JISHOU, HUNAN — You would think Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, was some kind of political prisoner, or a modern day Joan of Arc, instead of a runaway in foster care.

People held signs that said “Free Rifqa” and “Sharia sucks. Free Rifqa Bari. (sic)” There was a large poster that showed violence done to Muslims who have converted to Christianity, as Bary said she did four years ago. People prayed, and people spoke, and people made a controversy where none exists.

Hence, a manufactroversy.

How many people? Well, one of the organizers demagogues, Pamela Geller, says “hundreds.” The Columbus Dispatch says “about 120.”

Bary ran away from her Columbus home back in September. She and her family are Muslims from Sri Lanka, and according to newspaper accounts, her parents were perfectly OK with her reading the Bible, hanging out with Christian kids, and being a cheerleader.

But her many “supporters” — most of whom are fervent Christians — fervently believe her family, or the middle-of-the-road mosque to which they belong, will put the girl to death if she is sent back to her family. Law enforcement officers discount that likelihood, but since when do True Believers™ believe John Law?

The rally “crowd” was also upset that a family court judge has closed to the public the hearings being held to decide whether Bary is an unruly teenager, as her parents allege, and whether she can leave foster care. They also have their underwear in knots about court orders restricting the girl’s access to the Internet, email and her cellphone.

November 17th, 2009 | Tags: Christian, Islam, Nonie Darwish, ohio, Pamela Geller, rally, Rifqa Bary, runaway | Category: Civil liberties, Commentary, Skepticism, religion | Comments (1)

JISHOU, HUNAN — Keep in mind I lived in Kentucky for almost half my life, but take at look at this chart from The Daily Kos.

To make a long story, most of the people who doubt Pres. Barack Obama is a natural-born US citizen come from the South and are Republican.

While it was not part of the survey’s findings, I would add another qualification for a “birther.”

They are also stupid.

August 1st, 2009 | Category: Commentary, Media, Skepticism | Comments (1)

JISHOU, HUNAN — When George Washington resigned his commission as commander of the Continental Army in 1783, he sent a short letter to the 13 governors of the former colonies. Many years hence, part of his letter was plagiarized to create a spurious document, “Washington’s Prayer,” which is now bouncing around the Intertubes.

You see, some people are trying to convince us that the Founding Fathers were all Bible-thumping, Trinitarian, fundamentalist Christians, and that therefore, the USA is a “Christian Nation.” For the most part, the Founding Fathers were not any of the above. Lacking any supporting evidence in the US Constitution and US legal code, historical revisionists grasp at straws to puff up their claims.

Here are the last three paragraphs of the actual document.

July 30th, 2009 | Tags: Christian Nation, Christian Revisionism, Circular Letter, George Washington, lies, plagiarism, prayer | Category: Civil liberties, Commentary, Skepticism, religion | Comments (3)

JISHOU, HUNAN — Along with Moon landing deniers, the USA is also “blessed” with people called “birthers,” who deny the obvious fact that President Barack Hussein Obama was born a US citizen.

Trying to summarize their arguments is nigh impossible for anyone possessing a logical mind, but basically they believe Obama is either Kenyan or Indonesian, was adopted, attended school under a different name, has dual British/American citizenship, and ultimately does not meet the Constitutional requirement of being a natural-born citizen of the USA.

They call him the “usurper,” among other less savory epithets.

Obama released to the public a copy of his Hawai’i birth certificate, but the birthers still find fault with it, saying it is a “short form,” not a “long form,” has been forged or doctored, or somehow illicit. Insufficient proof, they say.

Birth announcements in the Honolulu newspapers also seem to be unconvincing to the birthers.

Obama’s parents have both died. The doctor who delivered him died last year at age 98. But in all the manufactroversy about Obama’s birthplace, no one seems to refer to this article from the Buffalo (NY) News. Someone on The Daily Kos mentioned it today.

The News interviewed one of Obama’s teachers, who remembers the very day the president was born.

July 20th, 2009 | Tags: Barack Obama, birthers, Dr. Orly Taitz, evidence, natural born, Stefan Frederick Cook | Category: Commentary, Media, Skepticism | Comments (1)

JISHOU, HUNAN — The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, is NOT a science museum. It is a tool to publicize a narrow religious view of the world and our place in it.

Thus, I found this comment by a Kentucky State Department of Education official particularly disturbing. [From the Louisville Courier-Journal]

Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross said nothing in state law would bar public schools from visiting, if it were part of “a lesson” on “how some perceived the world’s beginnings.”

Kentucky does not require the teaching of evolution or creationism (or even science at all) in private schools. And public-school science teachers aren’t prohibited from mentioning creationism, but lessons often include concepts behind evolution, Gross said.

Maybe Ms. Gross was tiptoeing around the religious bias of Kentucky’s bureaucrats, legislators and population. Maybe she has never been to the Creation Museum. Maybe she is just plain stupid. Whatever the case, there should be no reason to bring any public school group to the museum, unless that purpose is to indoctrinate the students in an overtly religious world view.

If a high school teacher, having done a LOT of preparation, intended to use the museum as an example of propaganda or dogmatic religious instruction, then perhaps such a field trip would be worthwhile. I am just not sure how many teachers have the time and inclination to undertake such a lesson, though.

June 19th, 2009 | Tags: creation museum, creationism, Ken Ham, kentucky, seven c's, YEC | Category: Commentary, Schools, Science, Skepticism, evolution, religion | Comments (3)

JISHOU, HUNAN — I’ve been meaning to blog about the anti-vaccination movement, but haven’t had the time to develop a thorough entry. Now I don’t have to; someone with much better creds has done it for me.

Here’s the link: eSkeptic magazine. The author is Harriet Hall, MD, who dispassionately debunks the Holy Trinity of the anti-vax movement: Andrew Wakefield, thimerosal and the Jenny McCarthy/Jim Carrey road show.

About 10 years ago, Wakefield, a British doctor, published journal articles and argued publicly that the MMR (measle, mumps, rubella) vaccination caused autism. The data in the articles was fraudulent, and his conclusions lies, but that hasn’t stopped the anti-vax crowd’s referring to his work as “proof” vaccinations cause autism. Nor has the revelation that Wakefield was in the pocket of lawyers trying to sue vaccine manufacturers for causing their clients’ children’s autism.

In fact, Brits not getting the MMR vaccination for their kids — undoubtedly due to Wakefield’s self-serving anti-MMR publicity — has created a resurgence in measles cases in the UK.

Thimerosal is a benign mercury compound that used to be in vaccines in tiny amounts as a preservative. After the mercury-causes-autism scares of the 1990s, mercury compounds were removed from vaccines. Autism rates, instead of falling, rose. Anti-vaccination spokesmouths still claim vaccines cause autism, but now allege other ingredients are the culprit.

June 4th, 2009 | Tags: andrew wakefield, anti-vaccination, autism, jenny mccarthy, jim carrey, Skepticism, thimerosal | Category: Commentary, Media, Science, Skepticism | Comments (2)