According to the General Social Survey, as analyzed by Ryan P. Burge of Eastern Illinois University, “nones” are now statistically tied with evangelicals and Catholics for largest “belief” group in the United States. And technically, according to the decimals, nones are number one.
New on the Point of Inquiry podcast: Jim Underdown interviews climate expert Mark Boslough about existential threats such as global warming, asteroids, and bad ideas.
At the CFI blog, Jamie Hale explains the “nocebo effect,” the effects of fake medicine and treatments.
Benjamin Radford investigates a claim that says 60% of people are intentionally trying to disrespect transgendered people by getting their pronouns wrong, which is not supported by the data cited for the claim:
In these cases, and many others, the poll results were badly flawed (or simply made up). Americans have misconceptions about a great many things and a demonstrable blindness to social problems facing Native Americans, transgendered people, people of color, and other forms of intolerance, but misinformation isn’t helpful.
The Legion of Doom (aka the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) comes out against the Equality Act. TOTALLY DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING. What’s their totally not-unhinged reason for being against equality? It would “impose sweeping regulations to the detriment of society as a whole” and (this one is really nuts) “remove women and girls from protected legal existence.”
Chick-fil-A denies that its charitable donations of over $2 million to anti-LGBTQ groups means that it gives money to anti-LGBTQ groups. Wait, what?
To suggest our giving was done to support a political or non-inclusive agenda is inaccurate and misleading.
But…but…you…the money…are you gaslighting me?
Did you know that “gay panic” is still a defense that people can use in court when they want to get away with violence against LGBTQ folks? A bill in Nevada would end that defense in the state.
Salon wants you to know about presidential candidate Rep. John Delaney, who has been technically running since 2017, and who you probably still haven’t heard of. Delaney says in this interview:
I don’t think the teachings of my church should inform the public policy decisions that I make in this country. I mean, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. I support Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, and as the president of the United States, I will be an unwavering supporter of that.
Our faith informs things my wife and I would do in our own personal lives, but that should be separate than the government. I mean, to me, it’s pretty simple actually. Everyone has the ability to have freedom of religion in this country, which is so sacred, and to basically live their personal lives pursuant to an approach or a code, and all religions have different things that people do, whether they’re kosher or they’re this or that, but when it comes to governing, the separation of church and state is incredibly, incredibly important.
Infographics! We like infographics. Lots of learning, less reading. Here’s a genuinely cool infographic-pie-chart thing mapping out religious belief around the world. That gray stuff? That’s us!
President Trump signs an executive order that threatens colleges with losing grants and other funding if they don’t protect “free inquiry” on campus. Now, if your instinct is to be suspicious when Trump, who threatens to sue anyone who criticizes him, promises to enforce “free inquiry,” your suspicion muscles are in good shape.
Relatedly (maybe?), Mount Royal University in Calgary cancels an appearance by former Muslim and atheist activist Armin Navabi, citing the desire to be sensitive in the wake of the New Zealand massacre. The host group, the Atheist Society of Calgary, says this move helps terrorists “accomplish their objectives,” while the university itself says, “We made this decision in light of that impact and we would absolutely have the speaker come to our campus at another time.”
Also relatedly, a bill in Washington state would enforce really broad “religious accommodations” for college students “with respect to all examinations and other requirements to successfully complete a program,” and that “Instructors must accept at face value the sincerity of the students’ religious beliefs.” What could go wrong?
Joseph Cox at Motherboard reports that despite Facebook’s promises to take action against anti-vaccine content, Instagram (owned by Facebook) and its recommendation algorithm were more than happy to send him down an “anti-vaxx rabbit hole” the moment he followed a couple anti-vaxx accounts:
Instagram’s “Suggested for You” feature then recommended I follow other accounts, including “Vaccines are Genocide” and “Vaccine Truth.” … “The sheep continue to line up for the massacre. No questions asked,” the caption on a post from “Vaccine Truth” reads.
In case you need to have it explained to you, Beth Mole at Ars Technica tells us why “chickenpox parties” are a really bad idea:
Though most children who get the itchy, highly contagious viral disease go on to recover after a week or so of misery, chickenpox can cause severe complications and even death in some. Complications include nasty skin infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, hemorrhaging, blood stream infections, and dehydration.
According to new research in the journal Vaccine, anti-vaxx sentiment on social media is about a lot more than the false autism link (which we knew, but here it is documented by smart people). The Verge reports:
Today’s study reports that misinformation about vaccines on Facebook appears to have multiplied beyond fears of autism to include four main themes: mistrust of science and government agencies; fear of safety risks; belief in conspiracy theories, and support of alternative disease treatments. The researchers also found that the same stories and videos from anti-vaccination groups tend to recirculate among people who oppose vaccines.
Oh look, the flat-Earthers are planning an expedition to Antarctica to, um, be cold and wrong.
Dan Falk at Ars Technica takes a historical perspective on the rise of the flat-Earthers, which is great, but even better is what I assume was the original title of the piece before editors got ahold of it, as evidenced by the URL slug: “Squishful Thinking.”
Do AirPods cause cancer??? Almost certainly not, but they do sure as hell cause “I will drop these in the toilet” anxiety.
An unprecedented trove of Cambrian fossils is discovered in South China, which includes dozens of previously unknown species and amazing preservation of physical details.
“Oh my God. It’s a meteor. It’s a fireball. What the hell?” Dammit, it’s not even Superman. It’s a marketing stunt by Red Bull in which “flare-wielding wingsuit jumpers” were seen up against the backdrop of the “supermoon” on Wednesday night. At least it’s not the Chitauri.
Quote of the Day
At AlterNet, Valerie Tarico interviews David Fitzgerald about how The Case for Christ author and supposed atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel is, well, full of it:
I can’t give him the benefit of that particular doubt anymore. Strobel has cultivated a thoroughly bogus image that he happily encourages readers to embrace. His fan base is led to believe he was a diehard atheist who was converted by these interviews. In reality, he was a lapsed Lutheran who became a pastor at a mega-church. It wasn’t until over a decade later—and after writing three books in defense of evangelical Christianity—he had the idea to select a line-up of Evangelical academics who support his view and lob softball questions at them, all under the guise of a “tough skeptic.”
* * *
Linking to a story or webpage does not imply endorsement by Paul or CFI. Not every use of quotation marks is ironic or sarcastic, but it often is.