Goodbye, secular humanism. Hello, secular…cyborgism?
I’m excited for what technological advances the future will bring, but I worry that we humans won’t be equipped to deal with the weighty philosophical implications of said advances.
Hat-tip to Luke Muehlhauser for the video.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals thinks so. On March 11th, the appellate court overturned its controversial 2002 decision that found the “under God” unconstitutional. The 2002 case was brought by atheist Michael Newdow, whose daughter was being taught the Pledge in school.
In 2004, the Supreme Court heard Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, an appeal of the ruling, but ultimately dismissed the case. Newdow was not the custodial parent, and thus legal standing.
Because the Supreme Court ducked the debate over the Pledge’s constitutionality, the 9th circuit’s recent decision was the first since 2002 to address it. In a 2-1 decision, they ruled that the phrase “under God” was of a “ceremonial and patriotic nature” and did not constitute an establishment of religion.
This list is brought to you by Common Sense Atheism (one of the best blogs on the web).
“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins
As a general rule, I’m fine with asceticism—the practice of self-denial and abstinence from “worldly” pleasures (food, sex, etc.) in pursuit of religious or spiritual goals. Because asceticism affords the individual more control over one’s self, it often proves more life-affirming than life-denying.
Taken to extremes, though, even moderate forms of asceticism—like fasting—can be dangerous. And for one Florida woman, it was fatal.
And destroy humanity. With the power of their rocking!
David Cope, a UC Santa Cruz emeritus professor, wrote some software that could compose music in the style of the classical greats–Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninov. Emmy, from EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence), could actually write (generate, produce, whatever) scores so convincing–even moving–that scholars of classical music couldn’t tell that they were computer-created. In a sense, Emmy had passed a musical version of the Turing Test. Winning praise from fellow computer scientists and a few musicians, Emmy’s music was so good that it attracted far larger condemnation and criticism.
This article from The New York Times is a must-read, so here it is at length:
Last week, the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck called on Christians to leave their churches if they heard any preaching about social or economic justice because, he claimed, those were slogans affiliated with Nazism and Communism.This week, the Rev. Jim Wallis, a liberal evangelical leader in Washington, D.C., called on Christians to leave Glenn Beck.
“What he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show,” Mr. Wallis, who heads the antipoverty group Sojourners, wrote on his “God’s Politics” blog. “His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern.”
Mr. Beck, in vilifying churches that promote “social justice,” managed to insult just about every mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, African-American, Hispanic and Asian congregation in the country — not to mention plenty of evangelical ones.
From an article in today’s Telegraph:
Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron.
He added that the assault on Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas Eve by a mentally unstable woman and the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the Anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.
“The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences,” said Father Amorth, 85, who has been the Holy See’s chief exorcist for 25 years.
“He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, or even appear to be sympathetic. At times he makes fun of me. But I’m a man who is happy in his work.”
While there was “resistance and mistrust” towards the concept of exorcism among some Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI has no such doubts, Father Amorth said. “His Holiness believes wholeheartedly in the practice of exorcism. He has encouraged and praised our work,” he added.
The evil influence of Satan was evident in the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, with “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon,” Father Amorth said.
I’m a pretty big Star Trek fan. I grew up watching The Next Generation with my dad, then DS9, and I even mostly liked Voyager (awesome premise, mediocre execution). The recent movie was incredibly excellent. But one thing that’s always bugged me about the franchise is how not-at-all-alien all the aliens are.
Vulcans have green blood, but they can still reproduce with humans and make Spock? 95% of the species follow a humanoid body plan? Captain Kirk seduces women from anywhere and everywhere? It’s not just biology, but culture as well. Voyager gets flung across the width of the galaxy and meets a guy who understands human jokes? Kirk visits a planet filled with the Italian Mafia? Yeah, I know it was because there aren’t any septapods in the Actor’s Guild, and the humanoid thing was established in the ’60s and became a calling card of the show (and a source of quite a few in-jokes). It’s too bad make-up and special effects budgets for film limit the creativity of the setting.