FA Contest Results

What would have to happen for you to start believing in a God?

That was the question asked in The Friendly Atheist’s recent contest. Check out the winners and their submissions here. Maybe I’m biased, but I think #3 is the best.

“my sentiments exactly”

Below is a brief exchange from Yahoo’s Christian Chat:12, on the morning of 27 January. It reveals an amazing level of religious devotion that I can’t understand. This is what makes religion dangerous – when facts are not as important as faith. If someone claims to seek, or know the truth (sometimes capitalized lol) and then acts like this, you can be sure that truth is not what matters to them.

b_dizzle_02: have u watched raised from the dead?
b_dizzle_02: it’s a movie about this pastor in africa who was raised from the dead….
b_dizzle_02: it’s really cool….
b_dizzle_02: yeah, it’s true
b_dizzle_02: no acting
b_dizzle_02: the thing about it…it’s like a call to the lost…to seek His face….we’re literally living in the last days before He comes again….
jsbrown28625: About that guy in africa who was supposedley raised from the dead…
jsbrown28625: It seems to be a hoax. I read an article written by a guy who went over there to do an interview and get the facts.
jsbrown28625: Concerning Daniel Ekechukwu, the pastor in Africa who was supposedly brought back from death… http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/aah/igwe_11_3.htm
jsbrown28625: In my opinion, everyone should be skeptical of this sort of thing. Check the facts; not just the stories in favor of it.
jsbrown28625: The link I posted describes an attempt to investigate the account and get to the facts.
b_dizzle_02: it’s ok…since god considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish, i’d be a fool to check the “facts” when the Bible is so incredibly real to me…i don’t really expect you to comprehend that…
jsbrown28625: So, if it is a hoax, your naivety will have led you into a mistake.
jsbrown28625: That truly is foolish.
jsbrown28625: That is your choice. If you change your mind, let me know.
jsbrown28625: I will say no more about it.
b_dizzle_02: even if it was a “hoax”, that could do little to change the Word, who became flesh and dwell among us…
jsbrown28625: This has nothing to do with “the Word.” It is about exposing false claims.
jsbrown28625: If you are as gullible as you claim, there is nothing I can say to you. It is a fruitless endeavor.
jsbrown28625: I wish you a pleasant day. Goodbye.
b_dizzle_02: my sentiments exactly

Scientific Literacy: B-

I recently found an article written by Richard Carrier over at the Secular Web. It’s entitled “Test Your Scientific Literacy!” He writes an interesting piece covering the basics of how science works in the form of offering a 24-question true-or-false test. It’s good information that can surely benefit nearly everyone. I took the test and scored a B-, though I do have excuses for two of my wrong answers. If you want to test your own scientific literacy, do it now. I will go over my misses and explanations below. If you read them first, the results of your test may be skewed.

I incorrectly answered…

• (3) I was thinking of the general approach rather than the specific actions taken by all scientists. I don’t think this should count against me.
• (8) I consider reinterpretation and perspective change as new information within the context of an experiment. I don’t think this should count against me because he and I categorize these differently.
• (9) I took this to mean that experiments were being rigged.
• (15) I misunderstood the difference between “law” and “theory,” just as he explained.
• (20) I guessed, not knowing which actually which is relied upon more often. Deduction seemed reasonable to me.

If my excuses are worthy, I manage a slightly better B+. If you took the test, share your results.

By the way, if anyone knows how to display nonconsecutive numbering in an ordered list on a WordPress blog, let me know. Setting the value attribute of each list item works in the editor, but is lost after publication.

*Update* I have opened a thread in the forum concerning this issue.