoot me for the atrocious pun later, but you gotta admit it's the best this silly story deserves. A family in Texas claims that a smear of bird shit on their pickup truck is actually ... well, can't you tell?:

Religious kookery from Texas? Who woulda thunk it?

(via Pharyngula)

Continued ...»

Stupid Quote of the Day: Mariano on abiogenesis

From the eternally unenlightened owner of Atheism is Dead:

The apparently, quaint, ignorant and superstitious notion that God created humans from soil is replaced by atheism with the supposedly scientifically enlightened notion that human life can trace its lineage back to lightning striking a swamp, or the backs of crystals, or bubbling deep ocean vents, or aliens, or, or, or…see this link for a paroosal^[1] of such theories.

What is noteworthy is that the Bible provides a scientific prediction that human bodies are made of the stuff of the Earth.

Holy hell. First with the egregious misconceptions about abiogenesis and related theories, which is embarrassingly bad enough – and then he claims that the Bible's views on Creationism are ... "scientific"?

Is this sort of writing enough to qualify someone as clinically insane?

[1] I think he meant "perusal".

Continued ...»

Because donating to an organization that specifically helps the world is a bad thing, apparently

Or that's what Mariano, the eternally Christian-Persecution-Complex-afflicted host from Atheism is Dead, is advocating in his latest post about the (now-)evil American Humanist Association. His entire screed can be resumed by two points: "All atheists want is money, as is proven by their sites boasting donation options!", and "They dare to say prayer isn't a requirement for a better world? THEY HATE CHRISTIANITY!!!". Yup, that about sums it up.

Just like any atheist organization’s website the first thing you notice as close to the top of the page as possible of the American Humanist Association website are the words “donate now”—actually, it is written thusly, “DONATE NOW.”

Erm – right. Because no groups other than atheist ones ask for donations. The donation button for the Red Cross website is just a graphical, programming and functional typo, really. Either that, or they're a horrible ANTI-CHRISTIANITY group in disguise, aren't they.

What a wackjob. And I'm restraining myself, with great difficulty, from falling out of my chair laughing, as I always do whenever a Christian comes up and whines about atheist or humanist groups calling for donations when the Vatican, the very core of the majority of Christianity and a group supposedly condemned to poverty via their oaths, is one of the wealthiest places in the world, and when churches ask for their own variant on "donations" during every single mass. It's downright hilarious.

And, flaunting his Christian Persecution Complex ever the more:

The new billboards are to read,

Want a Better World? Prayer not Required

And another anti-Christian support group rears its ugly head in the form of the American Humanist Association.

So just mentioning that you don't have to be a praying fanatic to make the world a better place (which for one thing would mean you'd actually be out there changing it rather than shacked up inside praying for change) is anti-Christian? Wow.

I particularly like one of the comments his FAIL-full post has received, from PersonalFailure:

I love that churches expect 10% of gross from their members, but atheists are the greedy ones.

muches lulz.

Indeed. Poor little Christians – so easy to laugh at.

Continued ...»

For those who think Texas public schools suck: do worry

They're about to get a whole lot worse.

The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.

Three reviewers, appointed by social conservatives, have recommended revamping the K-12 curriculum to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history. Two of them want to remove or de-emphasize references to several historical figures who have become liberal icons, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall.

Yup. No-good "liberal" figures such as Chávez (who revolutionized and vastly ameliorated the working conditions of thousands) and Marshall (first Black to serve on the US Supreme Court ever) are thrown out the window, and the rest of the curriculum emphasizes how America is Christian at heart and how it was founded with biblical standards in mind (which, as is becoming increasingly exasperating to point out, IT WASN'T as it was founded upon HUMANISTIC morals and values such as right to life, liberty, security, etc.). Just fucking perfect. As if schools in Texas couldn't be shittier. (I know. I've been there.)

Apparently these "conservative reviews" (or "wingnut hacks") state that the separation of powers set forth in the Constitution, the "checks and balances" system, is actually – get this – a scriptural interpretation from the Bible about "original sin" (ie. that all men are inherently sinful), which they dub "radical depravity" (owch). Sorry, religious nuts, but it doesn't take original sin to make a single unified government a very bad idea, hence requiring a bicameral Congress at best. It's called human nature. (Which is what nuts interpret as a result of original sin, I guess.)

The curriculum, they say, should clearly present Christianity as an overall force for good -- and a key reason for American exceptionalism, the notion that the country stands above and apart.

"America is a special place and we need to be sure we communicate that to our children," said Don McLeroy, a leading conservative on the board. "The foundational principles of our country are very biblical.... That needs to come out in the textbooks."

...

Shut up, Don.

Below are some (but, sadly, not all) of the suggested and anticipated changes that are winging their way into Texas classrooms.

• Replace Thurgood Marshall with Harriet Tubman or Sam Houston
• Delete Anne Hutchinson from a list of colonial leaders
• Delete César Chávez from a list of figures who modeled active participation in the democratic process
• Include more study of religious revival movements
• Replace references to America's "democratic values" with "republican" values"

A couple of the other suggestions make a bit of sense – such as emphasizing the study of original documents as opposed to textbooks from authors that merely represent the authors' interpretations of said original documents, or rewording references from minorities' "contributions" to society, to their "role" in society. But the rest – the ones listed above – are just batshit stupid. Nothing but another stupid and disingenuous attempt at removing those Evil Liberals references and their positive impact on society whilst boasting about how great religion is and how America is a Christian nation.

It's positively vomit-inducing to realize this bullshit is what's gonna be crammed into schoolchildren's heads for years to come.

(via Forever In Hell)

Continued ...»

Ph34r the unnatural man-beasts!!

Rethuglicans are once again beating on that dead (and thoroughly rotted-through) horse of human-animal hybrids, claiming that the science-fiction scenario of creating and growing humans with wings or cats that can talk is now becoming a reality in labs and that it must be stopped. Because, you know, humans (and their purity) are sacred and all that.

Led by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), 19 Republicans and 1 Democrat introduced a bill yesterday that would prevent U.S. researchers from developing embryos that use both human and animal material, a controversial practice underway in the UK.

Brownback has long been an opponent of stem cell research and human cloning, yet the idea of human-animal hybrids has gotten little media attention.

"What was once only science fiction is now becoming a reality, and we need to ensure that experimentation and subsequent ramifications do not outpace ethical discussion and societal decisions," Brownback said last year when he introduced similar legislation. "History does not look kindly on those who violate the dignity of the human person."

Oh dear, a Republican who has no idea what the hell he's talking about and is clearly completely clueless regarding science? My, what a shock.

Unfortunately, they've even managed to make the bill bipartisan by enlisting Dumocrat Sen. Mary Landrieu who, in line with Brownback's stupidity, has had this nugget of brilliance to say:

"Here in the United States, we simply cannot open the door to the unethical blending of humans and animals, which the British government seems intent on doing," Landrieu said the last time she introduced similar legislation. "It creates an unnatural species and is a clear line we cannot cross."

Always nice to add a little tinge of xenophobia to attract idiot conservative votes. But the truth of the matter is that this bill fails catastrophically for two crucial reasons: a), no-one has any intention of, or sees any real interest in, creating man-animal hybrids the kinds of which the bill speaks about (and even if they did, the knowledge and technology needed for such an undertaking is still decades and decades away at best), and b) this Brownback bill of stupidity would illegalize many modern life-saving medical operations and treatments, notably the practice of xenografts (taking a small part of some animal – an organ, or a bit of tissue – and implanting it in a human when no human alternatives are available).

It would also render illegal all the research being done that has anything to do at all, however loosely, with the blending of human and animal cells, gametes, etc. It's a highly crucial body of experimentation and it has already unlocked many secrets that we couldn't have figured out before; for more info or examples, I refer you to PZ Myers' post on the subject, where he details some of the types of work that specifically require the use of both human and animal cells and parts.

This is obviously yet another attempt by Rethuglicans (and that one dumb Democrat) to try and elevate the human species to a sacred, untouchable, revered level amongst the order of living things in the world. As long as this mindset that humans are better than everything else in the world exists, we will see idiotic legislature such as this being peddled through – and we will keep having to deny it each and every time in order to protect good science.

I must admit that a hypothetical, future world where "anthros" (or whatever term would be most appropriate) live amongst humans and the two species share a society together does evoke a particularly strong and interesting imaginative image in my mind; maybe it's just because I love animals, am particularly imaginative, or because I like furry artwork too much (oy), but a world where both humans and hybrids coexist peacefully (assuming humanity had matured a bit by then and stopped blowing itself up at the slightest opportunity) is quite an attractive one to me. But again, that's likely just me (though if anyone else would like that I encourage you to "come out" in the comments :P), and at any rate, that is a vision that is decades, or even centuries, from ever being even remotely plausible, much less routine or normal.

(via Pharyngula)

Continued ...»

After a fairy carnival, a lawsuit targeting a genie

People will believe in the darnedest things. Example, just days after a report came along of that incredibly silly fairy festival, now I'm hearing of a Saudi family who are suing a genie for allegedly harassing them.

Maybe I need to repeat that. A family of adults are dragging a mythical, invisible spirit into court. They're claiming it stole their cellphones, left threatening voicemails, and threw them rocks when they left their house at night.

Don't bother reading it a third time. It won't make any more sense.

"We have to verify the truthfulness of this case despite the difficulty of doing so," Sheikh Amr Al Salmi, the head of the court, told Al-Watan. "What makes this case and complaint more interesting is that it wasn't filed by just one person. Every member of the family is part of this case."

The family, which has lived in the same house near the holy city of Medina for 15 years, said it became aware of the spirit in the past two years.

"We began hearing strange noises," the head of the family, who requested anonymity, told Al-Watan. "In the beginning, we didn't take it seriously, but after that, stranger things started happening and the children got really scared when the genie began throwing stones."

A local charity has moved the family to a temporary residence while a court investigates, the newspaper said.

In Islamic cultures, a belief in genies, or jinns, is common.

But as we know that commonness in no way equates to evidence or a logical argument, there's nothing that should hold us from calling this family a bunch of severely paranoid kooks. Maybe they should check their neighborhood for annoying kids or something who like to pester folks like that. Or install security cameras to catch the actual culprits on tape before accusing the acts on an imaginary being. Just a tip.

(via The Agitator)

Continued ...»

Ray Comfort on the Evils of Public Schools

It seems the ignoramus has never been to school. Because no-one who's so much as spent a few days at a public school can say such ludicrous things as he has.

First off, just a little snippet I found amusing:

"Evolution has been proven despite what your idiot homeskool ‘textbooks’ told you. The only questions are about the details." Ryk

Those who are home schooled usually excel at spelling (it would seem that you weren’t home schooled).

Anyone who doesn't recognize "skool" as a deliberate and exceedingly common misspelling doesn't have the credibility to write about anything.

Granted, by not being educated by the public system, their kids will miss out on learning how to communicate using filthy language. They will also miss out on the use of illegal drugs.

Right. No-one has ever passed through a public school without coming out a drug-addicted delinquent. That's all these public facilities are good for, you know.

[/sarcasm]

Home schooled kids will also miss out on sexual promiscuity, contracting sexually transmitted diseases (one in four U.S. females has a sexually transmitted disease[2]), being bullied, and maybe being shot to death (to date, there have been shootings resulting in the deaths of students in 76 different U.S. public schools). According to the National Conference of State Legislatures an incredible one in five kids in public schools have seriously considered suicide: "19.3 percent of high school students have seriously considered killing themselves."

... What? So it's public schools that encourage teens to have sex (*GASP!*), force girls to contract STDs (so guys don't have STDs?), and force kids to bully others? Public schools encourage school shootings by raving psychopathic lunatics? And, least coherent and logical of all, it's public schools that drive kids to suicide? How deluded and deranged can this guy get?

The rest is just a long and irrational screed against teh Evilz of public schools, so I'll just skip to the very end:

Sadly, millions of impressionable young people have already been brainwashed into believing that evolution is a proven fact, and that all it lacks is "details." How could any theory be proven when there are no details to provide proof? The missing link (the details) is still missing. All evolution believers have is a blind faith in what they have been taught by other believers in the theory, and "evolution did it" isn't good science. It's a pseudo-science. And that’s a fact.

Wow, lots of faults in a single statement. Let's correct that, shall wel?

Sadly Thankfully, millions of impressionable young people have already been brainwashed educated into believing that evolution is a proven fact, and that all it lacks is "details." How could any theory not be proven when there are no details endless amounts and types of evidence to provide proof? The missing link (the details) is still missing a misconception, as there are no "missing links". All evolution believers have is a blind faith rational belief in what they have been taught by other believers in the theory fact, and "evolution did it" isn't good science. It's a pseudo-science statement of an undeniable and endlessly demonstrable reality. And that’s a fact.

Some of it's a little cheesy, but it's the best I can do with the material given, no? You can't turn mud into marble.

Continued ...»

A case of uncertain identity

Something interesting happened during the opening of Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination hearing:

WASHINGTON -- An anti-abortion protester briefly disrupted the opening of Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination hearing.

The outburst came during Sen. Dianne Feinstein's opening statement Monday. A man in room interrupted her remarks by shouting: "Senator. What about the unborn!" He called abortion "genocide."

Security quickly took him out.

They should've checked the guy's nametag. Sure it wasn't "HANNITY", "LIMBAUGH", "O'REILLY", "BECK", "SAVAGE", or anything like that?

Continued ...»