Oranges and Sunshine

March 17, 2016 • 9:36 am

By Grania

A few weeks ago I wrote about a fundraising initiative supported by Tim Minchin to help Australian survivors of abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy travel to Rome to witness the evidence given by Cardinal Pell about the extent to which the Church facilitated and protected the abusers.

Somewhere in the reading I did I came across the movie Oranges and Sunshine with Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. The movie tells the true story of Margaret Humphreys who was a social worker and set up the Child Migrants Trust in Nottingham, UK once she discovered that there were many people in Australia who – now adults – wanted to trace their families. She could have had no clue as to the scale of what she would uncover, nor the damage that had been wreaked on children who would carry these brutal scars into adulthood and for the rest of their lives.

The scandal is not Australia’s alone, but rather that of the then British government who exported vulnerable children in care to Canada and Australia where they essentially became child slave labor. Many of them had been told they were orphaned even though they were not. Thousands of children were exported in this manner right up until 1967, with the government turning a blind eye to the fate of the children that they were “helping”  to a better life.

The ones who landed in Catholic orphanages such as Bindoon Boy’s Town, were particularly unfortunate. Rather than receiving what was no doubt advertised as superior care from their religious guardians, they were treated as slaves and used for hard manual labor. Many of them were raped and beaten savagely, and when they reached the age of maturity were told that they had to repay their “debt” of care. They were promised heaven on earth when they left the UK, and were sent to hell.

bindoon-1

I highly recommend the film, it is neither sensationalist nor does it try to sentimentalise the survivors.  You can view the trailer here.

Thursday: Hili dialogue

March 17, 2016 • 6:15 am

by Grania

Good morning everyone! Happy Paddy’s Day from Ireland where it is a public holiday and there will be parades and street stalls and music and pubbing.

Jerry should be arriving at his destination soon, if he’s not already there; and he will catch up with us as soon as he is able. In the mean time, let us catch up with our four-footed existentialist friend from Poland.

 

Hili: Still life with a cat.
A: I can see the cat but where is still life?
Hili: I ate it.
(Photo: Sarah Lawson)

Ba

In Polish:

Hili: Martwa natura z kotem.
Ja: Kota widzę, a gdzie martwa natura?
Hili: Zjadłam.
(Zdjęcie: Sarah Lawson)

Readers’ beefs

March 16, 2016 • 2:30 pm

The creationists have been making their egress from the woodwork over the last few weeks. Here are four of their comments that didn’t make prime time.

From reader William, commenting on my post BioLogos tells “The Big Story”, becomes less scientific and more evangelical“:

God did not use evolution for exactly the reasons you have pointed out, Jerry Coyne. Also, because that type of evolutionary biology – crossing over into different created ‘kinds’ – doesn’t occur in the natural world; there is no evidence for it anyway. He created everything ex nihilo, just like the Bible says. The Genesis account is a record which is in agreement with observed science.

There’s no hope for this person.

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Reader James Bryonson, commenting on, oddly, yesterday’s photo of me with my voting receipt:

Evolution is just a theory to try to prove a point with the nerds that hate god.

“Nerds that hate god.” Those nerds must include Francis Collins and Ken Miller, and the 40% or so of scientists who believe in gods.

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Reader “groovyman 67” had this to say about my post “What are the fundamentals of evolutionary biology?“, which featured a description of the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts by ingestion of bacteria by other organisms:

Is this science or science-fiction? Really? 2 made-up of one creature eating another and co-opting it’s genes provides the entire foundation of Darwinism (even ignoring the origins question). This idea will be long gone in 20 year, if not 10 or 5, but no matter today is passes as wisdom rather than an entertaining Dr. Suess book. Of course I’m just a regular dude so I can’t comprehend that common sense is disallowed by geniuses.

I’ll ignore the “it’s genes” and misspelling of Dr. Seuss (why can’t creationists spell?), and add that there are tons of evidence that the “ingestion” origins of these organelles is supported by very strong evidence. Besides, they are hardly “the entire foundation of Darwinism.” Groovyman 67 is simply an ignorant evolution denialist who touts his “regular dudeness” as evidence of intellectual superiority.

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And reader “bill” on my post, “Social media excoriates British teacher for claiming there’s more evidence for the truth of the Bible than of evolution“:

I stand on the Bible account and am sure at some point you will wish you had also.

When, exactly, will I stand on the Bible account? When I’m about to die? Don’t count on it.

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On the non-creationist side, we have reader “idpnsd” commenting on my post, “Another misguided believer claims that science is based on faith“. Always be wary of a comment that starts with “Ayn Rand” said:

Ayn Rand said – “Truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.” Or in other words – there is no truth in the mainstream, but truth is out there, on the internet, and a truth seeker will recognize it.

All of science is completely wrong and all of religion is completely correct. There are many ways to prove it. But since space is limited, please refer to the free book on Soul Theory at the blog site https://theoryofsouls.wordpress.com/

But I give some examples. Take Newton’s first law, which says – an object will continue in motion in a straight line with a constant velocity. But we have never seen such an object, neither on earth nor in space. Thus Newton is wrong. Look at the book for many such examples including QM and SR.

You have said – “but I wouldn’t bet $5 that Jesus was resurrected bodily.” – You do not know that this is correct. Even you can do that also, if you acquire yogic power via yogic meditation. There are many such examples even in modern times. Take a look at the yogic power chapter in the above book.

There was a time when Vedas were known all over the world. You can find its influences in Bible, Judaism, Hinduism etc. Vedas define all the laws of nature like – soul theory, yogic power, reincarnation, destiny, eternal recurrence, birth-maturity-death etc. All of these laws are there in Bible in some form. There is no God in Vedas. [Yogic power in the Bible?]

“You have faith (i.e., confidence) that the sun will rise tomorrow because it always has, and there’s no evidence that the Earth has stopped rotating or the sun has burnt out.” – you know it is wrong. Sun will burn out one day. Vedas say – all objects go through, birth-maturity- death process. Scientist have confirmed that by observing the nature.

“It’s what produced antibiotics, computers, and our ability to sequence DNA.” – Not correct. These are examples of engineering. There is heaven and hell difference between science and engineering. See the book.

I don’t want to waste my time refuting all the nonsense packed in this comment. And what good would it do anyway; the person is beyond redemption.

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Finally, from reader “tiffany 267,” we have the Flounce of the Year, as she was apparently convinced she caught me contradicting myself. This was intended as a comment on my post, “Apple vs. U.S. government: a big dilemma“:

I no longer know why I’m following this blog. You claim it is impossible to objectively know right from wrong, and yet ironically you make a moral statement in the same essay “My own feeling is that Apple should comply with the government’s request” which is so evil I cannot fathom the thought processes that could facilitate such a vile statement.

My next step is to unfollow you. So long.

I hope the door didn’t hit her on the way out! Clearly “tiffany 267” doesn’t know the difference between “objective moral statements” and making a judgment call about what would be the best thing to do. As for the “evil” of Apple’s compliance, well, that’s just dramatic hyperbole.

I suspect we won’t miss her contributions to our discourse.

I wasn’t groped for once

March 16, 2016 • 11:47 am

This is the first trip in my life on which I’m not flying steerage: I am, courtesy of my hosts, flying Business Class. That is a great mitzvah on a 14-hour flight, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store. Though I rarely drink on flights, so the free booze will not be an amenity to me, the noms must surely be good—and Indian.

So far I have been waved into a special TSA security line, and, although I went through normal procedures, they didn’t goose me. And the best part: my business-class status gives me a 3-hour wait (I got here early) in the Air France Lounge, which is loaded with good noms. There are all manner of sandwiches (I have had an apple-and-brie sandwich on raisin bread with a mozarella and tomato salad), chips, muffins, yogurt, fruit, juices, sodas, and a full bar (again, wasted on me). And free wi-fi and lots of magazines!

And they’ll call me when my flight is ready to board.  This is also the first time in my life I’ve been in one of those fancy airport lounges, and boy, is this one good. I guess I had to do this once in my life, and it’s nice that it’s gratis. I have photos, too, just to prove that, for one brief shining moment, I got to see Camelot at the Airport.

My bucket list for travel

March 16, 2016 • 11:00 am

As I’m about to take a trip, and I ain’t getting any younger, it’s time to make a list of where I want to go before my inevitable transformation into worm food. Although these destinations may change over time, here are the places I want to go now, in rough order of desirability:

New Zealand (Australia). Everyone touts the beauty of New Zealand and the friendliness of its people, and it’s small enough to visit for, say, a month. I’d love to see the keas, the landscape, and (although this would be hard) the kakapos, and I hear one can even hitchhike there. Australia is a place I’ve always wanted to go, too, but have never had the chance. The problem is that it’s so big, and it would surely take several months to see the country properly. But one of its great advantages, beside natural beauty, is its wine country.

South Africa. Again, a lovely country, with wine-growing regions, good food because of its many cultures, and, especially, great natural history. It would be ideal for a one-month visit—or more. The game parks are alluring, there are humane places where one can visit rehabilitated big cats, cuddle small ones, and even walk cheetahs). The history and diversity of this land fascinating, and one can get bunny chow (see also here).

Antarctica. Seeing penguins and the desolate beauty of this continent has always been on my bucket list. I once vowed that I’d never go unless someone else paid for it, as happened when I became a lecturer on a Lindblad Cruise to the Galápagos (a fantastic trip), but it doesn’t look as if anyone’s about to invite me to lecture on penguin evolution! If anyone knows of good but relatively inexpensive trips to the continent (and I mean the continent itself as well as South Georgia and other places), do let me know.

Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Angkor Wat, and other locations beckon, and the food will be great.

Bali (Ubud). Yes, I know Ubud is touristy, but Bali has always exerted a strange pull on me, and the photographs I’ve seen of the green rice terraces on the mountainsides are stunning. This might be a good place to go for a month to chill out, or even write, and of course there’s the rest of the island to explore.

ISIS enforces religiously-mandated contraception on sex slaves

March 16, 2016 • 9:30 am

I don’t have much to add to this horrifying article from Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, which details how Yazidi women captured by ISIS fighters are turned into sex slaves. This has long been known, and in fact is part of the ISIS instruction manual,  but there’s a bizarre twist: because ISIS’s interpretation of Islamic law forbids raping women who are already pregnant, the ISIS fighters give their slaves birth control pills, contraceptive injections like Depo-Provera, or even abortions.

It is a particularly modern solution to a medieval injunction: According to an obscure ruling in Islamic law cited by the Islamic State, a man must ensure that the woman he enslaves is free of child before having intercourse with her.

Islamic State leaders have made sexual slavery as they believe it was practiced during the Prophet Muhammad’s time integral to the group’s operations, preying on the women and girls the group captured from the Yazidi religious minority almost two years ago. To keep the sex trade running, the fighters have aggressively pushed birth control on their victims so they can continue the abuse unabated while the women are passed among them.

More than three dozen Yazidi women who recently escaped the Islamic State and who agreed to be interviewed for this article described the numerous methods the fighters used to avoid pregnancy, including oral and injectable contraception, and sometimes both. In at least one case, a woman was forced to have an abortion in order to make her available for sex, and others were pressured to do so.

Some described how they knew they were about to be sold when they were driven to a hospital to give a urine sample to be tested for the hCG hormone, whose presence indicates pregnancy. They awaited their results with apprehension: A positive test would mean they were carrying their abuser’s child; a negative result would allow Islamic State fighters to continue raping them.

Imagine the horror of being taken to the hospital to be tested, knowing that you were about to be sold to be raped by yet another man. Women have committed suicide rather than face this fate.

By several accounts, ISIS is losing its grip on the territories it captured, and the disappearance of this group of barbarians can’t occur too soon. But the tenets of Islam, however circuitously interpreted, play a role in all this rape. Even if you argue that all men in war often see sexual conquest as part of their due, Islam’s depriving men of premarital sex must surely contribute to their pervasive rape of women captives, even if they cook up religious “excuses.”

I’m not implying here that all imams would sanction this behavior, which is surely untrue, but simply that these religious tenets may contribute not just to sexual violence in the Middle East, but in the West as well, as in the multiple sexual abuse of women in the Cologne railroad station.

Obama to announce Supreme Court nominee this morning

March 16, 2016 • 8:30 am

Get your popcorn: this morning President Obama is going to nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia. There are, as announced by both the New York times and CBS News, three nominees on the short list.

Among the finalists are the federal appellate judges Sri Srinivasan, Merrick B. Garland and Paul Watford.

My money is on Garland, who’s seen as the candidate least likely to be opposed by Republicans, as he’s a moderate. Srinivasan seems more liberal, was born in India, and would be the first Hindu Justice. Watford, like Garland, is a moderate who’s received support in the past by both parties.

It’s canny of Obama to nominate all three, since none fall on the overtly liberal side of the spectrum, making it hard for the Republicans to find a reason to oppose them. Nevertheless, Senate Republic leader Mitch McConnell is still vowing to oppose any nomination until after the election. Such is the obstructionist nature of a party in the process of shredding its credibility. Trump’s nomination (which now seems likely) would be its swan song.

A New York Times graphic shows that, since 1900, six of eight Supreme Court nominees proposed by an incumbent President during an election year were confirmed (a couple of these were to fill vacancies the year before election year, but so what? In all cases the vacancies would be filled by a President whose term was ending.