Dr. Benjamin Carson: neurosurgeon and twit

Seriously, this guy is as dumb as a stump. He's a neurosurgeon and a Seventh Day Adventist and a young-Earth creationist. The full "Duh". Today, Jerry Coyne blogs about the fact that Carson was asked to give a commencement address at a Texas university, where many attendees walked out. Good for them.

I'd like to reprint a few of Carson's answers to questions, so we can laugh at him. For instance, he was asked about the "consequences" of believing in evolution. This is his response:

By believing we are the product of random acts, we eliminate morality and the basis of ethical behavior. For if there is no such thing as moral authority, you can do anything you want. You make everything relative, and there’s no reason for any of our higher values.

I just shake my head when people talk like this. It doesn't make any sense to suggest that if an authoritarian god didn't create us, then we can't know right from wrong. Duh. There's no connection between these two concepts. None at all. And then he throws in this idea of the loss of "higher values". Like going to church? And wasting our lives thinking about a nonexistent sky god? And feeling guilty all the time? And hating gays and women? Big losses, fella. Do go on.

Dr. Carson closed the interview with this:

Can you prove evolution? No. Can you prove creation? No. Can you use the intellect God has given you to decide whether something is logical or illogical? Yes, absolutely. It all comes down to “faith”–and I don’t have enough to believe in evolution. I’m too logical!

Yes, indeed. He's just too darned logical. I can't believe anyone lets this guy operate on their brain. And he's actually invited to give commencement addresses. Jeebus! Ah well, it's Texas. They can't help themselves down there.

As always, hat tip to Jerry. I love that he brings these things to my attention. No one else covers religious lunacy as thoroughly. Gods, my ass!

Bishop lacks sense of morality

The leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, Mass., has been arrested on drunken driving charges in Rhode Island.

Police say Bishop Robert McManus was arrested Saturday night after a hit-and-run accident in Narragansett, R.I. 

What are you gonna do? The bible doesn't say anything about hit-and-runs while driving drunk -- so it must be okay. I guess that's why this bishop didn't stay behind after hitting someone with his car. The story says they found him at his "vacation house". 

Roman Catholicism has nothing to do with morality. Absolutely nothing. This should be obvious to everyone by now.

The tragic fall of a church

I was amused to read this today:

Documents from a clergy-abuse trial show Catholic church officials ignored complaints a Philadelphia priest had molested two boys until they heard he was also running a travel business — and competing with a big donor.

Craven. All of them. Absolutely craven.

Popey guy caught with dress up, again

Evil popey guy.

There's a story today in the NYT about the Vatican's response to the Irish prime minister's scathing accusations against the popey guy's crime headquarters in Rome. I found it hard to believe what I was reading. There's obviously no distinction between right and wrong in the Roman Catholic church. (For background, I wrote about this story here and here.)

Here's the part that amazed me:

The Vatican response noted that at the time, in the mid-1990s, there was no law in Ireland requiring professionals to report suspected abuse to police and that the issue was a matter of intense debate politically. In fact, Ireland has never had a law explicitly making the failure to report suspected child abuse a crime, but is planning to draft one now in the wake of the Cloyne report.

"Given that the Irish government of the day decided not to legislate on the matter, it is difficult to see how (the Vatican's) letter to the Irish bishops, which was issued subsequently, could possibly be construed as having somehow subverted Irish law or undermined the Irish state in its efforts to deal with the problem in question," the Vatican said.

Can you believe that? It's the sort of nonsense lawyers trot out as a distraction during a trial. On the world's most pompous stage, the popey guy's stooges ignore the immorality at the core of this situation and focus instead on an absence of legislation! The abuse doesn't matter to the Vatican; failure to report the abuse to the police doesn't matter; all that matters is that the Vatican can point to a lack of legislation on the matter in Ireland -- and skitter away to the shadows, unscathed. I could not believe my eyes when I read this. It's a total abdication of any moral stance -- which is fitting when you consider the source.

So the popey guy once again throws up his dress and moons the world's sense of morality. Welcome to today's Roman Catholic church.

Racist principal at Bronx Catholic HS?

Apparently that's exactly what this guy is. Here's an excerpt from an article at the New York Daily News site today:

A firebrand educator with ties to a white supremacist group is running a Bronx Catholic school where most of the students are black and Latino, the Daily News has learned.

It goes on to say:

In 2004, Borzellieri wrote the book "Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies," in which he declares "diversity is a weakness" and says the rising black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to the "New Dark Age."

He has also written frequently for the white supremacist publication American Renaissance, with which he is still "intimately involved," the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center says.

And of course, the dimwitted Roman Catholic priest angle comes into the story:

Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, said he knew of Borzellieri's views, but didn't "see any cause for concern" when he hired him to run the 200-student elementary school.

Of course not. What possible problem could arise from putting a white supremacist in charge of a largely minority school body? So he appoints Borzellieri principal and the guy goes on to ban books about other races and minorities, including a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. He also fired an openly gay teacher and instituted a policy whereby discussion of homosexuality is banned from the classroom.

Shucks, he's just a good ol' boy. I'm sure the Nazi pope would approve. No problema. Meanwhile, this lunatic is still the principal.

PS (in case you didn't notice): This is what happens when you substitute religious "rules" for actual, you know, morality. The Roman Catholic church has no moral center. None.