So You Want to Know What's Wrong with Religion? (5)

So, how many children have to die because of their parents, or caregivers, religious beliefs?  I know what the answer should be -- Zero!  But apparently there are still all to many parents who refuse medical treatment for their children because of their religious beliefs.

"'God ... makes no mistakes': Warned baby could die, couple rejected treatment, police say"

They just happen to live in a state that doesn't offer them a 'get-out-of-jail' card for those beliefs.  The parents are being charged with involuntary manslaughter.  Personally, I am not sure of the 'involuntary' part, I think the charge should be murder.

I am no lawyer, but Involuntary Manslaughter means that there was no malice or forethought about the death.  I disagree!  That child suffered for several days before dying and at nearly any point prior to death, one trip to the Emergency Room could have saved that baby.  Each and every day they made a conscious decision to not provide medical care for their child.  This to me is forethought.  Of course, the longer you wait, the more uphill the battle is, but still have the opportunity to give that child a chance.  With these parent, that child had no chance!  That lack of care should make this at least Second-degree Murder because there is nothing 'involuntary about it.

Don't even bother to tell me that parents suffered enough with the loss of a child.  The child was lost due to their own actions!  I do not and will never sympathize with parents who allowed their child to die from something treatable.  This wasn't some serious disease that struck without warning.  This was jaundice, a fairly common post-birth condition and one treated often.  These parents can't even say they didn't know because they were warned by their mid-wife.

The responsibility for this death lies on their shoulders and I hope Detroit, and the rest of Michigan, hold them accountable!

These parents claim that "God makes no mistakes", well you know my feelings about a deity.  I consider myself an 'Apathist' more than anything else.  But if I do lose Pascal's Wager, the first thing I am going to discuss is the mistake made letting these people become parents!  

Backdoor . . . or Backfire?

As I posted a few days ago, the 'Creation Summit' group was all buzzing over a pending 'summit' at Michigan State (Backdoors take on a whole new meaning . . . or maybe not).  The conference/summit/revival meeting happened this past weekend and apparently was much more of a whimper than a bang.  They were hoping to get the faculty up in arms and generate lots of free publicity, but for the most part the faculty blew them off.  What few comments were made were not made in anger but more derision.  Slate reported " “It’s Not Debatable” Michigan State University’s perfect response to a creationist conference on campus." which detailed a few.

Here are a couple of my favorite comments:

“We don’t debate evolution because it’s not debatable,” she said. “It’s like debating the existence of Canada.”
" . . .scientists shouldn’t engage “in forums where the discussion is controlled by people who equate evolution with Nazism.”  "

The group organizing this revival meeting even tried the very childish tactic of 'daring' to try and con Dr. Robert Pennock, who testified during the Dover Trial, into a debate, to which he pretty well ignored.  He did talk about it and said:

“Scientists have already shown that there is no substance worth debating in these old creationist challenges to evolution,” . . .“Evolution is fact, creation is fiction, and there’s just no point in pretending like there’s a real scientific debate between reality and fantasy.”

 Apparently total attendance was about 100, with few students.  A handful of students did attend, either out of curiosity, or maybe to for a chance to win a free iPad.  The winner of the give-away was identified as a 'pro-science graduate student who studies evolutionary microbiology'.  I wonder if Creation Summit will make him/her sign an article of faith before receiving the prize.

It will be interesting to read about any spin put on by Creation Summit.  But then again, maybe a turnout of about 100 is a rousing success for them. 

Backdoors take on a whole new meaning . . . or maybe not

Being a Christian and holding to what was taught to me years ago as Christian values used to be a small source of pride.  Do unto others, taking care of the people around you, honesty . . . yes, these were the hallmarks of being a Christian I was once taught.  Nowadays, I have become quite ashamed at many who profess to be Christians.  In my opinion, while little kennie ham is the poster child for un-Christian-like behavior, he isn't the only one.  Here's a group who seem to think being dishonest is the pathway to heaven.

The latest example is the 'Creation Summit' group who is holding a conference at Michigan State University.  Now I am not against their conference, but what I am against is how they are marketing it.  Here is a link to their web page about it "Origin Summit".  Right now, as of 27 Oct 2014, there is not a single mention of who sponsored it on campus, only that it is at Michigan State.  I find this a disreputable tactic.  The group got on campus through a campus student religious group.  Do they mention that in it's online advertising?  What it does is give the impression of being sponsored by the University!  As far as I know the only thing the University is involved in is providing a location.

This isn't the first time Christian groups have done this.  I recall the Discovery Institute bragging about a conference at SMU that was also sponsored by an on-campus ministry, but again they forgot to mention that part.  They love to make it sound as if the University invited them there.  I posted about one ("Intelligent Design Tolerance") where Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute thanked the “SMU administration” for hosting the event, when the SMU Administration had nothing to do with the it at all.

I recall one of the DI's favorite sons, davy klinghoffer tried to wangle an invitation for a DI rep to speak at the University of Vermont by writing to one of the professor's Nicholas Gotelli and got back what has to be one of the classic responses in history.  If you don't remember it, you can refresh your memory here.  The highlights is that after writing a scathing rebuttal to an opinion piece written by Professor Gotelli on Ben Stein being invited as the commencement speaker, davy tried to get him to invite the DI to speak.  The professor responded with such gems as

"However, this kind of two-faced dishonesty is what the scientific community has come to expect from the creationists."

"I would not invite a creationist to a debate on campus for the same reason that I would not invite an alchemist, a flat-earther, an astrologer, a psychic, or a Holocaust revisionist."

"Practicing scientists receive frequent invitations to speak in science departments around the world, often on controversial and novel topics. If creationists actually published some legitimate science,  they would receive such invitations as well."

Typical tactics!  When your ideas cannot stand the light of day, you use someone policies, like the University's policies on allowing student groups to use school facilities, and try and make it sound like the University is sponsoring the revival meeting.  Pretty sneaky way to try and identify with some legitimacy.  This 'Creation Summit' group even advertise this tactic on their website, and guess what they call it? 

See, they even call it a 'Backdoor Strategy'.  Instead of doing the work that will get them invited, even welcome, in through the front door -- they seem to be proud of the fact they are sneaking in.  And at the end of the 'summit' sites is a call for you to donate money or goods.  Yes, let's allow them to misrepresent themselves and get the opportunity to pay for the privilege.

Does being a Christian nowadays mean having no shame when using such disreputable tactics?