Episode 31: ‘Un-Christian’ Holidays, NASA & the Search for Life, Bumper Sticker Wars

For your winter holiday pleasures, Tom, Robin, Sam, Dalton and Chris discuss:

• “Naughty or Nice” - ‘Un-Christian’ Holiday Retailers & the “War on Christmas”
• NASA Announces Arsenic-Based Life in Mono Lake, California
• The Blair v. Hitchens Debate
• Bumper Sticker Wars

If you have any comments or questions, or have ideas for stories for the show, please feel free to drop us a comment, and thanks for listening!

Hosts: Chris Thielen, Tom Beasley, Robin Marie, Sam Won, Dalton McGee

 Episode 31: 'Un-Christian' Holidays, NASA & the Search for Life, Bumper Sticker Wars [53:44] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1394)

NASA expected to announce second origin life found on Earth

NASA is expected to announce later today that they have discovered arsenic-based bacterial life in Mono Lake, California. This is the first discovery of a possible “second origin” life, that is, life not evolved from the same original organic molecules from which all other known life arose.

This discovery is potentially very damaging to the heart of the religious worldview: the origin (and perhaps purpose) of life. Though current theories on the formation of RNA, DNA and other basics of life have been around for decades, a confirmed second origin would introduce a particularly striking validation to those theories. The discovery of arsenic-based life also greatly widens the search parameters when looking for life on other planets.

We’ll certainly be tuned into what the religious community has to say about this fantastic new piece of human knowledge.

Episode 21 Now Available

Episode 21 is now available! Topics include:

* Smartphone apps to argue atheism for you (ugh!)

* Atheist vs theist vs gnostic vs agnostic (again!)

* NASA and Islam

* The ongoing story of the French burqa ban

And more! As always, leave your comments using the comments section below.

Additional music provided by: PC Worship, Unrest, CSC Funk Band, Curumin, and Nouvellas.

 Episode 21 [59:31] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (195)

NASA can reach the moon, but can they reach Islam?

On this interview, Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden said his foremost duty from President Obama was to “find a way to reach out to the Muslim world.” The message was also to include an encouragement of the Islamic world’s past scientific achievements. For a period of time, while the rest of the world was stagnant or declining in the fields of intellectual curiosity, Islam bloomed. The White House eventually denied the assertion that they instructed NASA to reach out to Islam. Some think that it is unwarranted to encourage Islam to engage in science and space-flight, in particular.

We’ve reported before on the show the low rate of scientific papers and discoveries that come out of Islamic countries, but it seems like encouraging science at times is subversive to religion — or at the very least religious extremism. There is at least a correlation between scientists (and things like accepting evolution), western culture, etc. and decline in religious belief, and at least extremism in the United States. The spread of scientific ideas in these regions might reduce hostility, and especially the hostility towards the West. Many Islamic countries are skeptical of even things such as soccer/football, and Iran recently offered hair cut restrictions for men. The list is almost endless of Islamic resistance to seemingly harmless activities that seem to be ‘tainted’ by the West.

Islam might indeed find the spread of science a threat, and perhaps it is corrosive to Islam — especially strict Sharia law. Islam might see the West drawing a knife and pointing it towards them, only shortly afterward can they realize that the knife we direct towards them is to cut their binds and set them free.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20010324-503544.html