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In 2009 the world celebrates:

• The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (12 Feb 1809 – 19 April 1882).
• The 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species (24 Nov 1859).

The theories of Charles Darwin on the origin of man and life on earth are among the most powerful pieces of science ever published. They are the most important concept in biology and help us explain many phenomenons we encounter.

Even after being around for 150 and heavy attack from fellow scientist, religious leaders and politicians the conecpt of Evolution still stands up. When Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” he didn’t want to start a thought revolution of this magnitude. He purely focused on animals and downplayed the implications evolution has for our species. He also didn’t want to demystify the natural world. He famously concluded:

Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely the production of the higher animal s, directly follows. There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. [Chapter XV: "Recapitulation And Conclusion"]

(What Darwin describes here would later be called Einsteinian religion.)

After seeing his theories under constant attack by he did decide to apply his theories to humans. After “The Descent of Man”he noted:

[...] Man is descended from some less highly organised form. The grounds upon which this conclusion rests will never be shaken [...]

150 years later this statement is still true. It’s sad enough that there is still so much discussion about evolution and around half the population in industrialized nations doesn’t fully approve it. 2009 is an excellent opportunity to remind anyone who is still caught in 19th century-dogmas that a substantial part of the world does move on and has arrived in the 21st century.

When you want to know more about Darwin, I recomment the following resources:

Darwin Year 2009: Books and links to other resources
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: a BBC Two program on the implications of Darwin’s ideas. (Parts 1, 2 and 3 on Piratebay)
On the Origion of Species (Project Gutenberg)
The Descent of Man (Project Gutenberg)

Happy Darwin Year!

Sarcasm – redefined.

This shouldn’t happen in 2009.

Anything which can be deemed “religious” is no longer allowed to be a subject of discussion at the UN – and almost everything is deemed religious. Roy Brown of the International Humanist and Ethical Union has tried to raise topics like the stoning of women accused of adultery or child marriage. The Egyptian delegate stood up to announce discussion of shariah “will not happen” and “Islam will not be crucified in this council” – and Brown was ordered to be silent.

[...] To the people who demand respect for Muslim culture, I ask: which Muslim culture? Those women’s, those children’s, this blogger’s – or their oppressors’?

Full Article in The Independent

Here is what happens, when you put religious fundamentalists in charge:

The woman was buried up to her neck and then pelted to death with stones in front of a large crowd in Kismayo.

[...] A group of men performed the execution in one of the city’s main squares in front of thousands of people, AFP news agency said.

Original article

A priceless lecture by one of the four horsemen of the new atheist movement: Richard Dawkins. Great summary of all the points he makes in his other movies and books.

I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth. That we always make it just by the skin of our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure. Will endure longer than his home planet — will spread out to the stars and beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage and his noble essential decency.

“This I believe with all my heart.”

Robert A. Heinlein wrote this item in 1952. His wife, Virginia Heinlein, chose to read it when she accepted NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, on the Grand Master’s behalf (it was a posthumous award).

Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation.

Read the full poem.

It’s Easter Sunday and thus time for some intolerant statements against religion. I already knew that there is a negative correlation between intelligence and faith, but today I learnt that the same is true for wealth.

The graph compares income and the importance of religion and different countries. The richest European and least religious countries can be found in the right bottom corner, the poorest and most religious in the top left. Here is the article that describes the phenomenom in detail.

Picture credit: http://www.ohlson.se/utstallningar_ecce.htm

Blasphemy is just a fancy word for making fun of religions. I believe, it’s a fundamental part of Western culture to make fun of almost anything. Be it politicians, kings, big noses, wheelchair-drivers, the pope, Jesus, celebrities or whatever. Fun is one method to handle the misery, life sometimes brings with it. Religion and the belief in a better afterlife is another. It was Umberto Eco, who fist made this point in “The Name of the Rose”. Obviously there a people, who can’t take a good job. Muslims as much as Catholics. There is even a petition to taking a perfectly serious picture of the prophet mohammed from wikipedia. I mean that’s just pathetic. If you don’t like wikipedia, just don’t visit the site. I don’t like state television either. I don’t write letters to those people. If enough people do the same thing, it will eventually fade away and die. Not so religious people. The have a strong urge to control everything. Just like a virus. Can you believe to bother just a minute of your life, because an invisible man in the sky doesn’t want you to have pictures of him. Haha. No way.

The Faith Central from The Times has compiled a Blasphemy Collection, featuring the top 20 acts of blasphemy of the last years. Complete with religious, political, vulgarity and criminal impact. Including number of deaths. Pretty scary, how the religious are trying to disturb and censor our cultural life.

So be careful and watch out for Blasphemy!

Note of the author:
I tried to find the movie featured in #10, but couldn’t find it. If you’ve got a hot tip, please let me know.

When thinking changes your mind, that’s philosophy.
When God changes your mind, that’s faith.
When facts change your mind, that’s science.

The Edge Foundation asked the intellectual elite to comment on the things that made them change their mind. I think that this is a tricky question to ask because if you changed your mind you admit that you were wrong about something. Many people aren’t quite comfortable with that idea. But I guess if those 163 people – all of them top-notch scientists – who submitted their story can do it, everyone should.

My personal favorite is Patrick Bateson. He used to be an agnostic, but “converted” to an atheist after talking to a creationist lady. I also thought that being an agnostic is the best choice, since you can’t prove one or the other and better leave the question unanswered. But today I think that religion and the belief in the supernatural is dangerous and threatens our modern life. To be honest: our modern life wouldn’t be possible without all those brave people who stood up against the church and other misbeliefs of their time to pursue progress.

Related content:
Richard Dawkins – Enemies of Reason (Part 1)
Church of the Flying Spaghetti  Monster