Arthur Peacocke, a British theistic evolutionist, died the other day. He was right about science, but had some pretty nutty ideas about religion - natural evil is necessary, and that Jesus was "the pinnacle of human evolution" (had to be, really, I mean what with the whole "being born of a virgin" thing and being both God and human simultaneously).2006-10-27T11:53:30Z
PZ on the talk from conservative columnist Mike S. Adams at his university: "I really don't understand how anyone can take these guys seriously; their angle is to whine aggrievedly about cruel and politically correct liberal academics who strangle free speech and unfairly oppress conservatives with speech codes and denial of their right to air their opinions on college campuses... at college campuses, their expenses paid for, honoraria in their pockets, with those liberal academics and administrators all sitting right there in the audience, listening. You'd think the dissonance between their claims and the obvious reality of the situation would kill 'em dead from shock on the spot, but no... they just rave on obliviously".2006-10-27T09:30:12Z
Oh, lovely. The Catholic Church and the Church of England are voluntarily complying with the government's statement that "up to 25% of places should go to pupils from another faith or none". And still one's parent's faith or lack thereof will serve as a selection mechanism for tax-funded schools. What was the government supposed to be doing about getting rid of selection? Well, the short answer is "overt bad, covert good".2006-10-27T08:59:52Z
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