Hallelujah!! I’ve found the Lord! Slavery is OK according to the bible and I get to have one of my very own! I think I might get a breeding pair so that I can grow more. Once you’ve gone slave master, one is never enough, you know. Plus, I can sell the extra for cash.

I just don’t know where to buy my first one. Walmart has knock-off slaves. They may be the least expensive, but they don’t last more than 6 months, so it’s not worth it. I think I’ll try Amazon, they’re great for most stuff. My friend got a slave from them and it was damaged in shipping. They replaced it right away, no questions asked. Plus they throw in an owner’s guide on care and feeding. Slaves can be tricky, so that might come in handy.

And you’re probably about to lynch me for this post, aren’t you? Hey don’t blame me. PZ Myers helped me find the light of the lord. I guess the shining light of reason really goes to Jean, who really is a visionary. She’s a born again christian, who happens to also be black, which in this circumstance only makes her logic so much more compelling. I know that sounds like an ad hominem attack, but no, in fact it is merely an observation. Jean has opened my eyes. Jean is a raging ignorant whackjob moron. Read more…

This is the Introduction in a series about Logical Fallacies, Misconceptions, False Beliefs. We’re going to go through one fallacy a day (approximately). There are about 20 main fallacies altogether. I’m going to try to explain them with examples then find ways to help you refute those arguments when they occur.

I’m quite reasonable in many aspects of my life, but I don’t think my reasoning skills are up to par. I certainly don’t argue well, or defend myself in an argument. This is why I’ve been a closet atheist for so long. I just didn’t want to be confronted or verbally attacked by zealous religious people.

• Logical: Reasoning or capable of reasoning in a clear and consistent manner. Reasonable.

So, since I’m going to learn to think more logically, I will share that information with you. The great thing about this is that you can use it in all aspects of your life, whether it be science vs. pseudo-science, religion vs. atheism or agnosticism, the daily assault of advertising and consumerism, or simply to put your own belief systems to the test. I find that to be very nice, since I am, after all, quite pragmatic in nature. Read more…

Yesterday I confessed my addictions to woo and how I realized it was all a pack of lies and nonsense. It’s been hard to learn to think more critically and skeptically about pseudo-science (the fancy grownup term for woo). Unless someone teaches you how to think critically, there’s really no way to easily pick out the slick pack of lies and shiny bullshit for what it is.

For instance, I just found out last month that Airborne is not only pseudo-scientific and completely useless, but can also be harmful. And here I was, just the day before, trying to get my husband to take it for an oncoming cold. Sigh…. The battle never ends.

For me, my bullshit radar with religion is very sensitive. Then again, if it’s about an invisible man in the sky, it’s complete nonsense, so that’s pretty easy. But when it comes to products on the market, any kind of scientific sounding news or claim, I am less sure about what to accept or what to reject.

A couple of days ago, I was listening to The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast and they took the time to talk about how to spot pseudo-science for what it is. Since the list is so important and helpful, I took the time to write it down for all of us. Hopefully this will make it much easier:

Some Main Features of Pseudo-Science by Dr. Steven Novella on the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe. Episode 164, September 10, 2008.

Read more…

Well, it is. It sure is easier to just follow the crowd, to believe forwarded emails, to think commercials and tv shows are honest and forthright, to believe everything the news tells us as fact, etc, etc….

I used to podcast a morning radio show. It was goofy fun. Amusing if a bit crass. But after awhile, I realized they never really said anything new. And they had their producer on there who was so full of lies and hate that I just couldn’t stand it anymore. It didn’t help that he proclaimed his christianity along with the hate he spewed forth.

So I gave it up, even though I had been using it to keep me company since I’m alone most of the day. I had to replace it with something. I like to listen to people talk while I do mundane things. Around the same time I found Atheist Nexus. One thing led to another, and I discovered that there’s this whole Skeptical community out there, as well as an Atheist community.

So I’ve been sampling and listening to different Skeptical and science podcasts lately. I love it. It’s intelligent, fun, interesting, and stimulating. I’ve realized several things, though, as I’ve been listening and taking in all this great new information. Read more…

My in-laws were in town for the past week. We went out to dinner and over margaritas that’s what my sister in law said. “I kind of respect Hitler. I have no problem with him. I don’t understand what the big deal is.”

Um, WTF!? For some reason I was shushed from expressing my opinion. (Maybe because I was only having iced tea and wasn’t drinking margaritas?) My husband and his cousin shushed me and took over trying to explain “what the big deal with Hitler is.”

I was astonished that anyone could honestly believe this kind of nonsense. The thing is, this person, whom I love as my own sister, is walking around thinking that Hitler wasn’t such a bad guy, that he wasn’t allowed to be an artist, so that makes it all ok. Oh, and that the systematic extermination of anyone non-Aryan didn’t really happen. Read more…