greygirlbeast | No one ever tells me a damn thing.

These late night recap things having been netting me a little positive feedback, so I figured maybe I'll keep it up for a while. Also, it helps me clear my head before bed. Some people meditate. I rant and rave. I do fear that my inner self is too far gone to ever sit still for meditation, much less be soothed by it.

I just learned this afternoon that Henry M. Morris died on February 25th in Santee, California, at the age of 87. Now, there's really no good reason on Earth why you should ever have heard of Henry Morris, unless a) you're a creationist or b) like me, you wasted a good portion of your twenties trying to undo the damage he's done to American science education. Morris has been credited with having founded 20th-Century creationism, and it's a fair enough accusation. He authored a series of absurdist texts seeking to discredit evolutionary biology, paleontology, and historical geology, and carve out a niche for the Book of Genesis in public schools. His books include The Troubled Waters of Evolution (1974), Should Evolution Be Taught? (1974), and Introducing Creationism in the Public Schools (1975). Along with Duane T. Gish, author of Evolution: The Fossils Say No! (one of my all-time pseudoscientific faves), Morris led the advance guard of the battle that's still being waged against science today. Sure, the proponents of "intelligent design" might be slicker and sound a little less like hicks, but their pedigree goes straight back to Henry Morris, and they know it. I was taught never to speak ill of the dead, so I'll just let the old bastard's ignorant, misspent life speak for itself.

Henry M. Morris, Father of creationism. Gone, and good riddance.

And speaking of creationism in California, there's a little bit of good news. A creationist lawsuit against the UC Berkeley biology website, Understanding Evolution, claiming that government funds were being used to promote religious beliefs, has been dismissed as groundless. Little victories.

And Egon Spengler, my first nerd heart-throb, friended me on MySpace today. How much cooler can it get?

Lastly, yeah, I've heard about Isaac Hayes leaving South Park over the Scientology episode. All I've got to say about Mr. Hayes crying foul over the series' religious "intolerance" is it sure seems odd to me how he never seemed to mind as long as the intolerance was being directed towards Xtians or Jews or Muslims or...well, you get the picture.

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You need the headclearing. I've been playing Minesweeper, and sharpening my sword. No, not a euphemism. It's kind of weird how relaxing the act of sharpening a nice sword can be.

I had been led to believe that Mr Hayes was a lot cooler than that, but I guess everyone has their buttons. I just wish they were more able to honestly evaluate those buttons.

Hmmm, no speaking ill, but can we throw a celebration?

I'm good with it. After all, if he's been recalled by Hell, we'd want to lubricate his way, right? (I used to live in Appleton, Wisconsin, and many of Appleton's residents were rather proud that Joseph McCarthy was one of their own. Every year, the city has two celebrations: the dittoheads have one ceremony on Joe's birthday where a little girl places a single rose on Joe's grave, and then everyone else waits until the dittoheads leave before baptizing his gravesite with urine. I suspect that palaeontologists fifty million years in the future will find Joe's corpse perfectly preserved in an exquisite crystal of uric acid, and Henry Morris deserves the same treatment.)

I heard about the Isaac Hayes thing last night. All I can say is that I agree with you 100%. Scientologists seem to take themselves more seriously than fundamentalist christians these days. Truth be told, I didn't even know Hayes was a Scientologist until this whole thing recently. I don't want to say it diminishes ole Isaac in my eyes, as I've loved his music for years, but, it certainly makes me sad that he can't take a joke.

Sure, the proponents of "intelligent design" might be slicker and sound a little less like hicks

They do? I was rather astonished find ID really was just creationism with a new name when I looked into it.

'it sure seems odd to me how he never seemed to mind as long as the intolerance was being directed towards Xtians or Jews or Muslims'

I've given it some thought. (Really.) I think he feels obligated to object publicly, lest fellow 'Church' members (a notoriously vicious lot) make his life uncomfortable. Really, I have to wonder how many of Scientology's celebrity spokespeople are secretly quite through with it by now, but are too afraid to make a break with it. Trey and Matt said the same things you did, but the tone they took was almost saddeningly frustrated, as though they were trying to get through to their friend by some code — 'C'mon, Isaac, snap out of it. You're a pretty cool guy aside from this bullshit.'

A friend who's read up on Scientology says that a lot of followers eventually crack under the strain of cognitive dissonance — one can only believe in Xenu and all that other shit for so long before one simply snaps and comes back to reality. Occasionally this takes the form of a nervous breakdown. My friend was saying this in response to Tom Cruise's couch-jumping, Oprah-throttling, Brooke Shields-baiting series of embarrassments last summer. Then again, evidence suggests that celebrities are treated far better by the 'Church' than Joe Average would be — the 'Church' needs the imprimatur of high-profile icons. Fortunately, as I was saying to

listeningowl tonight, America is backward and foolish in a lot of ways, but there does seem to be a widespread sense of skepticism bordering on disdain regarding Scientology in the country's massbrain.

I just learned this afternoon that Henry M. Morris died on February 25th in Santee, California, at the age of 87.

Gods, he lived in the same town as me? That seriously gives me a chill.

I suppose it makes sense. Some of the local papers refer to this place as "Klantee." There're plenty of white trash and fundamentalist Christians around here. I've overheard some eerie conversations at restaurants and coffee places.

You may have been taught not to speak ill of the dead. I was taught "don't hit them, because they can't fight back, but speak ill of them all you want."

So good-bye, you ravening fuckwit. You'll not be missed.

Another small light in the infinite darkness: did you hear that someone in Kansas grew a brain (http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2006/mar/14/usd_345_school_board_rejects_book_ban_request/)? Yes, maybe the long, dark night of the plain is turning into... well, maybe not dawn. But at least someone likt a spluttering flashlight.

Egon Spengler, my first nerd heart-throb

I knew I couldn't be the only one who got the wiggles when they saw Egon . . .

I knew I couldn't be the only one who got the wiggles when they saw Egon . . .

Heck no. Egon's a hottie.

I dunno - I suspect that Isaac Hayes was just being a tool of the Scientologists who told him to leave the show. Not that that makes anything better, but it's a bit of a spin.

Also, I had to read the book of Genesis in a public school - as well as the book of Exodus. It was actually quite cool, as it was being taught as part of the study of epic storytelling, along with things like Gilgamesh, a couple of issues of Silver Surfer, and Lord of the Rings. I loved that teacher. He made a point of not pissing on anyone's religious belief, while making it very clear that he thought the bible was a very lovely and important story book. :) If only others would have such a clue.

Also, I had to read the book of Genesis in a public school - as well as the book of Exodus. It was actually quite cool, as it was being taught as part of the study of epic storytelling, along with things like Gilgamesh, a couple of issues of Silver Surfer, and Lord of the Rings. I loved that teacher. He made a point of not pissing on anyone's religious belief, while making it very clear that he thought the bible was a very lovely and important story book.

And I've always been entirely cool with the Xtian bible being taught as literature or in comparative religion classes.

He made a point of not pissing on anyone's religious belief, while making it very clear that he thought the bible was a very lovely and important story book.

I took a seminar early in my undergraduate studies on "The Bible as Literature", which was taught by the college's chaplin, who himself had done some reasonable scholarship. It was probably one of the more informative classes I took. He took pains to have us read the book in the order in which it was written and made sure to point out the socio-political forces which lead to one book being written one way and another book being written another way. Why does The Word of God often contradict itself? Nothing ineffable, it was multiple religious cults in antiquity battling for political power over the orthodoxy. Well, at least the Old Testament. New Testament was a little more complex, but anyway....

Personally, I suspect that Hayes dropped out not on his own (remember that he still owes a lot of money to the woman who supported him through most of the Nineties), but because of pressure from the Church. The last thing he'd want to have happen would be to categorized as a "squirrel".

I actually saw my first new episode of South Park since the kids went off to some mall to see Mr. Hankey at Xmas and Charlie Manson escaped.
It was an odd episode with a Titus-esque ending, but with chili instead.
I was surprised to find out that Isaac Hayes was a scientologist but now I wan to see the episode in question.

No one ever tells me a damn thing.

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