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Welcome to the first Morning Heresy news roundup of 2021, a year that has the lowest of bars to clear, and may yet fail to do so nonetheless. Unleash the thread! https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/boxing-with-a-big-pillow/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
This Thursday we have two events in the CFI Webinar Universe: At 7pm ET, Skeptical Inquirer Presents has Dr. @OdaelysWalwyn and “Disparities in the Midst of COVID-19: Education, Health, and Race.” https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sLn5WufnQ_y-_0UV_cmNbg
At 8pm ET on Thursday, @rdfrsTIES presents Lydia Denworth on the biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations of friendship. So much good stuff. https://www.crowdcast.io/e/friendship-the-evolution/register?fbclid=IwAR1C_U7yV8wpn1sVX-KWXYS-Xb1CJtsI-nJd1iNp6uMNua8X52CzOe-ML-8
CFI’s Jim Underdown is not a psychic, but he has played one on TV: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2014/11/dr-phil-and-the-hummingbird/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
... so he’s given us some ironclad predictions for 2021, including, “Despite the prediction in Matthew 24:34, Jesus (again) will not return to earth as prophesized.” https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/guaranteed-predictions-for-2021/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
... so he’s given us some ironclad predictions for 2021, including, “Despite the prediction in Matthew 24:34, Jesus (again) will not return to earth as prophesized.” https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/guaranteed-predictions-for-2021/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
The Freethought Trail announces the completion of its website coverage of the 1913 Forty-Fifth Annual Convention of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. We’re only 108 years late, but quality is more important than speed
https://freethought-trail.org/latest-news/article:site-of-1913-suffrage-convention-reception-gets-new-page-on-freethought-trail/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
https://freethought-trail.org/latest-news/article:site-of-1913-suffrage-convention-reception-gets-new-page-on-freethought-trail/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
Last week we were alerted to the arrest of Australian ex-Muslim @zarakayk in Tanzania for a tweet critical of the government (“Someone reported me in for blasphemy,” she tweeted). She is now out on bail. We join in calls for all charges to be dropped. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/03/australian-womens-rights-activist-faces-charges-in-tanzania
An Irish satire outlet, the Waterford Whispers News, made a TV sketch about God being arrested for “forcing himself on a young Middle Eastern migrant” 2000 years ago. Here come the blasphemy complaints. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/01/02/irish-archbishop-condemns-blasphemous-nye-comedy-skit-alleging-god-raped-mary/
David Mills at the @NCRegister has identified the most difficult kind of atheist to argue with: The “yeah, whatever” atheist: “[It’s] like boxing with a big foam pillow or a giant marshmallow.” We found their kryptonite!!! https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/wrestling-with-foam-pillow-atheism
Randall Balmer at @ConMonitorNews writes about how religious institutions are “poor vessels” for the piety they preach, pointing out Ravi Zacharias Ministries and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (aka Legion of Doom) as examples. https://www.concordmonitor.com/Randall-Balmer-38019708
According to research published in @SociusJournal, Christian nationalism is “one of the two strongest predictors of anti-vaccine attitudes.” https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/01/03/researchers-say-christian-nationalism-is-making-it-harder-to-end-the-pandemic/
A study of folklore purports to show how “conspiracy theories tend to form around certain narrative threads that connect various characters, places, and things across discrete domains of interaction that are otherwise not aligned.” @JenLucPiquant: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/study-folklore-structure-reveals-how-conspiracy-theories-emerge-fall-apart/
Behold, the Betz Mystery Sphere! An alien artifact discovered in the 70s in Florida! It moved on its own! Or, maybe it’s just a steel ball. @PopMech: “In reality, the sphere was probably rolling on an uneven floor.” https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a35092347/betz-mystery-sphere-conspiracy-theory/
“Psychics” are doing well with the pandemic. One tells the Post: “Everybody wants to know what’s coming up for the next year, and we are one of the only services that can provide that information.” Is that what you call it? Information? Via @mjcontrera: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/12/31/dc-psychics-predict-future-pandemic-covid/
Finally, happy birthday to future President of Earth @GretaThunberg, who we now know was a puppet of Dark Forces™ all along. https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1345759558124384258
I think that about covers it. For the year, maybe. Find more at the canonical blog version of the Morning Heresy...
https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/boxing-with-a-big-pillow/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
...or subscribe to get all this goodness through the electronic mail machine. https://centerforinquiry.org/newsletter/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/boxing-with-a-big-pillow/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
...or subscribe to get all this goodness through the electronic mail machine. https://centerforinquiry.org/newsletter/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=morning%20heresy
