So many posts, so little time.
Baby Chimps Given Human Love Ace IQ Tests — “Orphaned infant chimpanzees that received attentive, nurturing care from human surrogate mothers were found to be more intellectually advanced than the average human baby when both groups were compared at the age of nine months, according to a new study.”
Spiritual But Not Religious — Because people would believe in the ridiculous doctrines of Christianity if there were more skateboards and rock music.
Saudi Rape Victim Gets 1 Year in Jail and 100 Lashes — As much as I hate Christian fundamentalism, it just doesn’t compare to the stupid that is Islamic fundamentalism. At least in this century.
GodTube Is Changing Its Name — Oh, the anticipation! What’s it going to be — “JesusTube”? Or maybe “BananaTube”?
Most Religious States — I wonder how they compare with crime rate…
(And yes, I realize the post title is grammatically incorrect. Here iz teh explanations.)
Hmmm…spiritual but not religious…now where have I heard that before?
Haha, John, I almost mentioned you in the post… :)
Good stuff.
The one about the chimps is especially interesting. It’s pretty funny that the chimps did far better than their human counterparts even though the IQ tests were created using a human yardstick.
“Spiritual but not religious”
I recall so many of my classmates growing up saying this. It always bugged the shit out of me. I always felt like they would say it because they didn’t know enough about anything to make a decision regarding their beliefs, and at the same time, while they had no intellectual basis for clinging to their parent’s and friend’s superstitions, they just couldn’t imagine considering the idea that perhaps there really is no reason for it.
BTW John C, I don’t think most people mean it in the way that you do.
Yea, I thought maybe it was a dedicated John C thread! :) lol
@Mcblog…
As you can tell, I really feel strongly about this aspect of my story. Religion demands a counter intuitive approach to life and behavior with no latitude for discovery, self or otherwise. Historically, the consequences have been severe, even cruel…not only to those outside the particular religious persuasion but also to those caught in its mercy-less grip.
Again, this is not the true offer…a counterfit message.
Ps…G’morning guys!!
Guys…I’m out of a job…can I count on you guys to be praying for me?? Ha…sorry, I couldnt resist…lol.
But seriously…I need a job man!! You hiring Daniel? ha
Glad to see my home state coming in at #3 on the list for most religulous.
Good morning folks, I checked out the link for the religious states. Isnt funny how the most religious states are amongst the most the most poor economically.
Id bet you any amount of money that if the ten most religious states were the most prosperous the holy rollers would be screaming about the comfortable and adequate life style religion helps to attain.
I would love for some holy rollers, to explain exactly why states that are less religious are bearing more economic fruit (comfortable life style) than states with more fervent believers.
I can tell you why Markbey. It’s because once you go get churched up on sunday and scream jebus’s name a few times, suddenly it’s not your fault that you’re jobless and your state ranks at the bottom economically and educationally.
One thing we in SC have going for us is our huge military-industrial complex, which seems to be the only thing propping us up right now.
I looked up some numbers.
Here’s the top 11 religious states in order, and their crime ranking. 1 being most dangerous.
Mississippi 21
Alabama 18
South Carolina 6
Tennessee 8
Louisiana 2
Arkansas 15
Georgia 13
North Carolina 17
Oklahoma 14
Kentucky 33
Texas 11
Here’s how they got the ranking:
“rates for six crime categories — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft — are plugged into a formula that measures how a state compares to the national average for a given crime category.”
Most of them are definitely in the “more dangerous” ranks, but they are also mostly in the south, which could have many other correlations.
re: Most Religious States
Funny, I live in one of the “Heathen 10″, which surprised me. I would slightly question the methodology, though. The question “Is religion an important part of your daily life?” is a poor indicator of religiosity, at least in the social sense. An Atheist who spends a lot of time thinking about religious things (say, they post daily on a blog about religion and Atheism :), or is involved in issues that intersect with religion often, may answer “yes” to that question despite not being religious, while a guy or gal whose actual investment in religion is to go to a special building once a week to compare nice clothes and singing voices with their buddies may say no, even if their outlook on many daily matters is shaped by teachings said at that sabbath get-together.
Most of them are definitely in the “more dangerous” ranks, but they are also mostly in the south, which could have many other correlations.
Poverty probably being the biggest one.
@Elemenope: And culture. Have you read Gladwell’s “Outliers”? He has a chapter in there about southern aggression/honor code. Very interesting.
However, poverty certainly affects crime rate as well as superstitious gullibility.
Hmm…California is most un-religious no? Fruits & nuts? Last I heard Ahhnold was having a difficult time keeping state run offices open for business…guess its true that the rain falls on the just and the unjust?? lol
YOU NEGLECTED TO MENTION WHY I HATE CUPID!
http://stuffgodhates.com/?p=1170
markbey said:
“Good morning folks, I checked out the link for the religious states. Isnt funny how the most religious states are amongst the most the most poor economically.”
A least a few social science types argue that the precipitous decline in church attendance found in many European countries is due to political systems providing strong elements of a “cradle to the grave” social security. Seems reasonable that when people feel more secure at least some of them have less need for such things.
And culture. Have you read Gladwell’s “Outliers”? He has a chapter in there about southern aggression/honor code. Very interesting.
Good point. There are huge differences in cultural expectations between regions. No, I haven’t read “Outliers”; it’s going on the list. :)
“Most of them are definitely in the “more dangerous” ranks, but they are also mostly in the south, which could have many other correlations.”
mark: If those “more chrisitan states” had those same rankings but in the most safe category think of all the noise christians would be making.
I have to agree with enope about poverty bieng the main cause of higher crime rates, but my next question to the holy rollers would be, why does a god who loves man allow christian children to grow up in some of the most dangerous environments in America.
What a loving god.
Daniel, I think it’s a sign your blog is popular when God is plugging his blog on yours! HAHA
“However, poverty certainly affects crime rate as well as superstitious gullibility.”
Agreed
Although it may be difficult to assess cause and effect, I find this state-level breakdown of religious fervor and traditional Christian values illuminating:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article396496.ece
Re: Saudi rape victim, although not as extreme, also in the western world there are too many conservatives who would say that, if a woman gets raped, she must have asked for it. Long time ago, when I still listened to such nonsense, I once heard a priest telling us that girls have to dress decently ‘in order not to provoke the boys’. From such a state of mind it is only a small step to start punishing a woman if something happens…