Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

From the Onion: Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory "The ECFR, in conjunction with the Christian Coalition and other Christian conservative action groups, is calling for public-school curriculums to give equal time to the Intelligent Falling theory. They insist they are not asking that the theory of gravity be banned from schools, but only that students be offered both sides of the issue 'so they can make an informed decision.'" Sounds as reasonable as the Intelligent Design theory. I'm glad they're being consistent, even if it's only in satire. Now we just need them to admit that Christianity is divinely inspired and not a human product of its time and... Oh, good point. Damn.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

The victims of the 7th of July London bombings

A description and picture of each of the victims of the first London bombings can be found here [source: BBC News]. The effect is a massively, incredibly moving portrayal of lives intertwined. Nothing connects these people but their humanity and their proximity to each other at the moment of their deaths. They were ordinary people doing ordinary things, and yet they are so varied that the ordinariness shocks. Shouldn't these people have been famous beforehand? They have so many amazing stories to tell! And yet, because the bombing was, essentially, a random sampling of a population, it shows how many amazing stories everyone has to tell. The beauty of everyone's lives is so evident when it is examined... A fitting tribute to the victims would be for us all to consider how special we are, and how lucky we are to be alive and have people we care about in our lives. There will always be people who want to kill others, for whatever reason. I just hope that one day it becomes very rare. The only way this will happen, as with so many other acts I disapprove of, is when people realise the errors of their ways. Only when people fully consider the consequences of their actions will they not carry out those actions. Of course, no-one can know the consequences of their actions totally, but a rational approach will yield, in my opinion, an appreciation of the probable consequences. Violence is a mindless act, the mark of irrationality, because I have never seen an example where it works better than other methods, except when there is no choice. And there is always a choice, except in self-defense. Too many people excuse violence, confusing the understanding thereof with its justification. We indeed have no absolute morals, in the sense that we don't know what they are, and any of the possible moralities could be the right ones; but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have a morality and act upon it. I plead that people use their powers to reject violence in all its forms, for only then will humanity be able to reach its potential. I have not given up hope. My oh my, what a few pictures and stories of a group of random people can do to a grown man...