Sam Harris talks with Cenk Uygur

October 26, 2014 • 7:13 am

Due to lack of time, I’ve seen only the first two hours of this three-hour (!) video of Sam Harris talking to Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks show, but it was pretty absorbing. Give it a try and see if you can last the whole three hours.

Cenk, who previously had both Reza Aslan and C. J. Werleman on the show, and was apparently sympathetic to them, gives Sam a remarkably hard time about his views, particularly (in the first hour) about the idea the Islam is inherently worse than other faiths. But Harris gives as good as he gets ,and the often rapid back-and-forth is instructive.  If you have the time to watch it all, do report on the last hour in the comments.

Here you go: three hours of semi-antagonistic palaver:

Sam gives his take on the debate on his website:

I recently sat down with Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks to discuss my most controversial views about Islam, the war on terror, and related topics. It was, of necessity, a defensive performance on my part—more like a deposition than an ordinary conversation. Although it was a friendly exchange, there were times when Cenk appeared to be trying very hard to miss my point. Rather than rebut my actual views (or accept them), he often focused on how a misunderstanding of what I was saying could lead to bad outcomes—as though this were an argument against my views themselves. However, he did provide a forum in which we could have an unusually full discussion about difficult issues. I hope viewers find it useful.

Having now watched the full exchange, I feel the need to expand on a couple of points. . .

Sam then goes into the recent decline of journalistic ethics, as judged by deliberate misreprentation of Harris’s views, but, at the end, extends a note of charity by apologizing for misrepresenting Glenn Greenwald’s views on “collateral damage.” I’ve love to see Reza Aslan or C. J. Werleman tender such an apology.

The problem I have with Uygur in this piece (besides his constant interruption of Harris) is threefold. First, he seems bound to defend Islam as being no worse than any other religion (this may come from his familial roots in Islam, though he’s an atheist).

Second, Ugyar just won’t accept that religion itself can be the main reason for malevolent acts. Though he admits that religion can play a role in acts like suicide bombing, he just can’t bring himself to admit that it could be a major role. In the case of things like the death penalty for apostasy or the acts of ISIS, you’d have to be pretty Robert Pape-ish to deny religion as the overarching cause. After all, the death penalty for apostasy is in the Qur’an, and how can you even have a death penalty for apostasy without a religious dictate?

Finally, as Sam notes above, Uygur seems to hold Harris himself responsible for misrepresentation of his views, as if somehow Harris could predict how his words would be truncated or twisted in the service of Islamophilia or simple Harris-hatred.  That’s just not fair.

~

Readers’ wildlife photos

October 26, 2014 • 5:56 am

Reader John Harshman sent some last-minute photos that will allow me to slip in a “Readers’ wildlife” feature while I’m on the move (at the moment in the Sofia airport).  These are photos from his recent trip to Australia:

First, a four-part sequence of mating Pacific black ducks (Anas superciliosa). If you know mallards, the ritual is almost identical. The pictures were preceded by a lot of mutual head-pumping, in which the head is held horizontally and the neck is moved rapidly down and up. Then (photo 1) the female lowers her neck and half-submerges her body. The male climbs on top, grabs her neck feathers in his bill (photo 2), and things you can’t see in the picture happen underwater. Then the male dismounts (photo 3), whereupon (photo 4) he swims in a circle around her. In mallards, the female takes a bath during this circle, but the black duck didn’t; I don’t know if that’s typical. Also, the male only did a half circle, while mallards are sticklers for a full circle, and I don’t know if that’s typical either.

black ducks 1 cropped

black ducks 2 cropped

black ducks 3 cropped

black ducks 4 cropped

 Next, a great bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) at his bower, and a shot of the decorations, which include all sorts of white things: snail shells, various plastic items, quartz pebbles. He also likes aluminum foil, though there’s none in the picture.

JAC: Note that this is an example of sexual selection producing not a trait of a bird itself, like bright color, elaborate plumage, or fancy courtship behavior in males, but a structure. And that structure (not a nest; it’s used purely to impress females) is what Dawkins calls part of the bird’s “extended phenotype.” (I suppose it does reflect “courtship behavior”.)

I remember once hearing that the more elaborate the bower, the less elaborate the male himself, as if there were no need for gaudy and costly plumage if the male spent so much effort on these elaborate female-attracting structures; but I don’t know if that negative correlation still holds.

great bower bird and bower, Pine Creek

great bower bird bower, Pine Creek

And here are a pair of what must rank as one of the most colorful birds in the world.

Finally, just for thrills, a couple of rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) at a birdbath. I like the reflections.

lorikeets cropped

Lagniappe: California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) iat Big Sur:

condors cropped

~

Listen to the nightjar

October 26, 2014 • 3:21 am

by Matthew Cobb

Now you can see this Eurasian (or European) nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), can’t you?

Caprimulgus europaeus, I_JUG80
© Jugal Tiwari

 

These are the birds we have in the UK, Europe and Asia – they are here in the summer, eating night-flying insects, and then migrate. Early this morning on the BBC (less early than it should have been, because Europe put its clocks back last night, as Jerry discovered in Bulgaria), there was a nightjartastic episode of an excellent series called The Living World.

This 22-minute programme describes the behaviour, calling (“churring”) and habits of the nightjar, which, it turns out, follows the migration routes of my equal favourite bird, the swift (Apus apus). I would urge you to listen to the programme, which will transport you into the beautiful atmosphere of dusk on a Somerset heath in early September. You’ll learn that nightjars aren’t just about amazing camouflage.

Click here and then press ‘play’. No matter where you are in the world, you can listen (you’ll find loads of fascinating episodes on the series website covering the last seven years).

 

 

Early Hallowe’en post: Teddy the Porcupine noms pumpkin, again

October 26, 2014 • 2:59 am

by Matthew Cobb

Teddy Bear is a delightful male porcupine who makes the most fantastic noises. One of his annual treats is to eat pumpkin round Hallowe’en, as we showed last year. In fact there were two videos posted last year, the second of which (>3 million views!) has just had a seasonal viral revival. If you squint your ears, you could almost swear he says ‘Pumpkin’:

Sunday: Hili dialogue

October 25, 2014 • 6:41 pm

It is now 3:30 a.m. in Sofia and, unaware that there was a time change today, I was distressed when I woke up spontaneously at 4:15 (expecting to leave here at 4:45 a.m. for an early flight), as I’d asked the hotel for a wake-up call at 3:45 a.m. But at 4 am. the time had moved back to 3 a.m. because today’s the day they set the clocks back. They might have warned me yesterday so I could have had an extra hour’s sleep! Anyway, I’ve verified the time change and presume the airlines will be aware of it. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili’s taking the mickey out of Cyrus.

Cyrus: There is something moving over there.
Hili: It is an intensified activity of quanta under the influence of the sun.
P1010845
In Polish:
Cyrus: Tam się coś rusza.
Hili: Wzmożona aktywność kwantów pod wpływem słońca.

“Nones” rise again in the U.S.

October 25, 2014 • 10:17 am

The last time I looked, the proportion of “nones”—those people who don’t describe themselves as formally affiliated with a church and don’t usually go to church—was about 15% in the U.S.

Now, a new study suggests it can be as high as—wait for it—38%! I like that, for Professor Ceiling Cat long ago predicted that America was becoming more secular, and eventually, long after we’re worm food, I believe that the U.S. will be as godless as France or Scandinavia. Remember, though that a big chunk of that 38% is still religious in some sense. For among that 38%, a quarter call themselves agnostics or atheists (about 10% of the total population), 27% are churchless but identify with other faiths (e.g., Jews) or call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” and 32% identify themselves nominally as Christians. Still, the failure to affiliate with a church, or to go to church, is the first step toward secularism.

For the overall view, read a new piece by Cathy Lynn Grossman in Religious News Service, “Secularism grows as more U.S. Christians turn ‘churchless.‘” The piece itself is based on a study by David Kinneman and George Barna (of the religious polling organization The Barna group) published in a book called Churchless, which amalgamates data from 20 recent surveys. Curiously, The Barna Group maintains no pretense of philosophical objectivity: it’s definitely pro-religious, so when it gives data showing growing secularism, you can be sure that the results don’t reflect pollster bias. You can see Barna’s bias in this blurb for Churchless:

Discover How to Lovingly Reach Today’s Unchurched

What causes people to stay away from church? What makes them feel welcomed and willing to engage?

Churchless is an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the perceptions, beliefs, behaviors, choices, experiences, expectations and hopes of a nationally representative body of churchless adults. Based on two decades of data and tens of thousands of interviews with unchuched people,Churchless compares the backgrounds, behaviors and beliefs of the churched and the unchurched.

But more than that, Churchless points to how you can build spiritually meaningful relationships with your unchurched family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. Because the truth is, most of them are already looking for a connection with God.

But for the salient data see the Barna group’s page “Five trends among the unchurched“, which summarizes the main results (indented wording below taken directly from the site). The word “post-Christian” refers to those who don’t adhere to a Christian religious tradition, as shown by 15 indices of faith or non-faith, including church attendance and beliefs about scriptures and God.

The conclusions:

1. Secularization Is on the Rise
Nearly two-fifths of the nation’s adult population (38%) now qualifies as post-Christian (measured by 15 different variables related to people’s identity, beliefs and behaviors. Read more about our post-Christian metric here.). That includes 10% of Americans who qualify as highly post-Christian. Another one-quarter is moderately post-Christian (28%). Examined over time, our research shows that the proportion of highly secularized individuals is growing slowly but steadily.

In other words, in spite of our “Christian” self-descriptions, more than one-third of America’s adults are essentially secular in belief and practice. If nothing else, this helps explain why America has experienced a surge in unchurched people—and presages a continuing rise in this population. . .

2. People Are Less Open to the Idea of Church
Barna research shows that the unchurched are becoming less responsive to churches’ efforts to connect with them. . .

Twenty years ago, two-thirds of churchless Americans (65%) were open to being invited to church by a friend. Today, that percentage has slipped to less than half (47%).

It’s not only the efficacy of personal invitations that is changing. Barna’s tracking data stretching back to the 1990s reveal a slow-growing calcification of unchurched people toward churches. For every outreach method surveyed, the unchurched are less open to it today than they were two decades ago.

3. Churchgoing Is No Longer Mainstream
Churchgoing is slowly but incontrovertibly losing its role as a normative part of American life. In the 1990s, roughly one out of every seven unchurched adults had never experienced regular church attendance. Today, that percentage has increased to nearly one-quarter. Buried within these numbers are at least two important conclusions: 1) Church is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to millions of Americans, and yet 2) the churchless are still largely comprised of de-churched adults.

4. There Are Different Expectations of Church Involvement
. . . In the early 1990s, our research showed that nearly seven out of 10 adults, if they were to visit a church, would be most interested in attending the Sunday service. Today, weekend worship services remain the most common entry experience, but only slightly; now, only 57% of churchless adults say they would be interested in Sunday worship as their starting point. Today’s unchurched are more likely to say they are simply not sure, reflecting their disinterest in churches generally, or are more likely to say they would prefer attending some activity other than the Sunday service.

Finally, and most heartening:

5. There Is Skepticism about Churches’ Contributions to Society
Although many of the churchless hold positive views of churches, a substantial number also have no idea what Christians have accomplished in the nation, either for the better or for the worse. When the unchurched were asked to describe what they believe are the positive and negative contributions of Christianity in America, almost half (49%) could not identify a single favorable impact of the Christian community, while nearly two-fifths (37%) were unable to identify a negative impact.

(Read the Barna piece for a whole lot more data.)

If religion is important not only as a belief system, but—as Sophisticated Theologians™ tell us—as a social glue, binding people together for good, it will bind only if people perceive that religion does good things for them and for society. If churches are seen as not doing much good for society, that eliminates not only a reason to be religious, but also eliminates the need for “belief in belief”, the notion that even if you’re not religious, you can promote religion as good for society.

Has this secularization led to increased immorality, as the faithful would predict? I doubt it. One sign that morality is actually on the rise is the increasing recognition of rights for gays and other minorities. It’s only a matter of time, I think, before gay marriage will be legal in every state in the Union. That would be unthinkable in a nation of diehard Christians.

h/t: Douglas ~

Readers’ wildlife photos

October 25, 2014 • 8:51 am

We have not only some wildlife today, but also some astronomy, as this seemed the appropriate place to put it.

Apparently there was a partial solar eclipse yesterday, and reader/photographer Ben Goren caught some nice images on his camera:

Here’s the haul from today’s partial solar eclipse. First up is from a little after the maximum extent of the eclipse…and, excessive pareidolia notwithstanding, I’ll be damned if I don’t see the ears, eyes, and nose of a cat in this picture. Proof of the Most High Ceiling Cat! [JAC: I can’t see the cat!]

Zimage002

This is a really great one:

And, second and last, from a while later, I managed to catch an airliner with contrail in front of the Sun. To put things in perspective…most people are familiar with the size of an airliner. The Moon is about the size of Africa. The dark circular part on the left of the big sunspot in the middle…that’s about the size of the whole Earth. And you can see the jagged edge of the mountain ranges on the moon!

zimage003

For those who care, these were both taken with a Canon 5DIII and a 400mm f/2.8L II lens with a 2X teleconverter and a Baader filter at f/11, 1/250s, ISO 100. These are straight out of the camera, 100% crops (1500×1500 pixels out of the center of the original 5760×3840 file), no adjustments, not even any sharpening.

And Diana MacPherson continues to document her eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus):

The chipmunk shows up now and then to collect some more seeds. I suspect they are starting their torpor now. The last picture is cute. You see how chipmunks can flatten their ears, which you don’t normally see.
The chipmunk can see me here and is keeping an eye on me while grooming.
Chipmunk Nervously Grooms Arm
Chipmunk grooms back foot.
Chipmunk Grooms Foot
Chipmunk bum – the white back of the ears looks soft.
Chipmunk Bum
I put on my 40 mm lens to show how little the chipmunk is. I cropped it even still.
The actual size of a chipmunk
The chipmunk was chasing sparrows away from the seeds. They even flatten their ears for speed!
That chipmunk isn’t touching the ground!
Chipmunk Darts Away
Finally, Professor Ceiling Cat, while visiting the Archaeological Museum in Sofia this morning, came across a hooded crow (Corvus cornix), which had apparently purloined some piece of meat. It was all fluffed up against the cold, as it was snowing:
P1060982
Lunch! (I wonder what this crow’s cholesterol count is. . . ):
P1060974

Sikh student allowed to bring dagger to public school as a gesture toward religious tolerance

October 25, 2014 • 6:57 am

According to custom, members of the Sikh religion wear the “five Ks,” which, according to Wikipedia, are the following:

  • Kesh: Uncut hair, usually tied and wrapped in a Dastar [JAC: A form of turban].
  • Kanga: A wooden comb, usually worn under a Dastar
  • Katchera: Cotton undergarments, historically appropriate in battle due to increased mobility when compared to a dhoti. Worn by both sexes, the katchera is a symbol of chastity. [JAC: Sikh’s like Mormons, have magic underwear]
  • Kara: An iron bracelet, a weapon and a symbol of eternity
  • Kirpan: An iron dagger in different sizes. In the UK Sikhs can wear a small dagger, but in the Punjab they might wear a traditional curved sword from one to three feet in length.

I have seen kirpans (and three of the other four K’s) in India, and kirpans can be formidable weapons. Here’s a typical one:

khalsakirpan

Now, according to KING5 (the NBC news channel in western Washington State, a Sikh student at Aubern’s (Washington) Guildo Rey Elementary School (such schools teach children from ages 6-12) is to be allowed to carry a kirpan with him to school, despite the fact that the school has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons.

It is not a toy knife, but a real one. As KING reports, one school worker says this is unconscionable, and I agree:

One school volunteer named Shelby, who asked her last name not be used, said respecting religion goes too far if it compromises student safety.

“There’s no way I’d go back until the knife was gone,” she said.

Shelby does not volunteer at Gildo Rey.

“They can’t take that thing into the airport. TSA would be all over it. Why is a school any different?” she asked.

Indeed, and this is being toted by a small child.  True, other Sikhs have carried knives in public schools before, and there’s yet been no stabbing, but zero tolerance is zero tolerance, and that should hold for all, regardless of faith. When public safety clashes with religious freedom, the former should win.

But listen to the school superintendent try to weasel out of this one:

“The knife can’t come out. It can’t be shown around. It needs to be underneath their clothing,” said Auburn Assistant Superintendent of Schools Ryan Foster. “That allows them to express their religion without jeopardizing anyone’s feeling of safety. If there are any problems, we will take it to the family, but we don’t expect any.”

Well, at least one person’s feeling of safety has been jeopardized! And the instruction that the knife must be concealed is bogus, as they wouldn’t allow a secular student to carry a hidden knife.  And what if there was a religion that mandated the carrying of guns? Would that be okay too among 6-12 year-olds, so long as the gun was kept hidden and couldn’t be “shown around”?

Once again religion gets unwarranted privileges. Sikhs get to carry weapons in schools; members of other faiths can’t. The school district should enforce its regulation for everyone.

This isn’t the first time Sikh sentiments have clashed with public safety. In Davis California, a Sikh student was outraged after he was refused a bus ride because he wouldn’t remove his kirpan. Here’s his knife, a pretty scary dagger:

Screen shot 2014-10-25 at 11.23.51 AM

A similar incident happened when a theater denied entry to an armed Sikh in Yuba City, California.

What makes this especially galling to nonbelievers (besides the failure of the government to treat people equitably) is that this dagger is being carried in the name of false beliefs. Regardless, even if, as some Sikhs maintain, “we are a peace-loving people,” those daggers can be taken and used by other people, too.

There should be no compromise of public safety to propitiate religious sentiments. If Sikh’s must carry a kirpan in school, let it be a tiny symbolic kirpan made of wood, like the one I bought in the Sikh temple in New Delhi some years ago. I don’t think anybody specifies that the kirpan has to be a Crocodile Dundee-type sticker!