I went to a Catholic school too. They do teach evolution in Grade 11 and Grade 12 university prep biology as it’s part of the Ontario curriculum but like I said in a previous post, science is no longer mandatory at that level so the only people who are gonna be learning about it are the people who are probably already somewhat interested in pursuing a career in science.

Why do you think it’s important for everyone to know about evolution when it’s not necessarily a widespread choice for how “we” came to “be”?

I know you said you weren’t a creationist but I don’t really understand why this question is being asked at all since the wording implies that only concepts that are compatible with mainstream beliefs should be taught. Progress depends on our ability to challenge existing common ideas if we find that they’re no longer applicable to our current situation and/or if those ideas are not supported by factual evidence (yes, that includes evolution and it’s constantly being refined. No, Charles Darwin is not the final authority on evolution. He laid the foundations of it and we owe a lot to him but the theory itself has progressed far beyond his original ideas in the Origin of Species). Every “modern” convenience we see around us and every privilege we enjoy today is the result of someone (or a group of people) going against the status quo and saying, “Hey, what if…”

As much as people love to focus on human evolution, evolution is much bigger than that. It’s a process that explains how all forms of life diversify — that includes plants, animals, bacteria — so it’s the unifying principle of biology. Without evolutionary theory, biology just has millions of unrelated, isolated facts. For example, we use rodents in studies as opposed to, say, lobsters because we know that they are more genetically related to humans. Knowledge of evolution connects rat genetics with human genetics.

If you’re curious, here are some articles that talk about the practical applications of evolutionary theory in a variety of fields such as agriculture, conservation biology, and medicine (e.g. the current preferred treatment in keeping HIV in check relies on a keen understanding of evolution and selection — HIV-positive people are given a cocktail of drugs because it’s kind of like “attacking” the virus with different types of “weapons” as opposed to just one. In doing so, they make it less likely for the virus to evolve resistance to all of the “weapons”). This is already long enough as it is; the last thing I want is to add a wall of text to my tower of text.

I’m not asking everyone to be an evolutionary biologist or even be interested in evolution, however I do think everyone should be aware that it is far more than just saying that chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest relatives. By not teaching it in classrooms or, even worse, by saying it’s not real (just ‘cause some people insist on interpreting a 2000-year old book literally), we are downplaying its significance, misinforming the public and possibly preventing funding from going to scientific research. Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that creationists have no idea what they’re talking about ‘cause if they did, they’d realize that evolution is related to, like, every aspect of biology and they’d probably be opposed to a lot more institutions and areas of research than they already are.

Honestly? I don’t care what creationists believe. I don’t care and I shouldn’t have to care and I hate that we feel we should accommodate them. Evolution isn’t some subjective cultural or religious viewpoint. This isn’t like the god debate where it’s impossible to prove or disprove the existence of a deity — there is overwhelming empirical evidence in favour of evolution here in the natural world. If a bunch of loonies insist that the Earth is flat when the evidence suggests otherwise, does that mean we should be equally receptive to their ideas and allow them to teach the Flat Earth theory in schools?

Hmm, do you think the agnostic label is inadequate? I don’t know where you live so I can’t tell if the people you interact with are pushy about their faith or if they happen to be religious but are still respectful of other point of views. Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to label yourself — I’m an agnostic atheist and I call myself such but only if it’s relevant to the discussion and only if I know I’m not going to be grossly misinterpreted. Labels are handy sometimes because they make it easier to communicate (e.g. “I’m gay.” as opposed to having to explain every time that you’re attracted to people of the same sex and gender, etc.) but in your case, perhaps you can go with a more inclusive statement like “I’m not religious.” or “I’m not Christian.” especially if you’re around people who might be taken aback by “harder” labels.

I’d also like to point out that agnosticism by itself says nothing about belief or lack of belief in god(s). It’s simply the view that metaphysical claims such as the existence of god cannot be proven or disproven. We’re limited to what we can observe here in the natural world. But you can be an agnostic theist or an agnostic atheist. I’m in the latter category and my take on it is this: no, I may not be able to prove or disprove whether god exists but I live my life under the assumption that there isn’t one because to me, it seems unlikely that one exists. At least not one that can intervene in human affairs and ~earthly matters, which is the type of god that most people worship. And I’m cool with this! I think this is one of the most difficult concept to grasp for a lot of religious folks, that we are totally fine with the thought of god not existing and life not having some sort of greater predetermined meaning (See this post).

HAVING SAID THAT, I don’t think you should immediately close yourself off to religion just because you had a negative experience with it. Christianity is just one religion. I’m an atheist so, like, obviously I don’t exactly want to recommend a “product” that I don’t use but I think that if you grew up in a homogeneous relatively conservative Christian community, it’s very easy to get into the mindset that that’s all there is to religion. I find that a lot of non-religious people, especially the ones who came from religious households (and therefore had to cross a larger field to get to the atheism camp), tend to hold an overly simplistic view of religion. Yes there is a ton of fuckery like you mentioned and we should be talking about it but religion ≠ Christian fundamentalism/conservative Christianity and when it’s reduced to that, it prevents useful dialogue from emerging. There are other things we should be talking about too, more general things about the psychology of religion — like why belief persists in the absence of evidence (e.g. with Young Earth creationists), how it’s being used as a tool of oppression when it doesn’t have to be, why concepts like goodness and morality are even attributed to religion, how it’s related to social norms and cultural traditions… I think that’s much more useful than just saying, “RELIGION IS INTOLERANT OF GAY PEOPLE IT’S THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL AND LET’S JUST DISMISS IT WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING EVER.” I’m not saying this is how you feel, just that if you’re ever tempted to go down that path as a lot of irreligious folks are, please don’t!

I’m not even sure how helpful this is (probably not very), I just think it’s important to recognize why you think the way you do. For instance, why do you believe in miracles if you trust science and facts? (I’m not exactly sure what kind of miracles you’re talking about but I’m guessing they’re like, the magical… religious… kind) Do you think you’d feel differently if you had a more positive experience with religion? You said you don’t know if god exists or not: do you live your life under the assumption that there isn’t one or does the thought of god existing comfort you?

fujiidom | charethcutestory | sexgenderbody:

This is white privilege. Period.

In the clip, a white kid uses a variety of tools, including a metal saw and even an electric saw with goggles to try to cut through the chain on a bike. Most people walk by without caring; only one woman tries to follow up with the police. In the second part of the clip, an African-American kid about the same age does the same thing in the same park with the same bike, and is accosted by angry crowds, people taking out their cell phones to call 911, even a guy who starts taking his tools away while yelling. The contrast is striking.

— Sam Harris, on stem cell research. (via cocknbull)

— In Defense of Elites (via wilwheaton)

bieberdiaries-| typicrobots | foreheadtittaes | joss06 | foreheadtittaes

Ohhh, okay, so it’s not the rape that happened for a reason, just the unwanted fertilization of your egg cell. Which was made possible by rape. Thanks for explaining.

“The child might go on to do great things!!!!” The possibility argument is the worst. There are “possibilities” everywhere. Where do you draw the line? Oh crap, you were at Starbucks but you drank your coffee a little too fast this morning so you just missed the potential father of your future child by five minutes! Oh balls, you’re a dude and you ejaculated into your hand when one of those little soldiers could’ve cured cancer! Oh shit, I naturally shed some dead cells this morning and these cells contain my DNA and one day human cloning can be feasible so I just threw away a shitload of potential clones/potential humans what am I that I could do this

I agree with Bieber.
If you got pregnant from rape, it happened for a reason. What are the chances of you getting pregnant in general?If you did in a rape case, that baby might be forming for a reason. 

~*~the logic is strong in this one~*~*

Some of the reblogs to this post are so painful to read.

I have no idea how we can live in a world where people won’t just unequivocally be against rape. Seriously? On the scale of “Is Rape All Right?” - 10 being “all the fucking time!” and 1 being “never OMG never ever ever never” - you are all landing on around a 5? Seriously? You can hear about a woman being raped and say, “Oh, well, maybe this is one of those rapes that’s for a good reason. You know, the good kind of rape.” Is that seriously something you think and say? HOW ABOUT WE ALL BE A 1 ON THIS AWFUL SCALE AND SAY THAT RAPE IS NEVER WARRANTED, FOR ANY REASON, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. I don’t understand how, out of all the things in this world that are uncertain and hard to solve and divisive in our culture, being against rape is still one of those things. I don’t understand how people still have trouble saying, “You know rape? I’m against that,” without adding a “but” in there to try and justify it. I don’t understand.

LOL, can i just say that if ANYONE else made this statement, no one would trip out as much as this ..

anyway. the first asshole comment was stupid .. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A FUCKING REASON. you shaved off a bunch of DNA cells for a reason, again .. no one gets raped for a reason, that`s terrible to say. but, i agree with justin. & the person that said that child could do great things.

no one deserves to die, ever. no matter what. & abortion is murder.

i`m done now.

Why do you people keep deluding yourselves into believing that everything we’ve ever said is solely about Justin Bieber’s statement? It isn’t. He’s one privileged kid who didn’t realize the full implications of what he was saying and I hope that he’ll educate himself after seeing the backlash he received. What astounds me is the sheer number of people who reblogged this and defended his position even amidst a sea of counterarguments against it. The people who believe that rape and an unwanted pregnancy that results from rape can be justified in some cases. Where are you getting these views? Why do they persist? Just. 

THIS IS A BIGGER ISSUE THAT WE NEED TO BE DISCUSSING AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A MOPPY-HAIRED KID WHO RAN HIS MOUTH IN AN INTERVIEW.

I come back and this post… has hundreds of notes. I just wanted to say for clarification that that post has little to do with Bieber. No, I am not shitting on him simply because he’s “Justin Bieber”, as some of the reblogs have claimed. Truth be told, I live in a bubble and have been blissfully unaware of Bieber’s existence (due to the fact that I’m a poor university student with a sporadic internet connection and no television) until Tumblr collectively decided that we’re supposed to hate him, then love him, and now hate him again. I’m still largely unfamiliar with his work.

I just wanted to address a common argument against abortion (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) and why I think the “But the child could be the one to cure cancer one day!” line of reasoning is ridiculous. That’s it. I even highlighted the specific post I was replying to.

Do I have an opinion on this whole Justin Bieber fiasco? Yes. Is it worth tossing into the cesspool of uninformed and informed opinions that have already flooded this website today? I didn’t think so. I still don’t think so. But fuck, I’m looking at my site counter and there’s been a lot of people on my blog and my spidey senses (or just my paranoia) are telling me that some of them are Ready To Attack™ so I’m saying this to ward off some would-be ask box spammers. BEWARE, IT’S LONG AND RAMBLY.

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fujiidom | squintyoureyes | snorched:

“I really don’t believe in abortion,” Bieber says. “It’s like killing a baby?” How about in cases of rape? “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”

“everything happens for a reason”

“everything happens for a reason”

“everything happens for a reason”

The sad thing is that a lot of sheltered 16-year-olds (and adults, unfortunately) are anti-abortion for the exact same reason. These are the same sort of sentiments that were casually thrown around at my Catholic high school. 

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT MORE PEOPLE (especially celebrities, mein gott, just because you can do one thing doesn’t mean all of your opinionshave merit. It’s like me walking into philosophy class — a subject I know nothing about — and yelling out “Truth is relative!” while expecting to be taken seriously) SHOULD JUST CHOOSE TO SHUT THEIR MOUTHS WHEN CONFRONTED WITH A TOPIC THEY CLEARLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. Whatever happened to “I don’t understand the question and I won’t respond to it”?

squintyoureyes:

“This bill takes us backwards to a time when just saying no wasn’t enough to qualify as rape.”

Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes. 

As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18.

i—i want to burn the world down

(Source: arbitrarily)

Is there any practical value in abstinence itself? Well, yeah. You may not be physically or emotionally prepared to have sex and in that case, it’d probably be better for your health to abstain from it for the time being. You can’t get pregnant (although abstinence is only a form of “birth control” in the same way that walking into a lake with rocks in your pocket and killing yourself is a form of birth control).

The choice to remain abstinent is no less valid than the choice to have responsible sex. I just hate that remaining abstinent is increasingly being taught as something that is more ideal than any form of sex. Abstinence is being touted as the only solution to everything and anything related to (usually teen) sexuality. Teen pregnancy rates are increasing! Abstinence. There’s a double standard that exists in our society where men are lauded for their sexual experiences and women are devalued for them! Just don’t have sex so you won’t be called a slut. Do you see what’s wrong with that? You’re not ~~fighting the patriarchy~~. You’re going with it. 

TLDR: there’s nothing wrong with abstaining from sex but I don’t think abstinence should be promoted as the be-all end-all solution to anything, as it often is. It’s not directly confronting the issue. It’s like advocating “Don’t go mountain climbing.” as a way of preventing mountain climbing-related accidents.