Material related to Divine Misconceptions

This page is an introduction to and an aid to access of material on this blog related to my book-in-progress, tentatively titled Divine Misconceptions:  An Orange Catholic Necronomicon of Religious Fallacies and Misinformation.  Throughout human history, people have frequently shown poor religious thinking and ignorance of religion.  Unfortunately, the situation does not seem to be any better today.  Rather than tolerate the situation, I have decided to write the authoritative book on the subject in the hope of stimulating at least a few people to think about what they believe and why they believe it.

This project is bigger than any one person.  Feel free to notify me of any religiously fallacious or incorrect material you find, suggest matters for me to discuss, or ask questions. I also welcome donations of materials related to the project that you have and are doing nothing but taking up space right now.  Those who are unusually generous can buy me something from the official Divine Misconceptions wish list on Amazon.com. Actual money would also be nice.

Note:  To make things easier on me, I am switching to a searching- and tag-based system. I have not yet gone through the blog to tag all the relevant material yet.

Everything relevant:  the query Divine Misconceptions

Reviews:  the query  Divine Misconceptions reviews

Everything below was inserted into this page manually.  There are no plans to either remove it or augment it at this point.

Reviews:

• Review of Island by Aldous Huxley (2007-05-13)
• Review of Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter (2007-05-31)
• Strange acts: a review of Evan Almighty (2007-07-03)
• There can be miracles when you disbelieve: a review of The Prince of Egypt (2007-07-18)
• You cut up the Bible, you bloody baboon!: A review of The Ten Commandments and The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2007-09-07)
  
• A review of Noah’s Ark (2008-01-31)
  
• A theological review of Tron (2008-02-14)
  
• False symmetry: a theological review of “The Enemy Within” and The Dark Crystal (2008-04-02)

Divine misconceptions of the day and daily material relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

• Divine misconception of the day: “Roman Catholic Bishop Wants Everyone to Call God 'Allah'” (2007-08-19)
  
• Divine misconceptions of the day: “China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation” and “Mother Teresa's '40-year faith crisis'” (2007-08-26)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Washington Post, Other Newspapers Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam” (2007-08-29)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Washington Post, Other Newspapers Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam”—continued (2007-09-02)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Children of 'witches' fight social stigma” (2007-09-20)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Teacher fights to take gun to class” (2007-09-21)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: Opus 2007-09-23 (2007-09-24)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Pasadena church wants apology from IRS” (2007-09-26)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Watchdog bans ‘Jews for Jesus’ adverts” (2007-10-16; drew the ire of a so-called “Jew for Jesus” but without any substance in the objections)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Suit OK'd against anti-gay church group” (2007-10-17)
  
• Jews for Jesus ask “Did Jesus even exist?” and Divine misconception of the day: “Parents use religion to avoid vaccines” (2007-10-18)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: Scientology: Inside the Cult (2007-11-09)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Snakebite victim's family sues: BLAMES HOSPITAL, NURSE AND DOCTOR” (2007-11-12)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Intelligent design”, which is documented in the Nova episode “Intelligent Design on Trial” (2007-11-20)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion” (2007-11-21)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Hindu gods get summons from court” (2007-12-09)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Bible put on a pinhead-size chip” (2007-12-25)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Huckabee: Amend Constitution to be in 'God's standards'” (2008-01-16)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Government renames Islamic terrorism as 'anti-Islamic activity' to woo Muslims” (2008-01-21)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Force strong for new Jedi church” (2008-01-22)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: poor understanding of truth noted in “Surveys Find Americans Tolerant Of Religious Beliefs” (2008-01-29)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “The Great Tantra Challenge” (2008-03-20)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “63 failed & 1 ambiguous end-of-the-world predictions between 30 CE and 1990 CE” (2008-03-21)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Parents pick prayer over docs; girl dies” (2008-03-28)
  
• Related to Divine Misconceptions: “To tell or not to tell, that is the question” (2008-03-31)
• Relevant to Divine Misconceptions: “The Study of Political Islam” (2008-04-11)
• Divne misconception of the day: “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” (2008-04-14)
  
• Relevant to Divine Misconceptions: “Professor Fired for Getting a Divorce” (2008-05-01)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “Pastor takes Christ out of Christianity” (2008-05-19)
  
• Divine misconception of the day: “McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will” (2008-05-23)
  
• Divine misconception of the day:“The end of the world is nigh. Its name is Gordon”, with special weird thing the LOLCat Bible Translation Project (2008-05-29)
  
• Divine misconceptions of the day: “End of the World? House of Yahweh says so” and “'Witch' family killed in India” (2008-06-15)
  
• “Will gay rights trample religious freedom?”
  “Study: Non-Orthodox men less connected than women”, “Islamic school draws fire”, “The enemy has a name”, and “Teen from faith healing family dies at Ore. home” (2008-06-19)
  
• “The New Israel and the Old ” and “souls. i eets them.” (2008-06-20)
  
• “A missing ethic” (2008-06-23)
  
• “Homer's Odyssey Said to Document 3,200-Year-Old Eclipse”, “The ethnic cleansing of Arabic Jews”, and “The Fifth Generation Warfare” (2008-06-24)
  
• “Sacred Science: Using Faith to Explain Anomalies in Physics” and “Can a Robot, an Insect or God Be Aware?” (2007-06-25)
  
• “Jordan charges Dutch politician with blasphemy” (2008-07-02)
  
• “New Zealand man puts up his soul for auction” (2008-07-03)
  
• “Doctors told to defy parents and save child’s life”, “When a tombstone reads 'Light of the World'”, and “The disaster for Christians in Iraq” (2008-07-07)
  
• “We may allow gay unions: COI head” (2008-07-09)
  
• “New legal threat to teaching evolution in the US” and “Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom” (2007-07-11)
  
• “Man Claims God Uses Him To Cure Cancer, Raise Dead; Thousands” and “Man sues church, claiming spirit forced his fall” (2008-07-13)
  
• “Study attacks Euro-centric view of worldwide religious decline” (2008-07-14)
  
• “What does the pope do on his day off?” and “UZBEKISTAN: Fifteen year sentence for reading 'prohibited' Christian literature?” (2008-07-15)
  
• “Symposium: Confronting Islamization of the West” (2008-07-16)
  
• “Review Finds Slurs In '06 Saudi Texts”, “Saudi king opens Spain interfaith conference with call for unity”, and “Mormon Church and polygamists battle over language” (2008-07-17)

Other:

• A list of religious questions (2006-01-10)
  

Beware of red lights

Greetings.

Jewish date: 23 ’Av 5769.

Today’s holidays: Feast Day of Hippolytus.

Today’s quasi-holidays: Left Handers Day.

Worthy causes of the day: “We Don't Need More Dirty Coal!”, “5% FOR THE WORLD'S MOST VULNERABLE: ASK YOUR SENATORS: We can convince the Senate to invest in helping the world's poorest people overcome the threats posed by climate change”, and “End Health Care Discrimination Based on Pre-Existing Conditions”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Muslim woman barred from wearing 'burquini' in Paris pool”: And yet again France makes itself look stupid when it comes to freedom of religion. Yes, many of us worry about Islam, but that does not translate into violating freedom of religion for Muslims, especially ones who are merely trying to go swimming. Framing this as a hygiene issue is particularly lame and transparent. The real issues with Islam are to the tune of jihad, dhimmitude, trying to coerce acceptance (as opposed to tolerance) out of everyone, violence, terrorism, intolerance, imposition of shari‘a, and questions of whether Muḥammad was a real prophet at all. Freaking out over the clothing people chose for themselves is concentrating on something superficial and fairly harmless and ignoring what is actually dangerous.
   
2. I am seriously considering moving the Divine Misconceptions feature to its own blog again. The breadth of material covered in Weird thing of the day has gotten very wide, and much of the Divine Misconceptions material may not be what people normally consider weird. While Weird thing of the day and Divine Misconceptions are both “accidental” projects, their purposes and goals are different. Weird thing of the day started out as periodic E-mails in which I noted unusual things; it has never gained a set goal beyond that. Divine Misconceptions started out as a list of ideas about religion that were wrong and has turned into a serious writing project; its current goal is to produce at least two books on religious fallacies and misconceptions. A separate Divine Misconceptions blog might be able to focus better on religion and religious epistemology better, while allowing Weird thing of the day to focus more clearly on weirdness. Any thoughts? (And I really mean it. The last time I publicly considered doing this, no one responded.)

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Road Safety (1999)”
  
• “Iran calls for international ban on striking nuke facilities”: Translation: They are really, really scared that they are going to get bombed by Israel, which is no surprise since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly threatened Israel’s very existence. Apparently the tactic of apologizing for Ahmadinejad’s indecent behavior and ceasing to be nuclear threat to Israel has not occurred to them.
  
• “ Newfound Planet Orbits Backward ”
  
• “Tasting the Light: Device Lets Blind "See" with Their Tongues A pair of sunglasses wired to an electric "lollipop" helps the visually impaired regain optical sensations via a different pathway”: I cannot make something like this up.
  

Today’s weird thing is “Percent of Green and Red Lights While Driving”:

Enjoy, share the weirdness, and please comment on this post whether I should spin off a separate Divine Misconceptions blog.

Aaron

The Divine Misconceptions FAQ

The Divine Misconceptions FAQ

© 2008 Aaron Solomon Adelman (“Friendly Pharisee”)

What is Divine Misconceptions?

A few years ago, I became disgusted with widespread religious illiteracy in our society. One aspect of this lack of understanding is ignorance of religion; people often know little about the religion they claim to believe, much less other people’s religions. Another, arguably more dangerous aspect is that many support their religious ideas with poor reasoning or none at all; indeed, for many religion has become synonymous with unreason, through which people can believe and do whatever is right in their own eyes in complete disregard of evidence and sense. At first my disgust led me to merely list misinformation and bad logic claimed in the name of religion. However, the list has grown not merely in length, extent, and organization, but it is evolving into a book or (more likely) series of books (tentatively titled Divine Misconceptions: An Orange Catholic Necronomicon of Religious Fallacies and Misinformation) on why religious misinformation and poor thinking are wrong.

The goal of the Divine Misconceptions project is to produce a book or series of books covering all the common religious fallacies and misinformation in contemporary society. The hope is that this project will help people to think more about what they believe and why they believe it, because the stakes are high. Religion is not a game or a mere social activity. What are at risk rank among the most important things known to humanity: truth, morality, salvation, and even life itself, with major questions of what is obligatory or unconditionally prohibited dependent on the truth of beliefs. People are regularly harmed or killed by religious irrationality of various kinds, including refusal of vaccination or blood transfusions; use of “complementary” and “alternative” medicines; slander; exploitation by cults and people with alleged divinatory powers; and oppression, violence, homicide and war with an alleged prophetic basis. Given that contemporary society is extremely tolerant and even accepting of religious illiteracy and poor reasoning, and Hillel says in Pirqe ’Avoth 2:6 “And in a place that there are no men, make efforts to be a man”, I am stepping forward to do something, anything to change the situation for the better.

What is the meaning of the project’s name?

Divine refers specifically to deities (a subject frequently misunderstood) and to religion in general.

Misconceptions refers to the bad ideas.

Orange Catholic is an allusion to the Orange Catholic Bible of Frank Herbert’s Dune series. In this series, the Orange Catholic Bible is a scriptural text produced by a 121-member ecumenical council for the express purpose of removing conflict between rival religions. The result is a condensed and harmonized version of the scriptures of all the major religions of the day. Orange Catholic has been utilized because the project is relevant to all religions (including ideologies such as atheism and communism on the borderline of religion) and as a reference to some disturbing trends in religion these days.

Necronomicon is an allusion to the Necronomicon of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. In this series, the Necronomicon is a grimoire containing occult secrets that many would prefer were kept secrets. Necronomicon has been utilized since this project aims to bring into public discussion of religion such ideas as truth, reason, and objectivity that many would rather be hidden away and forgotten completely.

What is the current state of the project?

I already have what may best be described as a skeleton of a book, stretching over about 150 pages, waiting for me to fill in a lot of details. Current work on the book is comprised mostly of 1) trying to write basic, introductory material and 2) reading/watching relevant material, analyzing it, and reviewing it; some such material has already appeared on my blog).

There is also effort being expended to decide on the correct scope, both in terms of religions covered and the works about them used; restricting the scope is vital, because religion such a large topic that no single human could hope to cover everything possibly relevant in a single lifetime. Definitely to be investigated are current major world religions, historically important religions, well-publicized new religious movements, and various ideologies and disciplines on the borders of religion. A more extensive list of topics is found below. Also needing to be taken into account are depictions of religion in popular culture; though not authoritative, they frequently reflect people’s views of religion, especially views that might not be expressed in authoritative sources.

Also in need of work is determining how to bring this project properly to fruition. Some of the topics to be covered range far beyond my own experience, and I will probably need the help of experts to wade through the sea of material available to find the information I need. Even in subjects with which I am familiar, there is a need to find people who are qualified and willing to do peer review so that mistakes are corrected before publication. There are also questions about how to go about getting the work published, in how many installments, and whether it would be possible to get funding for the work.

What topics will be covered in Divine Misconceptions?

Note: This list is unlikely to be exhaustive.

Section 1 (likely to become a separate book): “The Book of Seductive Interest in Logic” (as it is written in Frank Herbert’s Dune, “It was said that its pages were filled with a seductive interest in logic.”):

• Contradiction
  
• Formal fallacies (bad logic)
  
• Informal fallacies (rhetorical dirty tricks)
  
• Extreme relativism
  
• Epistemology (including theism versus atheism)
  
• Bad terminology
  
• Mediocracy
  
• The nature of religion and syncretism
  
• Abusing the boundaries between religions
  
• Hermeneutics and scripture
  
• Deities
  
• Prophecy
  
• Miracles
  
• Science
  
• Things claimed to be what really matters to the exclusion of anything else
  
• Trust in one’s deity
  
• Morality, judgement, commandments, and transgressions
  
• Natural rights
  
• The human condition
  
• Categorization of beings as superior or inferior
  
• Groups alleged to be involved in nefarious, religion-related plots
  
• Prayer
  
• Sexuality
  
• Abortion and embryonic stem cell research
  
• Miscellaneous

Section 2: “The Azhar Book of the Dead” (likely to contain a separate book in the form of a commentary on the Hebrew Bible and New Testament):

• The Hebrew Bible
• Judaism (including the Qabbalah and Ḥasidhuth) and Pseudo-Judaism (“Reform Judaism” and its descendant ideologies)
• Christianity and Pseudo-Christianity (including Mormonism)
• Islam (including the Jihad and Islam’s relations with other religions) and Pseudo-Islam (including Ahmadiyya and the Nation of Islam)
• Druze religion
• Vaishnavism, Smartism, Shaivism, and Shaktism (“Hinduism”)
• Sikhism
• Jainism
• Buddhism and Pseudo-Buddhism (including Falun Gong)
• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Zoroastrianism
• Ancient Greek and Roman religion, ancient Egyptian religion, and other ancient paganisms
• Baha’i religion
• Yoruba religion (including Voodoo and Santería)
• Assorted “native” religions
• Ceremonial/ritual magic and occultism
• Theosophy
• Spiritualism
• Neopaganism (including Wicca, Discordianism, polytheistic reconstructionism, and the relationship of such ideologies to historical witchcraft and paganisms)
• LaVeyan Satanism (including its relation to the Christian paranoid fantasy of Satanism) and other Left-Hand Path religions
• Scientology (including Free Zone)
• New Age religions
• Quasi-religious atheistic ideologies
• Obsolete hypotheses and assorted problematic claims assumed to be true
  

How can I help?

This project is bigger than any one person, so help is always appreciated.

• Read my blog, Weird thing of the day, and comment on posts containing material relevant to Divine Misconceptions (all posts, review posts).  Feel free to tell me when you think I am wrong and back it up with evidence.  If I am wrong on something, I would much rather find out before publication than after publication.
• Notify me of any religiously fallacious or incorrect material you find, suggest matters for me to discuss, or ask questions.
• Tell any friends who might be interested about this project.
• Publicize this project among people who will hate it.  I have already had someone from Jews for Jesus complain about one of my postings.
• I have put bounties on certain information.  See the Divine Misconceptions bounty list.
• I also welcome donations of materials related to the project that you have and are doing nothing but taking up space right now. Those who are unusually generous can buy me something from the official Divine Misconceptions wish list on Amazon.com.  Actual money would also be nice.

Also: My current topic of writing focus is truth. If you have questions about the nature of truth, please, let me know!

15 ’Adhar 5769: Shushan Purim/Johnny Appleseed Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Tell EPA: Pave the way for cleaner cars!”

Also: I gave blood today. Please consider giving yourself if you can, as the Red Cross is in short supply. Two great things about it are 1) you can save a life without having to do anything dangerous, such as run into a burning building and 2) it is a way to do something good which costs nothing.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. On and off I have thought about spinning off a separate Divine Misconceptions blog. This current blog is titled Weird thing of the day, but the range of materials posted on it has gotten rather wide and frequently not particularly weird. Spinning off a separate blog would allow me to focus this one more on weird things and another one on material related to the Divine Misconceptions project; on the other hand, it would mean I have to manage two separate blogs. To help me decide, I have started a new poll in the sidebar on the right, ending on 1 Nisan. Please vote and let me know what you think.
2. More religious intolerance: “India: Pastor Shot In Bomb Attack On Church”, “Dalai Lama blasts 'brutal crackdown' in Tibet”, “The International Coalition for Religious Freedom: Should Kazakhstan Head the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe?”, and “UZBEKISTAN: Can authorities 'separate the simple study of one's religion from extremist activity'?”.
   
3. “Somalis in Minneapolis fall under FBI suspicion”: (Submitted by Barry.) It does not take a genius to note that much of the terror committed on this planet is done in the name of Islam, regardless of whether one considers Islamic terrorism to be a legitimate part of Islam or not. As such, it is only to be expected that Muslims everywhere are being scrutinized for connections with Muslim terrorist organizations, and naturally Muslims who themselves do not engage in or support terrorism are put in a rather uncomfortable situation.
   
4. “Egyptian cleric blasts Starbucks for 'Queen Esther' logo”: Thus is it written:
   

   "The girl in the Starbucks logo is Queen Esther. Do you know who Queen Esther was and what the crown on her head means? This is the crown of the Persian kingdom. This queen is the queen of the Jews. She is mentioned in the Torah, in the Book of Esther. The girl you see is Esther, the queen of the Jews in Persia," the cleric said.
   
   "The Crown you see here [in the Starbucks logo] is the crown of the kingdom of Xerxes," Higa said.
   
   "We want Starbucks to be shut down throughout the Arab and Islamic world," he concluded. "It is inconceivable that in Mecca and Al-Madina, there will be a picture of Queen Esther. Can you believe that in Mecca, Al-Madina, Cairo, Damascus, Kuwait, and all over the Islamic world there hangs the picture of beautiful Queen Esther, with a crown on her head, and we buy her products?"

   Putting aside the blatant anti-Semitism, the problem is that the premise for boycotting Starbucks is wrong. According to the Wikipedia article on Starbucks (which includes references to back it up its claim), the girl in the Starbucks logo is a siren, and previous versions of the logo look less plausibly like Queen ’Esther. WARNING: Previous versions of the logo are not suitable to show to children. Or scrupulous adults. Do not blame me if you follow that link and are offended.
5. “Clean and Virtuous: When Physical Purity Becomes Moral Purity”: Just a curious quirk of human thinking.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Depression”
• “Where is the tomb of Mordechai and Esther?”
  
• “When It Comes to Living in Space, It's a Matter of Taste”
  
• “Do weather changes cause headaches?”
  
• “Phoenix Mars Lander Found Liquid Water, Some Scientists Think ”
  
• “Invasive Earthworms Denude Forests in U.S. Great Lakes Region”: This might be funny if it were not tragic.
  
• “A Medical Madoff: Anesthesiologist Faked Data in 21 Studies”: This is shocking behavior and a good example of what happens to someone who lies in a scientific paper.

Today’s weird thing is “Unveiling the "Sixth Sense," game-changing wearable tech”:

Technologically, it is a wonderful thing to be living in the 21st century; we have wonderful toys and keep getting more of them. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

6 Marḥeshwan 5768: Jews for Jesus ask “Did Jesus even exist?”

Greetings.

Actually, today is a quasi-holiday, No Beard Day, not to mention my and Barry’s birthday on the Gregorian calendar. The title of today’s post is in commemoration of a new milestone on the Divine Misconceptions project. On Tuesday, I criticized the deceptively named “Jews for Jesus” over its deceptive advertising. Well, yesterday, a “Jew for Jesus” by the name of Moshe posted a comment criticizing my criticism. (Not particularly well, but criticize he did. I had no trouble driving him into the pavement.) I welcome all people and groups I criticize in my “divine misconception of the day” feature to criticize my criticism of them and even encourage their friends and associate to criticize my criticism, too. The goal of having a “divine misconception of the day” feature is to get text written which can be later incorporated into my book in progress, Divine Misconceptions: An Orange Catholic Necronomicon of Religious Fallacies and Misinformation, and criticism has the potential to uncover errors in my arguments so that they can be fixed or abandoned earlier rather than later. So, please, if you believe I am wrong on anything, leave a comment saying so and why.

And if you are wondering about the title of today’s post, it is of the same sort Jews for Jesus uses that I complained about on Tuesday. It is a deceptive truth, designed to sound like Jews for Jesus have turned traitor to Jewish-rite Christianity. Jews for Jesus really do ask “Did Jesus even exist?”—in their Questions & Answers section, where they proceed to give evidence (of whatever quality) that Jesus really did exist.

I would also like to honor the addition of a link to Jews for Judaism, the sworn nemesis of Jews for Jesus, to my sidebars.

Divine misconception of the day: “Parents use religion to avoid vaccines”. This article is not about poor-quality religious belief, but rather its equally bad mirror image, poor-quality nonreligious belief. Atheism and agnosticism, as ideologies, are supposed to be rational. Vaccination paranoia, in contrast, is a purely irrational fear. I have read many papers on the alleged connection between MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism, and all had the same conclusion: there is no association, period. One never, ever hears of any serious research finding vaccines causing anything bad other than allergic reactions. Considering the dangers of the diseases people are at very serious risk of getting if they are not vaccinated, the only valid reason to not vaccinate children is if they are allergic to eggs. That parents with no religious belief would not vaccinate their children is a betrayal of everything atheism and agnosticism are about. Worse yet is the fact that they lie, claiming to believe when they most certainly do not, in order to sidestep vaccination; atheism and agnosticism are supposed to be honest ideologies. Shame on these parents!

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Big Chill (1978)”
  
• “HRC Behind The Scenes”
  
• “Bill would let ID theft victims seek restitution”
  
• “Giant pillow fight mocks regional rivalry”
  
• “Spam reaches all-time high of 95% of all email”
  
• “Last year there were two trillion stalks of corn in Iowa, and most of it went to corn syrup”
  
• “Martian Volcanoes May Not be Extinct”

Today’s weird thing is “Water Cooling Computers With A Swimming Pool”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

22 Marḥeshwan 5769: Name Your PC Day/Africa Industrialization Day/Universal Children’s Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America”, “Stop Bush's Dangerous Changes to Endangered Species Act!”, “Insist on Environmental Review Before Utah Drilling Lease Auction”, and “DELAYS ARE KILLING DARFUR”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. I am feeling very annoyed. It seems that whenever there is a successful religious work, especially something purporting to be scripture, there will inevitably be something that will claim to be that work’s successor. One consequence of this is just as the New Testament claims to be a successor of the Hebrew Bible, there are works which claim to be the successor to the New Testament. Some of these, such as the Qur’an and Book of Mormon, are well popularized and distinctively named. However, there are at least 19 works out there purporting in some way or another to be the Third Testament:
   1. A Third Testament: A Modern Pilgrim Explores the Spiritual Wanderings of Augustine, Blake, Pascal, Tolstoy, Bonhoeffer, Kierkegaard, and Dostoevsky by Malcolm Muggeridge (does not appear to be a true Third Testament)
      
   2. Awake: The Third Testament by Russell Hamner
      
   3. The Third Testament by Curtis J. Scott (may be fiction)
      
   4. The Third Testament by Julian North
      
   5. The Third Testament-Spirit of Truth: The Forerunner, The Guardian, The Book of True Life, Message from Mary by T. R. Ross
      
   6. The Third Testament, Volume 1 by X. Dorison and A. Alice (fiction)
      The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, also known as The Writings or The Third Testament
      
   7. Third Testament by Thomas A. Rees
      
   8. The Third Testament by Scribe
      
   9. The Third Testament by Martinus (multiple volumes)
      
   10. The Prophet and the Maid: The Third Testament by Allen F. Whitener (seems to be fiction)
       
   11. The Third Testament by Faye Wolff Allen
       
   12. Man’s place in the universe: The third testament by Isaac Harris
       
   13. The Third Testament: Three Gospels of Peace by Ron Whitehead
       
   14. The Third Testament: A Story of Regeneration by Dr. Catherine Macklin Thomas
       
   15. The third testament: A message of power, goodness and conquest for the people of today by N. Ellsworth Escott
       
   16. The Third Testament the Ilect Verses of Jah Rastafari by Haile Sellassie I
       
   17. The Third Testament, or the Apocalypse: a Brief Exposition by Geo Burnett
       
   18. The third testament of the Holy Bible by S. Joseph Iannarelli
       
   19. Divine Looking Glass or The Third and Last Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ by John Reeve
   Yes, a few of these are fiction. But many seem to be serious religious works. Please do not ask me about the basis for any of these works claiming to be the Third Testament. I know that Swedenborg and Martinus were mystics and that Halle Sellassie I was emperor of Ethiopia, but I know very little about any of the authors or their religious lives. What I am disturbed about is that they all chose the same name for their works, as if none of them could do a little research to see if the name “Third Testament” had already been used. (I am under the impression that Swedenborg may have the rights to the name, but I am far from certain.) This is just asking for confusion, not to mention indicating a severe lack of creativity. In an expression of my disapproval, I hereby preemptively lay claim to all names of the form “The nth Testament” for every n which does not equal 1, 2, or 3. On top of this, I have a bad feeling that the first book of Divine Misconceptions will end up being titled The Zeroth Testament, as being able to think is such a basic skill that revelation is practically worthless without it. (My other “bad feeling” titles are The Orange Catholic Bible and Not Another Bible.)
   
2. “Hollywood out of step with American morals: poll”: The people of the United States apparently do not blindly accept the moral values portrayed in the media. This is very comforting.
   
3. “Court rules non-virgin bride, spouse wed”: Here we go again. A Muslim couple went to court a while back in France to divorce over the fact that the wife had lied about being a virgin when they were married, thus violating a condition the marriage was made on. Both husband and wife wanted the divorce so they could get on with their lives, but other people protested, assuming they had a right to determine on what basis other people get married or divorced on. This is what the court in France has done now:

   Overturning an April decision that determined the woman breached the wedding contract by lying about "an essential quality," the court in Douai ruled Monday virginity could not be given such weight because "its absence has no repercussion on matrimonial life," The Guardian reported Tuesday.

   Thus the court is trying to impose on people what they find important in a mate, which is obviously ridiculous, not to mention annulling the annulment is a violation of the wishes of both parties involved. This is a breach of freedom of religion and personal freedom. But given France’s government was nutty enough to think that banning religious clothing from the public schools is a great way to fight terrorists and not a violation of freedom of religion, I may be expecting too much from them.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Hebrew Speaking Criminals (1977)”
  
• “From Bad to Worse: Latest Figures on Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions”
  
“Herbal supplement Ginkgo doesn't stop Alzheimer's”

• “A transplant first: Stem-cell-grown trachea gives woman new vigor”
  
• “Macedonians plant six million trees in single day” and “Indonesia to plant 100 million trees this year”: Imagine what we could do to fight deforestation if everyone followed this example!
  
• “PA: 'Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts'”
  
• Tom the Dancing Bug 2008-11-20: I may not be an economist, but there is some solid logic behind this.
  
• “Tobacco settlement money squandered by states, advocates charge”
  
• “Arraignment set for Cheney, Gonzales in Texas”
  
• “Israel 'occupies' no Arab territories” and “Another Banana Moment?”
  

In honor of one of today’s quasi-holidays, I would like to note that my current computer is named ’Iyyov (= Job).

Today’s weird thing is “Telescopic Text”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

1 Nisan 5769: Old Jewish New Year/Make Up Your Own Holiday Day/Spinach Festival Day

Greetings.

In honor of Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, I hereby declare March 29 to be Rocky and Bullwinkle Day.  (You can tell what I watched yesterday in Hulu.)

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. Nobody voted in the poll on whether to spin of a separate Divine Misconceptions blog.  I will interpret this as a sign not to do so.
2. See Mishnah, Ro’sh hashShanah 1:1 for demonstration this is a Jewish New Year.  Specifically this is the new year used for dates in the Hebrew Bible.  I do not know why the new year was later shifted to 1 Tishri, six months later.
3. More countries stomp on freedom of religion: “Morocco clamps down on Shiites”, “Saudi Arabia's Shia press for rights”, “Member of minority Yezidi sect killed in northern Iraq”, and “Tories 'prepared to defend' polygamy ban”.  For that last one, the West has a notion that anything happening between two or more consenting adults is OK, but somehow polygamy, even by consenting adults, is not.  Considering that polygamy has historically been considered acceptable and it is considered religiously acceptable or even desirable by some groups, this is an extremely surprising attitude.  After all, we hesitate to interfere with the practice of anyone’s religion unless it puts someone in grave danger.  And what is the danger in polygamy?  The fact that polygamy has been abused is irrelevant; there have been plenty of bad monogamous marriages and monogamous marriages used to deceive the government, but that does not mean monogamous marriages are inherently bad.  Note this is not a defense of child marriages or marriages where one or more partners are unwilling.  But if all partners are consenting adults, possessed of the collective financial means necessary for the endeavor, why should any government stand in their way?
4. Muslims are doing a bad job trying to convince others to outlaw saying anything critical of Islam: “Atheists, believers oppose free speech curbs at UN”.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Forgetting Sadat (1981)”
  
• “CMAJ Editor-in-Chief Responds”
  
• “Fireman dresses as Spider-Man to rescue boy”
  
• “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic”
  
• “Kids' Sweet Tooth Related to Growth”
  
• “10 Ways to Stave Off Hospital Superbugs and Other Nasty Germs”
  
• “Gaza and Darfur: Some people seem to matter more than others”
  
• “How Humor Makes You Friendlier, Sexier”
  
• “Cruel irony: Do renewable power plants threaten their surrounding environment?”
  
• “Most electronic voting isn't secure, CIA expert says”
  

Today’s weird thing is MagicCube5D. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and happy new year.

Aaron

10 ’Adhar 5769: International Book Day/National Frozen Food Day/Middle Name Pride Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “We deserve the Truth”, “Prevent the Worst of Global Warming: Pass a Strong Climate Bill Now”, and “Health Reform Must Be A Priority!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Roman Catholic bishops to faithful: Give up cell phone and Internet during Lent”: This is an interesting idea. It may be impractical for some, but it is still interesting.
   
2. “Oklahoma hates Richard Dawkins”: Summary: A state representative in Oklahoma filed a resolution attacking evolutionary biologist and militant atheist Richard Dawkins and his speaking at the University of Oklahoma as part of celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday on the grounds that Dawkins’s views are (allegedly) against those of the majority of Oklahomans. Since it is not under the authority of the government to dictate science or religion, this is obviously inappropriate. (This is despite Dawkins being a known jerk. Expression of one’s views, no matter how offensive they are, is constitutionally protected free speech.) Furthermore, both the state representative and Dawkins fall into the cliché of linking evolution and atheism. See the sidebar on the right under Divine Misconceptions, subsection Others’ work for information on why this cliché is wrong.
   
3. More people not getting freedom of religion: “Religious Persecution on the Horn of Africa”
   
4. “Traditional Anglicans want to join Catholic Church”: Not surprising.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Purim and Passover”
  
• “Illinois plutocrats are frakkin’ goofy”: I cannot make up a resolution this bad.
  
• “Indonesian district orders newly weds to buy trees”: Interesting tactic.
  
• “Lost in the blur of slogans”
  
• “First domesticated horses in central Asia more than 5,000 years ago”
  
• “Does Daylight Saving Time Conserve Energy?”
  
• “Carbon Offsets: Fact or Fiction?”
  
• “Congressmen try to restrict Gaza funds”: Not all politicians are hopeless, thank YHWH!
  
• “Cassini spacecraft spots a new moonlet in Saturn's rings”
  
• “Are doctors zapping patients with too much radiation?”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Trek Spring Collection Preview: First Look At Genki Star Trek Fragrances”. I would never dare make up anything resembling this. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

11 Kislew 5769: Immaculate Conception

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “Repower, Refuel and Rebuild America”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Education official's book attacked”: Thus is it written:

   A member of the State Board of Education is drawing fire from a watchdog group because of her critical views on public education in a new book she has written that advocates more Christianity in the public square.
   
   Board member Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, should be booted from the Committee on Instruction following the publication of a new book in which she attacks a public education system she helps govern, the Texas Freedom Network's president said Thursday.
   
   In her book, One Nation Under God, Dunbar argues that the country's founding fathers created "an emphatically Christian government" and believed that government should be guided by a "biblical litmus test."

   I am rather confused as to where Dunbar gets such an idea, considering it is well-known that many of the Founding Fathers were Deists, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution do not affirm any allegiance to Christianity, and the First Amendment of the Constitution decrees separation of church and state.
   
2. “Atheists' sign at Capitol stolen, found”: There is some amazing atheistic hypocrisy in this. Atheists put up a sign at the Capitol saying “Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” Someone stole the sign, and thus:

   Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Dan Barker, said about the theft, "It was unfriendly, it was illegal and it actually underscored our point that religion hardens hearts and enslaves minds so that people are unwilling to be gracious and tolerate another point of view."

   Now, I do not condone stealing other people’s property, but I find it amazing that with a sign like that any atheist should expect religious people to be anything but hostile. One cannot slap others across the face and expect them to smile. A sign like that is just an insult which does nothing but promote pointless divisiveness. No wonder there are counter-signs, complaints, and protests. Major rule for promotion of any religion (and that includes atheism): Show people the beauty, truth, and goodness of your religion rather than trying to knock down those who disagree with you.
   
   Also: Whoever decided to try to promote the use of the term “Bright” for atheists, after this sign you may want to rethink that.
   
   Also: Considering this country’s separation of church and state, why are there any religious displays in government buildings in the first place?

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Automobile Industry Financing”
  
• “In Lean Times, Online Coupons Catching On”: Submitted by Barry. The links in the article may be very useful.
  
• “Job seeker with MBA posts resume in taxi back seat”: This is an interesting publicity technique.
  
• “What is truth serum?”
  
• “Happiness Is Contagious”
  

Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “The Well-Tempered Plot Device”. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and remember to pay for that copy of The Black Star before you burn it.

Aaron

PS: I am not expecting people and religious groups criticized in the Divine Misconceptions section to like me.

21 Kislew 5769: Bake Cookies Day/International Migrants Day

Greetings.

Worthy cause of the day: “EPA Must Clean Up Cement Kilns Now!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Why I hate movies about Jews”: This is a very interesting perspective on how Jews are depicted in Hollywood: all to often as victims and rarely if ever as positively viewed victors. Considering that the next Jewish holiday is Ḥanukkah, the historical incident that would make for a good movie with lots of action (including CGI elephants) should be obvious.
   
2. “The Latest Face of Creationism in the Classroom”: Major rule: Do not expect everyone to believe a lie, no matter how often it is said. Claiming that “intelligent design” is science and secular does not make it so, and academic freedom does not mean intellectual anarchy.
   
3. Right after I post today’s installment, I am adding a new feature to the Divine Misconceptions project:  a list of bounties for certain information.  Some problems simply do not have easy or obvious answers, and I am willing to put my money where my mouth is (so to speak) to get answers, should the answers be available at all.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “The Euro (1998)”
  
• “Stevia--A natural, no-cal way to satisfy a sweet tooth. But is it safe?”
  
• “Is Bamboo Flooring Better for the Planet Than Traditional Hardwood?”
  
• “Tumor in Colorado newborn's brain contained foot”: Submitted by Barry.
  
• “The Evolutionary Origins of Hiccups and Hernias”
  
• “Lawyers turn to Facebook to serve legal papers”: This had to happen sooner or later.
  
• “The Human Pedigree: A Timeline of Hominid Evolution”: Very complicated, and that is just in the past few million years.
  
• “Forklift allegedly used to steal ATM in Texas”
  
• “With Olympics over, China re-blocks some Web sites”: Figures.
  
• “Family pushes their dog as next Illinois governor”
  

Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is the remarkable “Hammer and Nail Art”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

23 ’Elul 5768: Checkers Day

Greetings.

Worthy causes of the day: “Main Street before Wall Street”, “Open White Spaces for Everyone”, and “Tell the government to protect sea turtles from trawls.”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Mean girl”: There is a lot of dirt on Sarah Palin and her exploitative, un-Christian behavior in this article, but the item I want to discuss is:

   Even though Palin knew that Stein is a Protestant Christian, from a Pennsylvania Dutch background, her campaign began circulating the word that she would be "Wasilla's first Christian mayor." Some of Stein's supporters interpreted this as an attempt to portray Stein as Jewish in the heavily evangelical community. Stein himself, an eminently reasonable and reflective man, thinks "they were redefining Christianity to mean born-agains."

   (Emphasis mine.) Palin is not alone in narrowing the definition of Christianity; a parody from a few years back, “Consumer report: Which religion is the best?”, considers Christianity and Catholicism to be two different religions.  It should go without saying that the claim of Protestantism or one section thereof as the One True Claimant to the Name of “Christianity” is untenable.  Everyone knows that historically Catholicism preceded Protestantism.  Orthodox Christianity, Syriac Christianity, Coptic Christianity, and Ethiopian Christianity also preceded Protestantism.  These older groups were what everyone referred to as Christianity long before Martin Luther.  Therefore, claiming that any younger group is the “real” Christianity is an attempt at changing the definition of the term and not legitimate.
   
2. “Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian problem”: This is historical background for the Jihad. Note that the real offense of the Jews behind the Arab-Israeli War is that the Jews refuse to live by the rules that Islam sets for them, that they should be helpless second-class citizens.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Happy New Year (1976)”
  
• “More Smears By Hari”
  
• “Exposed Untruths Continue to Shape Voter Impressions” (This is worrying.)
  
• “'I'm a PC' ad pictures made on a Mac” (Very ironic.)
  
• “German radio station to air show in Latin” (Yes, Latin is alive and well. If you do not know how scary this is, look over the Wikipedia articles “Latin grammar”, “Latin declension”, and “Latin conjugation”.  And this is a language I am seriously thinking of working on for my Divine Misconceptions project after Ancient Greek due to it being the original language for some source materials and it periodically popping up in all manner of places, its big contender being Classical Arabic.)
  
• “Israel Unleashes First 'Skunk Bomb'”
  
• “Palin lawyer meets with investigator in probe” (Note the opening sentence: “Less than a week after balking at the Alaska Legislature's investigation into her alleged abuse of power, Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday indicated she will cooperate with a separate probe run by people she can fire.” (Emphasis mine.)) and “Palin's town charged women for rape exams”
  
• “Fish Gave Us the Finger” (Not what it sounds like.)
  
• “Where Have all the Gentleman Gone?”
  
• “Why the Oil Crisis Will Persist”
  
• This Modern World 2008-09-22
  

Today’s weird thing, submitted by Emily, is GIANTmicrobes. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Beware of humans

Greetings.

Jewish date:  18 ’Elul 5769.

Today’s holiday:  Monday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  National Thylacine Day, Neither Snow Nor Rain Day, International Dadaism Month, Labor Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Re-authorize the Ryan White Act - Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS”.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. More religious intolerance:  “Hamas Fights Over Gaza’s Islamist Identity” and “Malaysia Muslim protest derails Hindu temple plan”.
2. I have begun putting together a separate Divine Misconceptions blog, which can be found here.  There are no posts up yet, just infrastructure.  That includes adding the new blog to my list of recommended blogs here.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Are inaccurate media reports hurting U.S.-Israel relationship?”:  Interesting question.  Good reminder that not everything in the media is necessarily true.

Today’s weird thing is “HOMO SAPIENS”:

Arguably this is very accurate.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

I cannot think of a title that would not spoil today’s weird thing

Greetings.

Jewish date: 4 Siwan 5769.

Today’s holiday: Day 48 of the ‘Omer.

Today’s quasi-holiday: National Senior Health and Fitness Day.

Worthy causes of the day: “Museums are Essential to Our National Heritage” and “Is Rush Limbaugh the voice of the Republican Party?”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Revelation denied: The scandal of Jewish ignorance”: Few people value anything they know little or nothing about. That is a major reason for the Divine Misconceptions project. I like the idea of more and better-done Jewish movies. (I wonder what a film about the Vilna Ga’on would be like...)
   
2. “Sect members accused of denying children education”: I have no clue what these people are thinking. I do not recall anywhere in the New Testament where Jesus proclaimed ignorance as being virtuous.
   
3. “RUSSIA: A new 'Inquisition'”: Governmental violation of freedom of religion shows its ugly face again.
   

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Happy Shavuot”
  
• “The Naqba Against the Jews You Don't Hear About”
  
• “May thy dice chip and shatter”
  
• “Don't even think about it!”
  
• “No Holds Barred: Give it a rest”
  
• “Polaroid Lovers Try to Revive Its Instant Film”
  

Today’s weird thing is “GIVE A CAT A FISH”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

PS: I take no responsibility for the consequences if you show this to your cat and it gets any naughty ideas.

Greetings.

Jewish date:  25 ’Elul 5769.

Today’s holidays:  Triumph of the Cross, Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Today’s quasi-holiday:  National Boss/Employee Exchange Day.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “angels”:  Bringing peace to the Middle East is fraught with serious religious difficulty, given Islamic and Arab state-endorsed anti-Semitism.  Given that the previous several presidents of the United State—both Republicans and Democrats—have tried through trying to get Israel to do stupid things (as opposed to, say, dealing with the problem of anti-Semitism), with at best neutral results, and that Obama has already started down this well-worn path, I do not expect him to do any better.
2. Setting up the Divine Misconceptions blog has been coming along nicely, and I may really start posting them sometime this week.
3. See today’s weird thing below.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Single Vaccine Dose, Even One from 1976, Could Protect against the H1N1 Swine Flu”

Today’s weird thing is “Statistically, How to Make it into the BOOK of LIFE”.  This is Jewish humor and relevant to the upcoming holidays of Ro’sh hashShanah and Yom Kippur.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

16 ’Elul 5768: National Play-doh Day/Collect Rocks Day/International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer/Wife Appreciation Day

Greetings.

NOTE: The poll is almost over. Please weigh in on the question of whether this blog should have a poll.

Worthy causes of the day: “Stop the Eleventh-Hour Assault on Endangered Species”, “Extend the Renewable Energy Tax Credit Before Month's End!”, “Urge Board to Reconsider Clemency for Troy Davis”, and “Speak out against Interstate I-3!”

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:  “The myth of al-Aqsa”: This is an interesting account of how the deliberate misidentification of the Temple Mount as “the furthest mosque” was originally done for intra-Islamic political purposes and how this dubious claim is pushed today for the purposes of jihad. The author is correct in concluding that Jews and Christians have no reason to perpetuate or participate in this fraud.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Bank Crisis (1983)”
  
• “Palin 'Unlikely' to Meet With Prosecutor”, “Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million”, “Sarah Palin's powerful "First Dude"” (You would think the saner Republicans would be trying to get Palin pulled off the ticket by now.)
  
• The blog Women Against Sarah Palin (Submitted by Nancy.)
  
• “McCain-Palin Crowd-Size Estimates Not Backed by Officials” and “John McCain: literally antiscience”, and This Modern World 2008-09-15
  
• “Possible First Photo of Planet Around Sun-Like Star ”
  
• “New Medicare Rules Target Aggressive Sales Tactics”
  
• “The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have” (This really, really stinks.)
  
• “Postmodernist attacks on science-based medicine” (And I thought some of the stuff I am dealing with for Divine Misconceptions was bad.)
  
• “Police get call over non-floppy rabbit ears”
  
• GoodGuide (potentially useful resource)
  
• “Homing pigeon takes up wrong home in N.H.”

Today’s weird thing is “Sculpture Fun”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

The Divine Misconceptions bounty list

I, Aaron Solomon Adelman, in the search for better information, hereby declare the following bounties.  The first person to provide any of the requested data to my satisfaction will receive one (1) book from my PaperBackSwap bookshelf or the equivalent monetary value thereof ($3.95).  (I do not currently have huge resources.  The prize is about honor, not money.)

1. Any solid evidence for the Documentary Hypothesis.  I am not looking for literary criticism, but rather positive evidence that separate J, E, P, or D ever existed.  If the Documentary Hypothesis is true, there should have been groups which did not accept the redacted Torah but clung to J, E, P, or D, as almost inevitably there would be some who did not accept the innovation.   Is there any record of any such group ever existing?  Has anyone ever heard of a group which held by a longer Torah or a shorter Torah?
2. Empirical testing of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.  The claimant must perform a clinical trial of the methodology in The Secret according to the standards necessary for publication in a respectable, peer-reviewed scientific journal.  This includes defining outcomes in advance, a comparable control group, randomization, and a sufficient sample size.
3. Any solid evidence of the existence of demons.  An actual demon, dead or alive, or some portion thereof, of a quality sufficient to describe in a respected, peer-reviewed scientific journal, must be provided.  This bounty carries the additional prize that the qualifying claimant also gets naming rights.  Also note that demons or other sentient nonhumans may be and are encouraged to be claimants.
   
4. Theism is in principle demonstrable, since empirically demonstrable prophecy is conceivable.  However, what can an atheist do to demonstrate that no god exists?   Even if one is convinced based on the structure and workings of the universe that no material deity exists, (so far as we can tell), we are not empowered to observe anything outside our own physically reality.  Therefore, how can one distinguish experimentally or observationally between atheism, deism, covert panenthesim (immanent theism), and covert transcendent theism?
   

To file a claim or ask questions, please write to Aaron.

Note:  Serious claims only, please.  Anyone sending anything that smells of a joke or a hoax risks having his/her claim dissected as part of the Divine Misconceptions series.

20 Tishri 5769: Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth/Electricity Day/Evaluate Your Life Day

Greetings, everyone.

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:  Friday I wrapped up my yearly reading cycle for the Torah. I do a standard Jewish regimen for the yearly study the Torah: one parashah (weekly portion) every week, twice in the Hebrew Masoretic text (Aleppo Codex version), once in ’Onqelos’s Aramaic translation, and one commentary (this past year, that of Seforno). This past year I read through the Samaritan version of the Torah, too. I must note the Samaritan Torah is surprisingly like the Jewish version. The only substantive difference in meaning was in the Decalogue, where there was added a commandment that the Temple be on Mount Gerizim. There is also a little filling out of the Exodus story. Other than that, practically every other difference is typographical and more of a curiosity than anything else. This would mean the Torah has changed little if at all in substantive meaning since the unambiguous Jewish-Samaritan split at the time of ‘Ezra’, which (without looking the date up) would be around 400-500 BCE.

This time through the cycle (which I started on yesterday afternoon) I have chosen to study for commentary that of Rashbam. I have also begun to read the most historically important Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. I have been working on Ancient Greek for a while, and (thank YHWH) this proved enough for me last night to be able to grammatically analyze the first creation story in Genesis. I am expecting this coming year to be very painful linguistically, as Ancient Greek is a grammatically complex language which delights in irregularities. The points of this exercise are 1) to read the Septuagint, since it is so historically important and 2) to pick up enough Ancient Greek so as be able to read in the original language other important Ancient Greek literature relevant to the Divine Misconceptions project, e.g., the New Testament, Philo, Josephus, Plato, and Aristotle. The fact that I have a set portion to work on each day is a boon, since that makes it harder to get lazy about studying Ancient Greek, as well as providing regular reinforcement of vocabulary and grammar. If this exercise works as well as I hope, in a year or two I may be working my way through the Vulgate or an Arabic translation of the Torah.

Note 1: If anyone knows if Sa‘adhyah Ga’on’s Arabic translation of the Torah is still extant, please let me know.

Note 2: I suspect that knowing Ancient Greek will prove very useful for scaring Christian missionaries. So far, none I have encountered knew Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. For someone who cannot read his/her own scriptures in the original language, meeting a nonbeliever who can read half of them in the original has to be imposing. Meeting a nonbeliever who can read all of them has to be even worse.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Its Native Tongue Facing Extinction, Arapaho Tribe Teaches the Young”
  
• “Life Origin Experiment Gets Better with Age”
  
• “Koreans Develop Robotic Plant”
  
• “Town scores encore to 'William Tell' musical road”
  
• “Court blocks Ohio vote challenge”
  
• 2008 National Environmental Scorecard
  
• “Whale Protection Is Bolstered as Palin Objects” and “Palin’s emails offered for $15 Million” (For shame on both counts!)
  
• “South Korean analyst sacked for saying greed is bad” (Apparently not everyone in the money business is a Ferengi.)
  
• “IRS rolls out tax processing systems despite known security risks ”
  
• “Many State Election Websites Are Called Hard to Use—or Even Find”
  

Today’s weird things are two Sarah Palin sketches from last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.


And for the record, I think Palin is more of a “Barracuda Barbie” or a “Bushite Barbie” than a “Caribou Barbie”. Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Beware of typos

Greetings.

Jewish date:  13 ’Elul 5769.

Today’s holiday:  Wednesday of the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time.

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Calendar Adjustment Day, National Beheading Day.  (Don’t ask me about the latter.  I have no clue where such a quasi-holiday comes from.)

Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:

1. “Taiwan: China cancels events over Dalai Lama visit”:  Essentially the government of People’s Republic of China is throwing a snit over the fact that the Dalai Lama is visiting Taiwan.  The atheistic government of China has the idea that it should have complete control over religion in China, completely against the notion of freedom of religion, not to mention that it is not within the purview of any government to dictate truth.  Since the Dalai Lama does not submit to their control and remains outside of China where they cannot control him, the Chinese government tends to collectively act like an unhappy spoiled brat who yells and screams and tries to get everyone else to do what he/she wants.
2. “Iranian Journo 'Validates' Medical Impossibility?”:  More on the anti-Semitic libel from Sweden.  The claims keep getting harder and harder to believe.  General rule:  If you are going to lie, do serious research first to make sure you say something credible.
   
3. I am still planning (hoping?) to spin off a separate Divine Misconceptions blog by (around?) Ro’sh hashShanah.  Someone please poke me with a sharp object a few times to motivate me into making progress along these lines.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Recession: Just What the Doctor Ordered?”:  There is a bright side to the recession:  people have less money to spend on things which are bad for them.
• “Sick mobile app tracks H1N1, other outbreaks near you”:  Interesting approach.
• “Gilad Shalit”

Today’s weird thing is “CHANCES I’LL CATCH MY TYPOS”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

PS:  Where’s that sharp object?