Sex Ed Part I : The Unbiblical Truth About Gender

By Anthony David Jacques on July 1, 2012 | Discuss

In Genesis, the Bible says that God created man in his image. This is one reason why we’ve been told God is a man, even though the movie Dogma offers a very compelling and equally plausible possibility. Genesis also says, “Male and female, he created them.”

Christians would have you believe a number of things based on these and a handful of other Biblical proclamations, such as the wrongness gay marriage in particular, homosexuality in general and, by extension, any other form of transgender or intersex “lifestyle choice”. It should go without saying that anyone touting such a belief should be able to easily recall the day they chose their own gender and sexual orientation, if only we would stop and ask.

As further proof of the immutable gender binary, Christians often point to the animal kingdom and say, “They’re all male and female, just like the Bible says, so being gay isn’t natural.”

This is called the Naturalistic Fallacy, and is therefore a non-starter for anyone well versed in debate, and I could leave it there and expect you to simply believe me. However, in researching this piece I learned some truly fascinating things about sexuality in Nature, and juxtaposing this knowledge against all these silly conservative “traditional” ideas about love and marriage will, in my opinion, be as entertaining as it will be jaw-dropping. Besides, asking you to take my word for it on faith would be to miss the point.

First of all, not all animals are male and female. The known species that reproduce asexually as a rule, or who can reproduce asexually when necessary, compose quite a long list. This includes many snails, sharks, and insects. The Komodo Dragon can reproduce this way, as well as the female Greenfly, which clone themselves every twenty minutes or so. (And isn’t its very unnaturalness one of the main conservative arguments against cloning research in the US?) Continue reading…

Questions for an Atheist

By Mike G on June 25, 2012 | Discuss

The ironically named website I Love Atheists has a series of questions that the author thinks will challenge atheists and perhaps give them nagging doubts. There are many such groups of questions floating around, so I thought it might be fun to complete one. Since there are several questions, I’ll do them in a series-one post per week until they are all finished. This is my first post in the series and the author’s oddly ineffective style of argument is fully on display right off the bat. Enjoy and feel free to comment with your own thoughts on the questions. I’ve given short answers, so they’re bound to be incomplete (or in some cases outright dismissive). Continue reading…

I am a bundle of (adorable, anxious, Monty Python-loving) neurons.

By Robin Marie on June 22, 2012 | Discuss

There’s a fun little story up at The Times on the imperfections of perception and memory, due to our brains being, alas, less than mere receivers of reality.

It looks at phenomena that most readers are probably familiar with - the power of misdirection, the unreliability of our senses. However I never get tired of reading about these aspects of neuroscience — it seems fundamentally important to me that one always remember that not only are you your brain, but your brain is quite the trickster.

A lot of people know and understand this but do not necessarily apply it in everyday life. For example, how many times have you gotten into a huge argument with a friend about the particulars of certain events that took place maybe days, maybe years ago? Most of us insist our memory of the events are correct. But this is usually a mistaken confidence. More of us should probably, much of the time, really question how our accurately our brain has recorded these occurrences, notorious as it is for rearranging details to fit the narratives we like to tell ourselves.

I personally enjoy questioning my memories — especially my childhood ones — and wondering what was real, and what as been created in post-production. I suppose for some people meditating on this can make them uneasy — knowing that our memories and senses are not entirely reliable can disturb one’s sense of control and understanding. However, I like to look at my cognitive mistakes as another chance to get to know myself — what is my mischievous brain up to now, and what can I learn about my thoroughly human condition from its shenanigans and mistakes? Once you let go of the idea that “you” are completely in control, living with the fact that you are your brain and, moreover, you’re not always in the driver’s seat, instills not so much terror as intense curiosity. We’re all along for the ride, and we’re all unique, so go ahead and get to know your brain — which is to say, go ahead and get to know yourself.

Saudi man sentenced to death for witchcraft

By Tom Beasley on June 19, 2012 | Discuss

A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, the state news agency SPA says.

Saudi Arabia is some time behind the western world, participating in events that could only be understood through reading something like The Crucible. Unfortunately, unsurprising to most, a man was beheaded this month for practicing witchcraft and sorcery in Saudi Arabia. You can read more about this story here.

Relics of John the Baptist confirmed to date to 1st century

By Tom Beasley on June 18, 2012 | Discuss

The Huffington Post reports via the AP that relics, including those signifying the name of John the Baptist actually date to the 1st century.

It’s a tantalizing find in a Biblical mystery – Oxford University researchers have concluded that a set of skeletal remains which many Bulgarians attribute to John the Baptist probably belonged to a first century male from the Middle East.

The article continues in saying that there are actually more than 25 purported relics of John the Baptist, often claiming to be from his head (which contains more symbolic significance given the story). It is also quite a common phenomenon for people and churches to claim to have fragments of the cross that Jesus died upon. Other notable frauds include the Shroud of Turin, which initially everyone believed to be death shroud of Jesus, and was later proven to be a hoax. However, the difference with these John the Baptist fragments is that science does not contradict their authenticity. Some religious people will discard science if it does not fit their narrative, but the problem is that even if science and other archeology could positively confirm that these are the remains of John the Baptist, it lends no credibility to the miracle claims of the holy texts. For example, many historical sites exist that the Bible describes, but likewise archeologists have discovered a location of what was likely the city of Troy — that does not mean that the Odyssey is real. Regardless, collection of information and new historical finds are exciting and add to the depository of collective human knowledge. It is only a shame when we misuse knowledge or draw silly conclusions from it.