Nihil Sacrum Est
"Nihil Sacrum Est"
"Nothing Is Sacred"
PZ's posted something interesting:
Sunday Sacrilege: an embryo is not a person
I agree with him on both of his points. But what I want to respond to is the nonsense in response to his desecration of crackers:
When I gave a talk at UW Stevens Point last week, there were a few protesters outside the building - friendly, non-violent people who I invited in to listen. It's a shame, though, that I was giving a neuroscience talk, since I also have a talk that rips into the bogus developmental biology that 'pro-lifers' use - and the group picketing me were Catholic right-to-life weirdos. They also were handing out flyers complaining about my desecration of crackers.
Myers hammered his rusty nail while gleefully boasting that "nothing is sacred." One has to wonder if he would likewise gleefully drive nails through the hands and feet of Christians he so publicly despises?! Obviously Christians themselves are not sacred to him.
There they go again, making my point for me. I do not think Christians or crackers are sacred, not because I devalue human life, but because "sacred" is an invalid rationale for doing so; the value comes from the individuals themselves, not from some imaginary decree from a nonexistent ghostly entity.
Wow, this reminds me of the time when a Catholic priest told me that atheists don't believe in anything greater than themselves. The implication was, of course, atheists are arrogant because they believe that they were the greatest things. In other words, atheists hold themselves, not a deity, as sacred.
My response is similar to what PZ said: I, an atheist, do not think I am greater than anything else, not because I overvalue my worth, but because "great" in the "sacred" sense is an invalid rationale for doing so; the value comes from the individuals themselves, not from some imaginary decree from a nonexistent ghostly entity.
"Nothing Is Sacred"
PZ's posted something interesting:
Sunday Sacrilege: an embryo is not a person
I agree with him on both of his points. But what I want to respond to is the nonsense in response to his desecration of crackers:
When I gave a talk at UW Stevens Point last week, there were a few protesters outside the building - friendly, non-violent people who I invited in to listen. It's a shame, though, that I was giving a neuroscience talk, since I also have a talk that rips into the bogus developmental biology that 'pro-lifers' use - and the group picketing me were Catholic right-to-life weirdos. They also were handing out flyers complaining about my desecration of crackers.
Myers hammered his rusty nail while gleefully boasting that "nothing is sacred." One has to wonder if he would likewise gleefully drive nails through the hands and feet of Christians he so publicly despises?! Obviously Christians themselves are not sacred to him.
There they go again, making my point for me. I do not think Christians or crackers are sacred, not because I devalue human life, but because "sacred" is an invalid rationale for doing so; the value comes from the individuals themselves, not from some imaginary decree from a nonexistent ghostly entity.
Wow, this reminds me of the time when a Catholic priest told me that atheists don't believe in anything greater than themselves. The implication was, of course, atheists are arrogant because they believe that they were the greatest things. In other words, atheists hold themselves, not a deity, as sacred.
My response is similar to what PZ said: I, an atheist, do not think I am greater than anything else, not because I overvalue my worth, but because "great" in the "sacred" sense is an invalid rationale for doing so; the value comes from the individuals themselves, not from some imaginary decree from a nonexistent ghostly entity.