Sunday in Outer Blogness: Blame it on Glenn Beck Edition!
In case anyone missed it, Chino found a scary video — designed to scare Mormons and others with the problems in the world today — and claiming that there’s only one solution: Jesus Christ. (In the LDS font.) What that solution translates into in practical terms is hard to say, but I’d guess it boils down to (1) be very afraid, (2) grab your gun, (3) take it and go hide under your bed. Some LDS are proposing more practical solutions (Sustainability summit! Follow the WoW and eat less meat! Rethink nuclear weapons! Plus, a former Mormon is celebrating two years of car-free living!)
But it’s hard to hear them over these voices, and Christians too often end up talking like this. Jon suggests that Glenn Beck is partially responsible for the paranoia (see here for further commentary).
In a related note, the “Climategate” results are in. These two articles are both short and worth reading, but let me pull a couple of teasers: “Here the situation is the reverse of whats going on in the troposphere: Climategate really is a hyped-up media phenomenon.” and “Our global temperature series tallies with those of other, completely independent, groups of scientists working for NASA and the National Climate Data Center in the United States, among others,” said Jones. “Even if you were to ignore our findings, theirs show the same results. The facts speak for themselves; there is no need for anyone to manipulate them.”) So do you think Fox News will bother to report this? Or will they allow their viewers to go with “Last I heard, man-made global warming is just a big hoax.”..?
Meanwhile, we’ve seen some botched missionary efforts. Not quite as bad as Home Teaching with a stun gun, but Natalie unfortunately had to explain to some missionaries why a woman walking alone might not want to be chased down by two guys. And some folks of Outer Blogness have received some interesting emails from believers: the archaeological evidence for giants, a mother’s third Christian email, and a refreshingly thoughtful Q&A between an atheist and a believer.
Sigh, you gotta love Utah… 😉
Lastly, there’s been an interesting series of thoughts on women and personal growth. Reina illustrates squeezing into the box of perfect womanhood. Jana is pictured squeezing into a little something else. 😉 Both Lilly and G reflect on their accomplishments (and on wanting to do/accomplish more). And in the “What can we learn from the Jewish example?” department (hat tip Aerin), Judith describes the therapeutic effects of making time for the Sabbath.
As I do. I had a bunch of housework to finish this morning, but I always set aside a nice, big, calm block of my Sunday to relax and share my week’s reading with all of you! 😀
Thanks for the link love, as always. 🙂
Liked the video. I’m now spreading it on Facebook. Thanks!
Now the crazies are starting to turn on local and even church institutions: Parents accuse BYU, Alpine district of socialist conspiracy.
Wow, The Daily Herald has lately been totally true to its motto.
Thanks chanson, as always. I’m thinking of starting a “links to interesting npr/book discussions that I would send to chanson” topic on my blog…it could work!! 😉
As far as the Sabbath stuff goes, it was a very interesting piece. I don’t agree with some of the very orthodox Jewish Sabbath rules – not cooking or turning on lights. Of course I respect other people’s rights to their beliefs and observances, I’m just mentioning for me personally.
I can agree with having a day of rest, and cutting back. Possibly unplugging various devices. Hiking with family, sharing meals with family or friends. But I don’t believe in the strict following of some of those traditions. It was also an interesting book to me because she is an atheist, but still observes the Sabbath.
@3 see, that’s the trouble with encouraging irrational, ignorant paranoia.
@5 I know what you mean.
In her case, the specific rules have an emotional connection for her because she was raised with the Jewish Sabbath. It almost feels like she’s trying to fix her childhood by creating the happy, relaxing family Sabbath that her mother had wanted (but had failed to create).
Also, having a set of strict, absolute rules can be simpler, hence more relaxing. If it’s absolute, it’s easier to make a habit of it.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to adopt such a set of strict rules just to ensure that I set aside some time to relax/rejuvenate once per week. Travel and learning about different cultures (even in my own neighborhood) is too important to me. If I set myself a rule that I’m not going to turn any lights on or off, not get on a train or other vehicle, etc., for a full day per week — well, that’s a huge limitation for meeting people outside my familiar circle. Ultimately, you have to pick your personal rule set based on your own set of priorities. 😉
Last week Spiegel Online had a different view of climategate:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,687259,00.html
About Jones they say “Jones is finished: emotionally, physically and professionally. He has contemplated suicide several times recently, and he says that one of the only things that have kept him from doing it is the desire to watch his five-year-old granddaughter grow up.”
About the IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri: “Germany’s Leibniz Association, an umbrella group which includes several climate research institutions as its members, is the first professional organization to call for Pachauri’s resignation.”
Maybe FOX will report this along with the fact that some group of politicians said Jones did nothing wrong, but that climate scientists should share their data more openly.
Truthlover — Thanks for the added perspective. Even the articles I linked discussed the finding that the scientists should have been more open about their data. Apparently, there were some real problems in terms of ethics.
However, the critical take-home message is that anthropogenic global warming is neither a hoax nor a conspiracy, and “Climategate” has no significant impact on the scientific consensus on climate change.
I agree that Fox News may well report on this — and I’d be very curious to see what they say! (Not curious enough to actually watch Fox News regularly to keep an eye out for it, but if anybody sees it, feel free to post a link to their coverage of the story. 😀 )
Actual scientists have a different angle on Der Spiegel:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/04/climate-scientist-bashing/
“And this is the result of a media campaign consisting of precisely such poorly researched and fact-twisting articles as this one, for which Marco Evers, Olaf Stampf and Gerald Traufetter are responsible.”
If, like me, you find the actual science at RealClimate too sciencey, you may want to check out the skeptical science compiled here:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php