Texas Bill Would Outlaw Discrimination Against Creationists

Mother Jones:

Unlike many other states, Texas does not ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. But don't be alarmed; the Lone Star State is working on that whole civil liberties thing. Last week, Republican State Rep. Bill Zedler introduced HB 2454, a bill that would establish new workplace protections for proponents of intelligent design.

Read the whole story: Mother Jones

Comments

[Tabuism]

05:28 AM on 03/20/2011

Sagan wrote frequently about religion and the relationship between religion and science, expressing his skepticism about the conventional conceptualization of God as a sapient being.

For example:

Some people think God is an outsized, light-skinned male with a long white beard, sitting on a throne somewhere up there in the sky, busily tallying the fall of every sparrow. Others—for example Baruch Spinoza and Albert Einstein—considered God to be essentially the sum total of the physical laws which describe the universe. I do not know of any compelling evidence for anthropomorphic patriarchs controlling human destiny from some hidden celestial vantage point, but it would be madness to deny the existence of physical laws.

In another description of his view of God, Sagan emphatically writes:

The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity."

[Tabuism]

05:27 AM on 03/20/2011

Although by most definitions he would be called an atheist, Sagan, however, hated the term and denied that he was an atheist, saying "An atheist has to know a lot more than I know. An atheist is someone who knows there is no god. By some definitions atheism is very stupid." In reply to a question in 1996 about his religious beliefs, Sagan answered, "I'm agnostic." Sagan maintained that the idea of a creator of the universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could challenge it would be an infinitely old universe.

[AJW1976]

03:46 AM on 03/20/2011

Tabuism: Why are you spamming the discussion? Your posts have zero relevance to the article or even to the discussion.

[Tabuism]

04:12 AM on 03/20/2011

"Texas Bill Would Outlaw Discrimination Against Unintelligent Design"...

DON'T START IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT.... go and cry to some one that cares...

[AJW1976]

04:26 AM on 03/20/2011

What world do you live in? Do you realize that you have posts on here where you mistake satire for genuine statements? Do you realize how moronic you have shown yourself to be?

[Tabuism]

02:58 AM on 03/20/2011

The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrab­le to us really exists, manifestin­g itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousn­ess.

( Albert Einstein - The Merging of Spirit and Science)

[AJW1976]

03:45 AM on 03/20/2011

This has no relevance to the article or discussion.

[Tabuism]

04:05 AM on 03/20/2011

Sorry it's not about your belief "Unintelligent Design"

These are your words !

"It is, after all, only a theory"

"omniscien­t and omnipotent deity"

"oral teachings of ancient tribesman"

"elementary school teachers told me Intelligen­t Placement is real"

"I asked my university department to have all first year aerospace engineerin­g students learn about Intelligen­t Placement but they rejected the idea outright"

So your not really sure what to believe in, is it the end, or is it Intelligen­­t Placement ??

If you were born in 1976, I understand lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

What next, OH well, we'll see whats in the frig tomorrow lollololol­olololo

This is not fare, my belly hurts when I laugh so hard !!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­lololololo­lololololo­lololo

[Tabuism]

02:56 AM on 03/20/2011

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

- Albert Einstein

[AJW1976]

04:02 AM on 03/20/2011

Again, why are you spamming the discussion with off-topic posts? The HP Guidelines explicitly state:

"Spam includes comments that are off-topic. If off-topic conversation inhibits or prevents on-topic conversation, we consider it comment hijacking, and do not allow it."

Moderator: Are you going to do something about this?

[ehorth]

05:40 PM on 03/21/2011

Apparently [they] aren't. :-/

[Tabuism]

12:14 AM on 03/20/2011

Lao Tzu was perhaps the first theoretica­l physicist. He devoted all of his intellectu­al energy to observing nature and its physical laws and to noting the interdepen­dent relationsh­ip of all things. He saw a unified field of forces that he called Tao, but because what he saw could not be expressed in a logical, analytical fashion, he conveyed it through paradox.

The eighty-one chapters in his small book are riddled with self-contr­adictory phrases: "The Tao illuminate­d appears to be obscure. The Tao advancing appears to be retreating­. It is the form of the formless; the image of nothingnes­s."

Lao Tzu used paradox to provoke an unusual awareness in his readers, and to help explain the patterns and cycles, the parity and complement­arity, that he saw superimpos­ed on reality by the physical forces in the universe. The most striking of these patterns. central to the Tao Te Ching, is that of polarity.

[AJW1976]

01:21 AM on 03/20/2011

Greek atomism predates Lao Tzu by, approximately, 200 years so, no, he was not the first theoretical physicist.

[Tabuism]

02:03 AM on 03/20/2011

The most commonly held belief regarding the origin of Taoism holds that Lao Tzu, the author of the Tao Te Ching - the Taoist canon's most well-known work - is its founding father. However, even Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching spoke of the "Tao masters of antiquity." To whom was he referring?

Taoism emerged from a rich shamanic tradition that existed in China since the Ice Age. These shamans were healers and diviners, they had power over the elements, could travel to the sky, converse with animals and had knowledge of the use of plants.

One of these shamans, King Fu Hsi, who lived circa 2,800 BCE, was the first to construct a system by which the underlying structure of the universe could be expressed and understood. This system was the forerunner to the tri-grams of the I Ching - the Classic of Change - and an enduring tool of divination.

[Tabuism]

02:03 AM on 03/20/2011

These Taoists know that Fu Hsi existed and they recognize the role he played in the formation of Taoism. They are also smart enough to distinguish between historical fact and what is likely to be myth.

Recent archaeological finds in China has shed more light on this pre-historic civilization. Jade figures have been unearthed that are consistent with the legend of Fu Hsi and has led some to refer to this period as the Jade Age.

There then followed Yu in 2,070 BCE, another shaman. He was charged by his king, Shun, with the responsibility of saving the people from rising flood waters. Many before him had tried and failed, including his own father. Yu, guided, it is said, by an immortal, designed a system of dikes and canals that not only saved the kingdom from disaster but led to its future prosperity.

While Fu Hsi had discovered the underlying structure of the universe, Yu revealed its nature of continuous flux. Such was the esteem in which he was held, Yu became king when Shun died.

King Wen, who lived from 1100 BCE, took these two systems of divination and produced the sixty-four hexagrams of the modern I Ching.

The only thing that is "Rubbish" is your intellect, or lack of it....

[Tabuism]

12:14 AM on 03/20/2011

Polarity arises from the Taoist view of the cosmologic­al origins of the universe: Before existence there was an idea--an Absolute. The Chinese call it T'ai Chi, the Supreme Ultimate. The Absolute, in a sudden and tremendous desire to know itself, divided itself from non-existe­nce in a cataclysmi­c event resulting in endless cause and effect--an event that neatly parallels the so-called Big Bang Theory.

Instantly, space was formed and time began, and two charged states came into being, yin (negative) and yang (positive)­. As a result of the complement­ary polarity of yin and yang, matter and energy, that were at first undifferen­tiated, separated and regrouped into the physical reality that became our universe.

[AJW1976]

12:54 AM on 03/20/2011

Rubbish.

[Tabuism]

01:30 AM on 03/20/2011

You should not worry, your universe ends... lol

[Jlbeaverton]

06:53 PM on 03/19/2011

Are they introducing a bill for people who believe in fairies and unicorns next?
they are equally as probable.

[AJW1976]

01:22 AM on 03/20/2011

What about believers, like myself, in Intelligent Placement?

See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AJW1976/texas-creationism-bill_n_836720_81208562.html

[Tabuism]

03:20 AM on 03/20/2011

"What about believers, like myself, in Intelligen­t Placement"? lolololololololololololololololololo

[Tabuism]

03:36 AM on 03/20/2011

"It is, after all, only a theory"

"I believe in Intelligen­t Placement"

"an omniscient and omnipotent deity"

"oral teachings of ancient tribesman"

"elementary school teachers told me Intelligen­t Placement is real"

"For too long gravitatio­nists have discrimina­ted against believers in Intelligen­t Placement"

"I asked my university department to have all first year aerospace engineerin­g students learn about Intelligen­t Placement but they rejected the idea outright"

This old Taoist, thanks you. You are a Great Joke ! Thanks

lololoololololollololoolololololollollollololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol



oral teachings of ancient tribesman

[ehorth]

11:42 AM on 03/19/2011

"Birds did not evolve from dinosaurs leaping from tree branch to tree branch. You cannot encode genes for making wings, by leaping around. The informatio­n is there or it's not."
This was from a previous poster here.

If the question is birds flying, I have one word (I "finally " remembered it this morning-LOL) and that is, "PTERADACTYL."
An actual flying dinosaur, with wings, no feathers, no leaping from tree limb to limb.

[grouseless54]

11:55 AM on 03/19/2011

Janis Joplin: "I'm a Pteradactyl" Great song.

[AJW1976]

09:08 PM on 03/19/2011

Good point although the absence of feathers in the fossils does not mean that they did not, in fact, have feathers.

Pterosaur eggs were found in the same location as Archaeopteryx fossils, which had feathers. Feathers are also less likely to fossilize than, say, bones, which is why the absence of feathers on the Pterosaur fossils does not mean that they did not have feathers. They may have had feathers or hair-like proto-feathers.

I am not saying that Pterosaurs used feathers in flight the same way that modern birds do. Rather, I am saying that it would make sense, on the evidence, if Pterosaurs had feathers of some sort even if they did not assist in flight.

[Tabuism]

02:31 AM on 03/20/2011

1976 ? That explains all... lol

[Tabuism]

06:53 AM on 03/19/2011

Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space, and in potential — the tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors. We gaze across billions of light-years of space to view the Universe shortly after the

Big Bang, and plumb the fine structure of matter. We peer down into the core of our planet, and the blazing interior of our star. We read the genetic language in which is written the diverse skills and propensities of every being on Earth. We uncover hidden chapters in the record of our origins, and with some anguish better understand our nature and prospects.

We invent and refine agriculture, without which almost all of us would starve to death. We create medicines and vaccines that save the lives of billions. We communicate at the speed of light, and whip around the Earth in an hour and a half. We have sent dozens of ships to more than seventy worlds, and four spacecraft to the stars. We are right to rejoice in our accomplishments, to be proud that our species has been able to see so far, and to judge our merit in part by the very science that has so deflated our pretensions.

We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.

Carl Sagan.

[AJW1976]

09:14 PM on 03/19/2011

We demand meaning from the universe and it answers back with the quieting din of 3 degree radiation.

We are fortunate to live at time when that so faint a whisper can be heard.

Sadly, it will, one day, entirely fade away.

[Tabuism]

12:05 AM on 03/20/2011

Carl Sagan pointed out how, in Hindu cosmology, the universe undergoes an infinite number of deaths and rebirths, and its timescales are in the same ballpark as those of modern cosmology.

In Taoism, we see it(physical universe) come and go, yet we ride it like waves, as day and night, we come and go...

Universes comes and go, but the spark, the spirit remains unchanged. That which is beyond time and space(Matter)

There is no end to that which was never born.

"To walk an ancient road, forever treading"...

That is the Tao, "the Way", the way of nature.

Like all things observed in nature, in the universe, there are cycles. Day and night, the coming and going of the four seasons, activity and rest, inhaling, exhaling, Yin and Yang and the like. Where ever we look we see cycles, and there is nowhere, they cannot be found.

Your "body" is your vehicle at this time, in the this physical realm, in this universe. Your body houses your "spirit"(that which is Immortal). Your body is composed of all the elements, that make up all we see, taste and touch.

This "planet" is your is your vehicle at this time.

This "universe" is your is your vehicle at this time

Your "spirit" goes through innumerable bodies and forms. Yet it is a vehicle(your Body)and will wear down. But Don't Worry. You Get New Vehicle !

[Tabuism]

12:05 AM on 03/20/2011

But folly comes when you are born, we forget what was before, so we believe that this realm is real, and it seems real. We get lost in the "Illusion" and think it's real, seduced by the physical body/mind and universe. We exist for but brief occurrences, coming and going like ocean tides.

[Tabuism]

06:19 AM on 03/19/2011

What ? Creation ? Oh, Big Bang. Ya I get it now ! lol

[ToniQ]

03:17 AM on 03/19/2011

What is the discrimination against Creationists, That they are illiterate neanderthals?

[Babele]

08:35 PM on 03/18/2011

I think we should have a workplace rule that bans discrimination against people who don't think the holocaust actually happened. They are right up there with the creationists.

[Tabuism]

06:56 AM on 03/19/2011

Word !

[texasrodeoqueen]

07:48 PM on 03/18/2011

Sexual Assault Statistics

* Nation wide 1 out of every 3 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime
* Every 2.5 minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted
* The United States has the world's highest rape rates of all countries that publish such statistics. The U.S. rape rate is 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England and 20 times higher than Japan
* Rape is the most costly of all crimes to its victims. Total costs are estimated to be $127 billion a year in the U.S., excluding the costs of child sexual abuse
* 4 out of 10 sexual assaults take place at the victim's own home
* Approximately 73% of rape victims knew their assailant
* Overall, rape has the highest annual victim cost of ANY crime, yet laws and successful criminal prosecutions remain inconsistent and difficult
* More than 95% of all reported incidents of sexual assault and rape are committed by men
* 1 out of ever 33 men has experienced an attempted or completed rape as a child and/or an adult

http://www.crisisinterventioncenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:sa-statistics&catid=37:sexual-assault&Itemid=77

Hate crime statistics show tolerance in Texas, Houston

Recently released FBI "hate crime" statistics suggest Texas and its largest city, Houston, could be growing more tolerant than many other parts of the ...
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5409752.html

[AJW1976]

05:52 PM on 03/19/2011

This is completely unrelated to the article or the discussion.

[texasrodeoqueen]

07:24 PM on 03/18/2011

Texas' Liberty Institute Opposes Hate Crimes Bill, Loves DOMA

The Liberty Institute obviously does not agree with the staggering statistics ... state Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) would enhance the existing Texas hate crimes ...
www.theseattlelesbian.com/politics/2011/3/11/texas-liberty-institute-opposes-hate-crimes-bill-loves-doma.html