A lot can be said about the tragedy at Fort Hood that transpired this past week. A spree killing of such magnitude is always a horrifying ordeal, but this incident has taken on a whole new meaning because of the nature of the affair. It didn't happen in a school or some other public place. It took place in Fort Hood, a military base that housed the men and women of the armed forces. The victims were soldiers, a group of people who have long been venerated in American society. The shooter was also a soldier, but he also happened to be a Muslim and it is this affiliation that has captured everybody's attention.

Spree killings are always a spectacle, especially when there is a tragic element to it. But the shooters at Columbine and Virginia Tech never had a religious component to their violent acts. They were just disturbed, angry young men who gave into their violent impulses. The shooter in this case, Major Nidal Hasan, fit this profile in many ways. According to the Washington Post, Hasan was a loner like many spree killers tend to be. He had frew friends and odd, off-putting work habits. It is a trait shared by both Columbine and Virginia Tech, loners who show signs of withdrawl and depression. Yet this is not what everybody is latching onto. It's his faith that is getting all the press.

The Post also documented that Hasan was a devout Muslim. He was the son of a Palestinian immigrant and was very disciplined when it came to his faith. He prayed every day and gave generously to those in need. He also wore traditional Muslim attire and gave copies of the Quran to his neighbors. He was also reported to speak highly of suicide bombers, saying their acts were noble for their cause. This has led some to suspect that he was influenced by terrorist literature and used his faith to justify his terrible actions. Some have gone so far as to say he is an agent of Islamic terrorists groups. It would make sense given how he was reportedly harassed by others in the armed forces for his faith.

But all these assertions have one big fallacy. It's called correlation and causality. It is a fallacy the media and many pundits are guilty of in these cases. They look for a cause and whatever seems most logical or appealing to them is immediately labled as connected. Conspiracy theorists do this all the time. So do racist groups like the KKK and ironically enough the same terrorists Hasan was said to be a part of. But what is logical isn't always what is true.

The question remains. Did Hasan commit these violent acts because of or in spite of his religion? Saying his religion played a part in his acts presents the same problems with other spree killers. It was said that the Columbine killers were influenced by violent music and video games. It was said the Virginia Tech killer was influenced by violent literature. It's hard for anyone to believe in coincidences, but they do happen. The problem remains that there is no evidence that any of these things were linked to the person's actions. Studies done into the psychology of spree killers have found only two major similarities. They're all male and they're all depressed loners. Everything else, including their religion, was secondary and negligable.

Could there have been a religious component? Does this mean Islam is a violent religion? That's still debatable. In a strictly objective sense, Islam is about as violent as Christianity and Judism. They all have vengeful gods that justify horrific acts against non-believers. It could be argued that any violent act could be justified with religion. All someone has to say is "God told me to do it" and that's it. It doesn't matter which god it is or what religion it is, the logic is still the same and it is still flawed.

There's no question that these spree killings are horrific acts, but blaming outside forces does not offer any significant answers. People are inevitably responsible for their own actions. Whatever was influencing Hasan, he made the decision to kill those people. He is responsible for what he did, not his religion or his hobbies. There are millions of devout Muslims in this country and one person going on a rampage is not evidence of a trend. The exception does not nor will it ever prove the rule.

Fort Hood Suspect A Devout Muslim, Loner

"Drugs are bad!"

"Drugs are evil!"

"Drugs are a scourge that must be stopped!"

"We must protect our youth at all costs from drugs!"

These mantras have been recited endlessly throughout the drug war. Even before Richard Nixon declared war on drugs, it has been the policy of the American government and many others to paint drugs as the source of so many evils. It has helped justify decades of a failed policy that has ruined countless lives, wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, and usurped the liberties granted by the constitution. By any measure the drug war has failed. It hasn't stopped drug use and it hasn't helped drug addicts. Yet every time the issue comes up the policymakers in Congress, law enforcement, and the DEA offer the same solution. They just need more money to combat the problem. But is that the only solution? Is there a better way?

As it turns out, there is. In 2001 the government of Portugal took a bold new approach to combating drugs. It decriminalized the use and possession of illicit drugs. This includes hard drugs like cocain, heroin, marijuana, and LSD. This means that people can no longer be put in jail just for using drugs or having up to a 10-day supplies. They can only be jailed for selling and distributing drugs. This effectively redirects law enforcement from seeking out users towards seeking out the suppliers, which are often the violent gangs and drug cartels. It is a complete reversal of the hardline stance the DEA has taken over the years. What they refuse to admit, however, is that this approach works.

Five years after the new laws were enacted, the number of deaths from drug overdoses dropped from 400 to 290 annually. The number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles dropped from 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006. This is all according to a study done by the Cato Institute. It effectively blows apart the argument made by anti-drug crusaders that claim deciminalization or legalization would increase the amount of drug users and drug-related health problems. Instead, Portugal has found a much more humane approach by treating users and addicts as victims of a health problem. Instead of throwing them in jail, those who break the law are brought before what is known as a "Dissuasion Commission" that consists of three people (a lawyer, a doctor, and a social service worker). These people have the option of recommending treatment, fining the user, or not giving them any sanction at all. Essentially, if a person wants to get treatment they can without fear of being thrown in jail. Or if they want to keep messing their lives up, they can do that as well. It's their body and it's their choice.

Overall, the law succeeded. It helped reduce the amount of drug-related incidents and offered help to those who were struggling with their addiction. Even Walter Kemp, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, admits that decriminalizatoin in Portugal "appears to be working." It also disproved another fear by anti-drug zealots. Portugal did not become a drug mecca. It is still a functioning country with a functioning society. It just isn't throwing people in jail for ingesting substances some people call 'evil.'

The effectiveness of this policy have been covered by many credible sources including Scientific America, the Economist, and Time Magazine.

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Laws Show Progress

Portugal's Drug Policy: Did Decriminalization Work?

Portugal's Drug Policy: Treating not Jailing

Yet has anybody in Congress or the DEA come forth to acknowledge this? Of course not. To them admitting that Portugal's policy worked would mean admitting that their policy isn't working. Nobody in any government agency will ever say that what they're doing isn't working. If that was the case they would lose their precious funding. The only time they will admit that their efforts aren't working is when they need more funding. All to often the government is happy to accommodate them because they earn bonus points with their voters by acting as though they're taking a stand against drugs. The reality, however, is that they're causing a great deal of harm by furthering a policy that turns non-violent drug offenders into criminals and robs them of their civil liberties.

It is government arrogance at it's best. Someone tries a policy that works better than theirs and they refuse to even acknowledge it. They would rather keep doing the wrong thing because it's so much easier. It shows a complete lack of humility and responsibility not just on the part of politicians, but on those who vow to uphold the law.

The fact remains. People have been using drugs for medical and recreational reasons since the beginning of civilization. It's not going to stop anytime soon and anybody who tries to stop it is going to lose. People use drugs because they do exactly what they want them to do. They bring pleasure, euphoria, and fun. There are serious risks involved in using drugs, but it should not be up to the government to decide whether or not an individual should take that risk. People are responsible for their own bodies. If they want to mess them up, that's their decision. It should be up to their family, their community, and their neighbors to support them and not the government. Portugal offers a clear alternative that not only works, but it champions the tenants of freedom that every American values. It is up to the leaders in Washington to swallow their pride and humble themselves before the light of freedom to do what is right and not just what is politically viable.

It is popular for Americans and people in general to cherish their rights. It's only natural. Rights are an important part of every society, free or otherwise. The abundance or lack of rights lie at the very core of any community large and small. However, at times the source of these rights becomes exaggerated. A peoples' rights take on an almost divine aura. Many will claim human rights are a gift from a god or some divine force. It's a comforting notion, but ignores reality. Rights are a complicated concept because their so abstract, but without a firm understanding of what rights are and where they come from the people are ill-equipped to defend them.

First and foremost, rights don't come from god or anything supernatural. They never have. They are and always have been an abstract concept of society. Their main source is law. Without law there is no order and without order there are no rights. Now law is a far more complicated concept than rights. There are so many different legal traditions across history, cultures, and countries that to explain one and apply it to all would be utterly meaningless in any argument as to the source of rights. But rights as most people understand them do have a basis in certain aspects of law, namely those meant to protect individuals and communities and ensure order.

Now it's impossible to talk about the source of rights without the source of the law. Throughout history law has come from many places. Ancient Egypt and the vast empires of history had rulers who dictated what the law was. Kingdoms and city-states had oligarchs, councils, or community proceedings that brought forth the law. It wasn't always logical. If a ruler was mentally ill, then the laws would not be very reasonable. Men like Calligula of Ancient Rome, Ivan the Terrible or Medieval Russia, and Pol Pot of Cambodia all had clear symptoms of serious mental illness. Yet being the rulers of their country, they were the law and that law was what the people had to live under. Needless to say, the people didn't have very clear or logical rights.

The problem with law and rights as always been that people were constantly debating the laws and bending them to their whims. That's where some of these irrational traditions come from. That's where barbaric systems like the Spanish Inquisition, Stalin's secret police, or Adolph Hitlers SS come from. It is only when those educated in reason and humanities come together that the source of natural rights take shape. The logic follows that all human beings, being of the same flesh and blood as anyone else, have an intrinsic worth. It is a concept that spans all religions and cultures to some extent, even those with ridged hierarchies. Thus, the law must protect each individual worth from the whims of other individuals and the only way to do this is through law.

This presents another problem. Law is not always forged in peace. As such, rights are not always forged from peace. When dealing with oligarchs and tyranical rulers, it often takes force to obtain the legal framework for these rights. That's why there had to be an American Revolution. That's why there had to be uprisings amongst populations in Europe and other Western countries to reshape the power structure in favor of defending rights rather than debating them. It also helps when the population becomes more educated and aware of their state. It was difficult in pre-modern times because there were so few connections between communities. Now with advanced understandings in law and reason, rights can take shape.

This is where limited government comes in. Starting with concepts like the Magna Carta, the state's role in rights shifted from being a giver of rights to a defender of rights. This was the reasoning behind the republic, which has it's roots back in Ancient Greece and Rome. Here, it is a fixed body of laws that limit the power of the state to maintain it's role as a protector of rights. This was what the founding fathers followed as they understood that rights could only be protected if the government was limited by law. So when people start assuming their rights are coming from somewhere else besides law, they ignore when the law is usurped and thus their rights are usurped.

The belief that rights come from some holy, god-given source has distracted people from the real problem with rights. They need to have a basis in law and at times there needs to be force behind it. Here's the situation. Government has grown a great deal in the last 100 years, expanding it's power and intruding on the rights of the citizens, sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly and sometimes completely unintentionally. Yet these violations aren't confronted because the people don't understand the government's role. They think their rights were with them when they were born or they come from some invisible deity. So if that's the source, why bother with the law?

It is dangerous and flawed thinking. It's the kind of thinking that causes complacency in a population. It gives people an excuse to sit around while their government continues to ignore the law and strip at their rights. It is only when the people demand through force that the government respect the law and the rights they protect that the free society prevails. At the moment, however, not enough force is being applied and too many people are not willing to step up.

For more reading on the source of rights, please consult the following academic paper by Brian Tierney:

The Idea of Natural Rights

It is universally accepted that economics is a complicated subject. Even the brightest of minds admit they are not sure what makes the economy tick. People have dedicated their entire lives to studying economics and mankinds understanding of it is still very much limited. One running theme is that an economists is the only other profession besides weatherman that can be wrong 100 percent of the time and still keep their job. Just as nobody can accurately predict the weather all the time, nobody can predict the economy all the time. So why would people assume a lone film-maker could sum it up any better?

Michael Moore is no stranger to economics. For years he's spoken on the ills of capitalism. His latest film "Capitalism: A Love Story" is a breakdown of everything he feels is wrong with capitalism. He paints it as the greatest evil and the source of all social ills in society. He does this, of course, with a very rudimentary (and flawed) understanding of what capitalism is. Yet what he documents is not pure propaganda nor is it a portrait of everyone like him. Moore, like most people of his trade, sincerely believes what he says. He just doesn't understand certain parts of the issue that very few understand to begin with.

What's Micahel Moore Talking About?

The most glaring flaw is the way he highlights certain ills and attributes them to capitalism. In his movie he talks about greedy banks using public money for obscene profits and the growing hardships small businesses face when they try to compete with larger corporate entities. But what he fails to understand is that these events are not driven by capitalism. They are driven by collaborations between government and business. If he had talked to anybody with some background in capitalism, he would know that the reason these big entites like oil companies, drug companies, and banks make such extreme profits is because they get the government to help them out. They use laws, regulations, and various red tape to stamp out competition, protect profits, and socialize losses. That's why they invest so much money in lobbyists. It helps them make more money.

This isn't a failure of capitalism. It's a failure of limited government. The constitution of the United States never stipulated that the government should aid in any business. Businesses, like individuals, were all subject to the same laws. It's when the government gets corrupted by businessmen that these ills develop. Going back to the era of Robber Barons like Rockefeller and Carnegie, they used tactics to weed out competition that were without question illegal. But they got help from the government, allowing them to get special breaks instead of using their own merits to succeed. This is how near-monopolies developed in many industries. It wasn't capitalism, but a perversion of it caused by an intrusive government.

Moore also documents the struggles of the middle class in his film. He blames capitalism for their declining standard of living and makes the case that the government should do more to help them. But what he fails to understand is that government is the reason for the declining middle class in the first place. The most notable cause involves inflation of priceses and the decreased purchasing power of the dollar. That's not because of capitalism. That's because of big government, namely the Federal Reserve. Since 1913 they have been printing money without anything to back it up. That's what causes the inflation and that's what robs people of their purchasing power. It's been documented in history going all the way back to ancient Egypt. Yet Moore doesn't get this and to his credit, very few people do.

The most telling shortcoming of Moore's film is his solution to the problem. He says democracy is the antidote to all these ills. Again, he's confusing his terms. Democracy has nothing to do with government. It has everything to do with politics. The very word democracy means people rule. It is a system that has never succeeded and for good reason. When the people have the power to vote on the excise of power, that vote is subject to majority rule. So if the majority want to oppress a minority, there's nothing stopping them. If the majority want to surrender all authority to a dictator, there's nothing stopping them. That's why the Founding Fathers scolded democracy. America as a whole has never been a democracy. It is and always has been a constitutional republic.

A republic is rule by law where a fixed body of laws is enforced by a government whose power is limited. This means that issues of business and personal conduct are free for the people to enjoy. No one business should be granted any favors. All should be free to prosper and free to fail. That is the essence of a republic. Moore doesn't get that. He doesn't understand that government has been granting special favors to entities like banks, utilities, and various enterprises for years and that is what has perverted the system. It's when government steps back and let business stand on it's own two feet that true prosperity is possible. It seems counter-intuitive to some, but historically speaking it is the best system for governing man.

In terms of the big picture, not everything in Michael Moore's movie is to be scoffed at. He's not wrong on everything just as he's not right on everything. He does highlight some important shortcomings of the current system. He simply fails to understand the philosophy and history of that system. Most people do not get economics, but they do get freedom. That is why the most powerful message in any argument for these issues is freedom because when people are free, people are free to prosper.

At a rally in downtown Washington DC, President Obama addressed thousands of marching homosexuals protesting against anti-gay policies such as Don't Ask Don't Tell. The president's words were explicit.

"I will end Don't Ask Don't Tell."

It was part of his campaign promise. He would take a stand against the anti-gay sentiment that has grown heated in wake of the gay marriage debate. Yet so far he has done little on this issue. Restating his position may earn him cheers, but without any substance behind his rhetoric he won't be winning himself any supporters.

Gay activists have been voicing their frustrations and rightfully so. There has been little push from Obama Administration on the social issues since he took office. Much of his focus has been on the economy, health care, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet that isn't an excuse for the gay community. They want their equal rights now. They want new laws passed to end the discrimination and persecution they have been facing for decades. But in the midst of these protests the gay community has not been asking a very important question. Should they really be demanding all these new laws to help them gain equality?

It seems outrageous to anybody with compassion for the homosexual community, but it is a valid question. Since the dawn of the civil rights movement, there has always been a push for new laws. Like the Civil Rights Act of 1965 for African Americans, every minority wants to have something similar that they can grasp onto and say that this is what grants them their equality. What is lost in the message is whether or not it's even necessary to further complicate the law by making new ones instead of enforcing the laws that already exist.

The law that allows homosexuals equal rights is already written into the constitution in the form of the 14th amendment. The law states as follows:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

This text is clear. Every person (not just heterosexuals, whites, rich people, etc.) has a right to life, liberty, and property. No person may be denied equal protection under the law. This isn't in some civil rights act. This is written into the United States Constitution. The matter isn't whether or not there is a law protecting the gay community. The matter is simply that it's not being properly enforced.

Laws like Don't Ask Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage Act are rendered unconstitutional in light of the 14th amendment. It would be so much easier for the gay community to use this sound, reasonable argument instead of pushing for a special law of their own. Getting a law for a specific group whether it be homosexuals, African Americans, or Native Americans only reinforces the notion that they are somehow different and need special treatment. That is not how a free society works. A free society operates by treating individuals and not groups, granting them equal protection under the law.

Discrimination and bigotry comes in when the executive functions of the government fail to enforce these laws. For decades, that is what has happened to the gay community. Before that, the same happened to the African American community. Police and law enforcement on many levels weren't doing their jobs and weren't held accountable. The justice system failed to act as they were constitutionally obligated to act. It is not the law that is at fault, but the people who are entrusted to enforce it.

If the gay community or any minority wishes to gain equal status, they must act not on the law but the people enforcing the law. The courts, the police, and the various institutions that enforce the law are the real culprits. By working within the law, they can have their rights without demanding special treatment. It is the special treatment that has so often caused conflict between opposing sides. On a purely symbollic level, having a law made specifically for a group helps generate solidarity for that group. But that solidarity comes at a price. It alienates others and galvanizes opponents, continuing an increasing cycle of resentment that keeps playing out in protests and in government.

For the homosexual community and every other minority, it is important to work within the law and not against it. The law is not the enemy and by making it out to be, they only hurt their cause. So for President Obama and the gay activists gathering in Washington, the focus should not be on change. It should be on long overdue justice. There does not need to be more laws stating the same thing. There only needs to be a push by reasonable people to enforce the laws that are within the spirit of America and the free society.

Is it harder to believe or not to believe? The intuitive response is to assume that belief is more difficult. It seems logical on the surface. To believe in something in the absence of evidence is a great challenge. It’s easy to assume how hard someone would have to push themselves to accept it. It’s one of the reasons people of strong convictions are so admired on most societies. It seems as though they’re stronger in their ability to accept a premise that some may deem impossible.

But is that really the case? Is believing in something really as hard as people make it out to be? Most modern psychological studies are remarkably consistent. Belief is much easier than non-belief. To blindly accept something, whether it involves religion or politics or government, is far more preferable than to question or to reason.

It starts at a young age. It has been will documented that children in their infancy are highly impressionable. It is their tendency to adopt and accept the wishes of elders and authority figures. In a strictly survival context, it makes sense. If children always questioned authority figures, it would be distracting and dangerous for both the parents the child. By having the child blindly believe, it helps humans be more social and coordinated. That leads to advantageous survival functions that evolution has favored since the days of hunter gatherers.

It isn’t just children’s impressionability that makes belief easier. Even as rational adults, people are subject to peer pressure. A classic example is the Asch Conformity Experiment where three test subjects, one of which was a random volunteer, were asked to decide which line out of three was longer. Two controls voted on one that was obviously shorter, thus pressuring the volunteer to make a decision. Should they conform to what they know is wrong or act on their own? Most would assume a rational person would do what was right, but that was not the case. Nearly 75 percent of participants went with the group, doing what was clearly wrong for the sake of conformity.

The Psychology of Conformity

Religion and government hijack these two deeply held traits. For religion, belief in a supernatural deity is easy. Nobody has to know anything about anything to believe. They don’t have to have any special knowledge or special skills. They don’t have to do anything other than blindly believe and in return they get acceptance from other believers and hope that they will be rewarded when they die, even though there’s no evidence that they do. It’s a cheap, easy way to feel good about one’s self and it is often abused, fostering irrational superstition, bigotry, corruption, greed, and sometimes murder. The hijackers of 9/11 truly believed that their invisible god that they never saw or experienced was real and that this god would grant them 72 virgins in the afterlife for murdering innocent people. It’s an appealing belief and one that is much easier to accept than question when it is preached with the fiery rhetoric of dogmatic clerics.

Psychology of Religious Belief

Every religion is guilty of abusing humanity’s susceptibility to belief. Government is just as bad as religion. They play off that same childhood tendency to believe in one’s parents and authority figures even when what they’re doing is obviously wrong. It came full circle in the build-up to the Iraq war. Everybody was drunk with patriotism, blindly believing in the government’s assertion that Iraq posed a danger. Anybody that questioned this was deemed unpatriotic and cast aside, a clear show of the power of peer pressure.

In every state, democratic and authoritarian, leaders use their status against people. From the communist states of China and Russia to the ancient powers of Rome and Egypt, authority figures have used and abused the capacity to believe. Free societies are supposed to open these figures to questioning, but it is rare that people do so because it is so much easier and so much more convenient to just believe.

Disbelief, it turns out, is much harder. It creates a lot of discomfort in people because rejecting something is often looked down upon. Rejecting the government or rejecting religion just doesn’t seem as noble to people. Some dare to call it heretical. It’s also hard to reject the appeal of some beliefs. For many, it is very nice to believe that there is a just and loving god who will reward those that die after living a righteous life. But no matter how much someone believes in something, that doesn’t make it true. There’s no proof that there’s anything after death. There’s no proof that there’s a god of any kind or that supernatural forces exist. Not believing in them is hard because it means rejecting some mystery from the world.

In many ways, it is those that believe the strongest that are the most dangerous. The religious fanatics and authoritarian bureaucrats are so convinced they will not even consider questioning themselves. It takes a great deal of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism. To not question is not only irrational, it is cowardice. From the priests to the kings, they may have the power of influence. But at their very core, they are cowards of the highest degree.

The theory of evolution and science itself has been attacked by the religion since the days of the Spanish Inquisition. Throughout history religious zealots have harassed, hindered, or outright suppressed the likes of Galieo, Copernicus, and Charles Darwin. It's never on the merits of the work itself. It always has to do with certain groups just not liking that the stories in their favorite religous texts being disproved in the real world. It's not about their claims being valid. It's about vindicating thier own beliefs and rallying around something that seems so counter-intuitive to their illogical thinking.

Sadly enough, the assault on science continues to this day. The church has long since lost it's power, but the attack can come from a myriad of sources. Some even come from former teenage idols. Kirk Cameron, a former child star from the sitcom Growing Pains, has taken up the mantle of overzealous religious dogma. In a recent interview with People, he discussed plans to distribute 'edited' versions of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" on November 19th across college campuses.

Kirk Cameron Defends attacks on Darwin

By edited, of course, that means mixed with irrational creationist dogma that has long since been disproved and has no merit in modern science. Yet he makes no apologies. He describes the edited text as a "balanced view of Creationism with information from scientists who actually believe God created the universe." But this is a complete oxymoron.

When it comes to the debate between creationism and science, there is no balance. Science uses reason, evidence, and logic. Creationism uses belief, superstition, and dogma. To people like Cameron, a firm belief in his particular supernatural deity is all it takes to disprove a theory that is accepted by over 95 percent of scientists and has mountains of evidence across varying fields like palentology, zoology, biology, chemistry, psychology, sociology, chemistry, comparative morphology, and taxonomy. Creationism isn't supported by anything other than dogmatic believers who know next to nothing about science, what it is or how it works. They don't even understand what the word 'theory' means. To people like Cameron, it means a guess. But if he just opened any legitimate dictionary, he would see that's completely wrong. Yet this doesn't bother him. He and his partner in crime, Ray Comfort, continue to state and restate the same false statements again and again, never changing their message or the merits that support it. They either aren't that concerned with the truth or simply do not care.

What Kirk is doing has nothing to do with science. It has everything to do with promoting his agenda and that of his creationist buddies. By disturbing these perverse texts across college campuses, he hopes to gain followers. In his mind he's saving their souls, but in reality he's dooming them to ignorance. Creationism is one of the most perverted flaws of religion. It makes people mix belief with truth, causing them to abandon any semblance of reason or questioning in any objective manner. It's all about propagating the faith. Anything that gets the believer to think in any way that deviates from accepted dogma must somehow be bad, even if it is backed up by evidence and logic. This isn't just immoral. It's downright inhumane, attempting to rob people of their natrual capacity for reason and knowledge.

On November 21st, 2009, it will mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's landmark "On the Origins of Species." It is sad that after all this time, there are still people like Kirk Cameron who spew their Bronze Age worldviews and call it moral. People like them would have society march backwards into the dark ages, negating all the progress that religion and zealous preachers have fought tirelessly to hinder. To them, saving souls is worth all the countless lives that would be lost by abandoning this powerful tool for human progress.

That in essence is the ultimate tragedy. What if centuries ago there was an Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawkings who had insight into the world that could have advanced mankind out of the Dark Ages faster? Yet they were never able to contribute because zealous religious officials felt threatened by their work and had them silenced or even killed? There's no telling how many lives could have been spared, but that doesn't matter to these people. Any amount of death is worth it if it gains them favor of their invisible god. That, in every sense, is evil in it's purest form.

For a rebuttal of Kirk Cameron's many erroneous views, please check out the video below.

This past week the world lost a great man. He was a scientist, a humanitarian, and a visionary. He is one of only six people to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Metal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Metal. He touched more people in a positive way than anyone in the past 100 years. He’s helped save more lives than anyone in history. His contributions will continue to help save lives for decades after his passing. His name is Dr. Norman Borlaug and on September 12, 2009 he passed away at the age of 95. The saddest part is most people have never even heard of him.

Dr. Borlaug was an agricultural scientist with a PHD in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota. He is the father of what is known as the Green Revolution. He helped develop new farming technologies such as high-yield, disease resistant wheat crops and worked on advanced methods for implementing them on a large scale. He spent much of his live in the sciences, researching and studying plant pathology to find new and innovative ways to grow more food with fewer resources. His work came at a critical time when many doomsayers like Paul Ehrlich and his book “The Population Bomb” were warning the public of a coming population explosion that was going to cause widespread famine. Thanks to his research, that disaster never happened. Food yields went up and less people went hungry.

But Dr. Borlaug didn’t just develop new technologies. He was a man who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He traveled around the world to help developing countries implement his advanced farming techniques. He visited Mexico, Pakistan, and numerous areas of Africa helping farmers and countries increase their yields. At times he put his life at risk. During his work in Pakistan, a war broke out with India over Kashmir. Yet he never stopped his work. Because of his efforts, crop yields throughout developing countries soared and countless lives were saved.

It has been estimated that Dr. Borlaug’s work has helped save over 245 million people. Others place that figure around a billion. No one else in history can make such a claim. Dr. Borlaug’s contributions affect everybody directly every time they sit down to a nice meal. There’s a good chance that those reading this have eaten something today that came directly from crops Dr. Borlaug developed.

Norman Borlaug demonstrates the best of what science can do for humanity. He used knowledge and reason to help the world and ease suffering. It’s also notable that many of the people he helped spanned ethnic, racial, and religious barriers. He was a true humanitarian, using his gift of reason to help the world. Many may try to make the world a better place through philosophy, charity, and hard work. But Dr. Borlaug can be remembered as man who succeeded beyond every conceivable measure. He did change the world. He did make a difference. His impact is truly immeasurable and he will be sorely missed. The world owes him a great debt. He will go down in history as the man who fed the world.

We will miss you, Dr. Borlaug. Thank you for everything you’ve given us.

“We cannot build a peaceful society on empty stomachs and human misery.”

Norman Borlaug (1914-2009)

Everybody has their beliefs about the ongoing debates regarding health care, the wars in the Middle East, and the job Barack Obama is doing as president. People cling strongly to these beliefs, arguing them passionately in town hall meetings. Some of their beliefs are rational and valid. Others are not. There are people who believe ardently that President Obama is a socialist seeking to make America a completely socialist country. There are people who believe just as ardently that he is not a natural born citizen and his election to the White House is henceforth not legitimate. These people, the Birthers, believe the same way the Truthers believe that the September 11th attacks were ochastrated by the government. Creationists follow the same logic, believing ardently that their beliefs about the creation of the world is valid and that evolution is some vast conspiracy orchastrated by anti-Christian forces. They all believe in their heart of hearts that they are right and what they believe is true. But they're all wrong in one critical assumption. They believe that their belief alone is proof enough, even when there are countless facts that disprove them. Thus they cling to their belief, ignoring sound rational arguments to the contrary.

But why do they believe? There are plenty of ways to verify their claims. Many like creationism and the 9/11 conspiracy theories have indeed been disproven. Why won't they listen to rational arguments? The answer lies in the very nature of belief itself. Human beings are innately programmed to believe certain things without proof. It's part of our evolutionary heritiage. Richard Dawkins wrote extensively about it in his book "The God Delusion." Human beings have the capacity for reason, but they cannot employ that facet in every situation. If they are told "don't approach a hungry crocadile" it would take considerable time and energy to prove that rationally. It's much easier for someone to be told by parents or authority figures and have them believe it without proof. It saves energy, it saves time, and it enhances survival. Therefore, it is a trait that evolution has favored.

But like so many other evolutionary traits, there are drawbacks. This feature that allows human beings to believe without proof is also what breeds irrational thinking such as stereotypes, racism, and religious dogma. It is further encouraged when the capacity for human beings to know is limited. For much of human history, people didn't know what the stars were, how life began, or why things happened the way they did. That need to know is another vital survival skill because without in depth knowledge of their surroundings, people falter and become vulnerable. Beliefs, whether they are about conspiracy theories or religion, are convenient explanations. They save people the time and energy from actually investigating themselves. It's vital since not everybody has the resources to investigate. Not everyone can go down to Ground Zero and analyze the wreckage to verify the claims of the 9/11 Truthers. Not everyone can go to Hawaii either and verify Barack Obama's birth certificate. Belief is the only option and it is very convenient and often makes people feel better because it makes them feel like they know something.

It is how religion and superstition propogate. It is how conspiracy theories keep going even when they've been debunked. People cling to belief because it's easier. It's convenient. And it makes them feel good. It also saves them from the anxious feelings they get when they say to themselves "I don't know." It is a part of human nature and one that can only be countered with solid reason. Society has changed so much since the days of the Stone Age, yet people still cling to mythology from the Bronze Age and mythology of the modern era. They may believe they are right and thus vindicated, but the hard truth is that reality is never as ideal as people want it to be. The world isn't fair and it isn't always as magical as people would like it to be. Belief is fine, but pushing belief as truth is not. In a free society, claims can only stand on the merits that support them. And belief, while convenient and comforting, is not enough.

It's remarkable how often religious zealots play the victim. And who could blame them? It's easy to play the victim. It saves people the trouble of actually having to defend their position with rational arguments. Whenever some other group comes along, secular or religious, and says something they don't like, they rush to classify it as an issue of religious bigotry. As if any opposing viewpoint or differing opinion is somehow an insult to their way of thinking. It isn't just irrational. It's downright childish.

But that doesn't stop men like Ken Conner from writing articles that accuse scientists of all people of religious bigotry.

Science Theists Need Not Apply

The cores of Conner's article centers around Dr. Francis Collins, who President Obama picked to head the National Institutes of Health. Collins is a controversial figure because he's not just a scientist, he's a devout evangelical Christian who often tries to integrate his work as a scientist with his beliefs as a Christian. He's written various books such as "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief." He was also featured in the movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" which presented a dubious case that the scientific community was anti-god and anti-Christian.

This notion is not only completely false, it's rediculous. Collins isn't criticized for his religious beliefs. Nor is he criticized for his work. He is a target because he is violating one of the most important aspects of science. He is trying to thrust the supernatural world of god, satan, angels, and miracles into the strictly rational process that is science. It is a major fallacy that any rational minded scientist is quick to point out. It's called 'violation of the philosophy of science.' It is a tenant as old as science itself. One cannot appeal to the supernatural or the spiritual when making a scientific claim. That is because science is inherently rational. It requires evidence, testable hyopothesis, and logic to prove points. To put any kind of god into the mix be it the Christian god or the Aztec god is to negate the very tenants of what makes science work.

Conner doesn't understand this and neither does Collins. They rely on emotional appeals that pain the scientists as cold, uncaring, and prejudice. They will gladly point out that some of the greatest minds of all time like Plato, Aristotle, and Newton were all devout believers. This is true, but never at any point did these men use the supernatural in their work. They never appealed to god or spirits of any kind to present justification for their claims. In science, one's personal beliefs are completely irrelevant. It does not matter of a scientist is a devout believer in god or is a worshipper of the sun. What matters is the claims they make and the evidence they use to back it up. It is the evidence that trumps personal beliefs. It doesn't matter where it came from or who it came from. If it can be verified and vindicated, it is worth just as much as any work from a devout believer.

Conner will also argue without god, science lacks ethics. But this is a completely false assumption. It assumes people need god to make good moral decisions. This is a complete misnomer considering people have had god for years and used it to justify violence, prejudice, racisim, slavery, murder, and genocide. Conner and Collins try and make it seem as though without religion, science is somehow evil. But science is not evil. It can't be evil. Only people can be evil. Science by it's own definition is objective and unbias. It is the human beings who use it.

When it comes to the debate between religion and science, the issue is clear. Science is inherently rational and based on evidence, logic, and reason. Religion is inherently irrational and based on faith, superstition, and the supernatural. One cannot be used in the context of the other without destroying the premise of the other. Men like Conner and Collins are destroying their credibility by trying to have their cake and eat it to. There's nothing bioted, prejudice, or bias about it. It's irrational, illogical, and flat out wrong. Plain and simple.

The article was wrong then and now, a generation later, it is even more off the mark.

The vast majority of women who want to marry actually do, although they're no longer in a rush to do it. Does that mean women and men are less interested in marriage than in the past?

No! Americans love marriage compared to people in other industrialized countries. While Americans get hitched at a rate of 7.5 per every 1,000 inhabitants in a given year, the French and Germans marry at a rate of 4.5 to 4.9 per 1,000, Swedes 4.0 to 4.4, Belgians 2.8 to 3.9.

Yet as American sex lives have changed, not coincidentally, calls to “save marriage” have grown. That seems to indicate some confusion about the purpose of marriage and the role of sex within it.

Like the old Newsweek article, some traditionalists fret that Americans are falling out of the marriage habit. “Marriage has fallen by the wayside,” declares the National Marriage Project in its most recent report from 2007. The Project, a research organization based at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., blames “secular individualism” and tolerance of “alternative lifestyles” for marriage's perceived unfashionable status.

While such statements seem to fly in the face of the recent government data, the Project bases them on the divorce rate (about 45 percent of all marriages), the number of adults who are not married (roughly 50 percent of people older than age 18 are unmarried at any one time because of divorce, a spousal death, or by choice) and relaxed attitudes toward phenomena like out-of-wedlock births and cohabitation. It argues that “the institution of marriage needs to be promoted by all levels of society, particularly the families, the schools, the churches, the non-profit sector, and the government.”