I had planned a long post on why Summer and I have decided that we will continue our families Christmas traditions but instead I wanted to bring you some joy and happiness.  So today lets just enjoy this short video from CUTEzzz.com and be merry.  Politics be damned for one extended weekend were going to go and hang out with friends and family and have fun, no matter how much we dont enjoy it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T15bIIRexaI[/youtube]

Thanks CUTEzzz.com for the video!

[youtube]yZchvDcgdJA[/youtube]

h/t Friendly Athiest

“John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross, He never denounced God, either.”

Sue Everhart was praising John McCain for refusing to denounce America under torture. JUST LIKE JESUS! Whats more insane is that she claims that she was not trying to make a comparison between McCain and Jesus. She was just, you know, saying that he was like Jesus. Clearly not a comparison.

Look, Sue Everhart is free to hold whatever delusions she wants about the Jesusness of John McCain. However making comparisons between the GOP’s candidate and Jesus is absurd and insulting. To be honest if John McCain is actually elected president we all better hope that he is even Jesusier than Sue thinks he is because he has no plan at all to fix any of the problems facing this nation.

Personally I will side with The Carpetbagger Report and others and say that John McCain has much more in common with underpants gnomes than with Jesus. His three step plan for fixing any problem seems very much like the underpants plan.

Step 1: Steal Underpants.

Step 2: …????…

Step 3: Profit!

Bow Before McCain Toast

McCain is like Jesus, what will they stoop to next to make the Republican base like the guy? Pretty soon were going to be hearing about people seeing his face on toast. I guess the Republican mantra of do whatever it takes to win doesn’t stop at blasphemy.

One final pondering on this. Is being likened to Jesus better or worse than being hailed as the second coming of Reagan?

William ~ WWJV4.com

Joe Barron is (was?) one of 40 Baptist ministers at one of the nations largest churches, Prestonwood Baptist Church.  One of Joe Barron’s responsibilities at the church was to provide ministry for married adults.  I would assume that many of the couples that Joe Barron has served over the years had young teenage daughters.  One can only imagine how this revelation is affecting them.

I honestly feel sorry for these couples and Joe Barron’s family. In times like this it would be very easy to gloat and point out how often Republicans and Right Wing conservatives get caught up in sex scandals.  I would like to step back from that briefly and say that I feel sorry for the only victims in this crime, the couples Joe ministered over the years and his friends and family.

More on this story as information comes available.

William ~ WWJV4.com

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZFG5PKw504[/youtube]

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLqQttJinjo[/youtube]
If we don’t stop the spread of creationism this is the kind of “science” that our children will be taught. We recently got lucky in Florida but we can’t count on luck when our children’s education is at risk.

William ~ WWJV4.com

Today however I find on PZ Meyers’ blog Pharyngula that there is a video version that has been posted on GodTube (where else). Well since its Friday and I recently wrote a bit about homeopathy I couldn’t pass up sharing it with all of you. Enjoy.

I’m still not convinced that this isn’t a classic example of Poe’s Law. If your not familiar Poe’s Law states that there is no way to make a parody of fundamentalism that is so outrageous that someone wont mistake it for the real thing.

William ~ WWJV4.com

On the flip side they are quick to attribute any disaster to the wrath of God.  John Hagee for example has blamed the destruction of New Orleans on tolerance for homosexuality.  Pat Robertson blamed America for the terrorist attacks of 9/11, saying it was punishment for turning our back on God.

So what then do you think fundies will make of this?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out but I made my feelings clear earlier this month when I stated that these parents are as much responsible for their daughter’s death as the woman who stabbed her “possessed child”. Regardless of the intent, both little girls are dead due to the actions of their parents.

I wrote this morning about the hidden dangers of homeopathy. Faith based healing is another issue that can sound harmless on the surface yet really results in great damage. The death of Madeline Neumann is hardly unique. There are many other children who have died in the recent years due to their parents’ religion.

On March 2nd Ava Worthington, a 15 month old infant, died of an easily treated infection. Her parents have also been charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment. Ava and Madeline are only two of the most recent deaths caused by fundamentalist beliefs.

While I would never support any restrictions on freedom of/from religion it is important that we hold those who allow the deaths of children accountable. It is good that Madeline’s parents are facing charges. Hopefully this case will cause others to think twice before they allow their children to die.

William ~ WWJV4.com

[youtube width="500" height="394"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=jXf8COiHMuM[/youtube]

William Ludwig ~ WWJV4.com

Shared misconceptions:

• Everything is an adaptation produced by natural selection
• Natural selection is the only means of evolution
• Natural selection leads to ever-greater complexity
• Evolution produces creatures perfectly adapted to their environment
• Evolution always promotes the survival of species
• It doesn’t matter if people do not understand evolution
• “Survival of the fittest” justifies “everyone for themselves”
• Evolution is limitlessly creative
• Evolution cannot explain traits such as homosexuality
• Creationism provides a coherent alternative to evolution

Creationist myths

• Evolution must be wrong because the Bible is inerrant
• Accepting evolution undermines morality
• Evolutionary theory leads to racism and genocide
• Religion and evolution are incompatible
• Half a wing is no use to anyone
• Evolutionary science is not predictive
• Evolution cannot be disproved so is not science
• Evolution is just so unlikely to produce complex life forms
• Evolution is an entirely random process
• Mutations can only destroy information, not create it
• Darwin is the ultimate authority on evolution
• The bacterial flagellum is irreducibly complex
• Yet more creationist misconceptions
• Evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics