Should We Always Believe Women Alleging Sexual Assault? No. The Allegation Against Joe Biden is Proof Why.

If you are a regular follower of this blog you will remember the furor that erupted here when I questioned the fairness of the treatment of Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Democratic senators in his confirmation hearing.   The issue:  The sudden, and seemingly out of nowhere, allegation of sexual assault from his days in high school.  I was disturbed by the Democrats rush to “hang” the man based on very little evidence.

In this country, at least in our lifetimes, we convict people based on evidence not based on the hysteria of the lynch mob.  Yet, after expressing this view in a post, I was attacked by several female readers for not accepting the word of the woman accuser.  “Always Believe the Woman” was the outcry.

So I am stunned by the near total silence of Democratic women—in particular the silence of the Democratic women senators who mercilessly skewered conservative Republican Brett Kavanaugh—on the recent allegation of sexual assault against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.

Not a single one of these female Democratic senators are calling for Joe Biden to end his campaign for president due to this allegation.

What happened to “Always Believe the Woman”??

Why the double standard?

(FYI:  I do not believe that the woman accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault is credible.  She is a fervent Bernie Sanders supporter, for one.  She is also an adoring admirer of Vladimir Putin—is she a Russian “asset”?  But most importantly, her story has changed repeatedly.  Check out this excellent article by an experienced sexual violence prosecutor, here.)

I believe the answer is simple:  Politics!

And that should be a wake up call for every fair-minded, law and justice loving Democrat/liberal who jumped on the bandwagon to keep Brett Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court based on similar weak, questionable evidence!  You reap what you sow!

In such a serious matter, do not follow your emotions and your biases, folks. Look at the evidence!  Justice must be equal and fair, regardless of the accused’s political party and regardless of the accused’s gender!

Absolutely, every woman who alleges she has been sexually assaulted should be heard.  Absolutely, her accusations should always be taken seriously and fully investigated.  But should we automatically believe her to the point that we destroy another human being’s reputation and career, or worse, convict him and put him in jail, based on her word alone?  No way!  That is not the American way.  That is not justice.

Every man and every woman in this country is innocent until proven guilty.  Period.  Let the evidence convict and punish the guilty, not the howls of the lynch mob.

 

 

 

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It Isn’t Just Christian Fundamentalists Who Believe that God has Given Them Magical Protection from the Coronavirus

Christian fundamentalists are not the only ones behaving irrationally during this pandemic.  (See the link below.)  I personally believe that all fundamentalist forms of religion are dangerous, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu.  The link below illustrates why:

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/hasidic-jews-coronavirus-guidelines-210413284.html

 

 

 

 

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During this Depressing Time, Here is Something to Make You Smile. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

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From What Source does Bart Ehrman Believe that People Should Obtain their Morality?

From a conversation on Bart Ehrman’s blog:  here

Gary: Dear Dr. Ehrman, the Bible has been the cause of massive persecution, suffering, and mass murder. It may contain some fascinating stories and even a few pearls of wisdom, but for a recovering ex-fundamentalist Christian like yourself to say that he “cherishes the Bible” is disturbing to say the least. I see no difference between someone “cherishing” the Bible and someone cherishing Mein Kampf. Both books preach hate. Both books preach fanaticism (follow me and abandon all else, even your family), anti-Semitism (New Testament), racial purity and ethnic cleansing (Old Testament).  Please choose your words carefully, Dr. Ehrman. Every time you say something like this, my Christian relatives and their pastor proclaim that “Bart Ehrman is coming back to Jesus”.

…During this terrifying health crisis, I would encourage people seeking wisdom to read a good science book. I believe that the primary reason why a significant minority of Americans are out on the streets protesting the advice of scientists and medical experts regarding quarantining is that they have spent much more time obtaining their wisdom from the Bible than they have science books.  Cherish science, dear readers. Science is our salvation from this crisis, not ancient texts.

Bart Ehrman:  I certainly wouldn’t turn to a biblical author for guidance for a vaccine! But our amazing scientific advances do not help us in trying to make moral *sense* of what is happening.

Gary:  Are you seriously recommending that people turn to the Bible to make moral sense of the coronavirus pandemic??  My goodness, Bart. In normal times, the Bible is certainly an interesting source of information regarding ancient Jewish philosophical concepts. I don’t dispute that. But encouraging your readers to obtain morality lessons from the misogynistic, anti-gay, anti-semitic, genocide and ethnic cleansing endorsing Bible during a deadly pandemic?? Come on. 

If you want to give recommendations regarding good sources of information regarding morality, I would suggest referring your readers to a secular humanist site, not the Christian Bible (or the Jewish Bible, or the Muslim “bible”, or the Hindu “bible”).

Your opinion carries a lot of weight, Bart. Whether you like it or not you are a significant representative of the atheist/agnostic/non-supernaturalist movement, a movement which is fighting an uphill battle against the deadly beliefs and superstitions imposed on our culture by organized religion.  Please do NOT encourage people to read the Bible to find their morality!

 

 

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During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Look to Science for Salvation, Not Jesus

During this terrifying health crisis, I would encourage people seeking wisdom and comfort to read a good science book. I believe that the primary reason why a significant minority of Americans are protesting (some of them in the streets) the advice of scientists and medical experts regarding quarantining is that they have spent much more time obtaining their wisdom and reassurance from the Bible than they have science books.

Cherish science, dear readers. Science is our salvation from this crisis, not ancient texts, and definitely not Jesus.  (Jesus is dead.  He can’t help you.)

 

 

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Bart Ehrman Says He Cherishes the Bible. Mistake?

Ethnic cleansing in the Bible (I Samuel 15)

 

Bart Ehrman, agnostic NT scholar, ex-fundamentalist Christian:

The Bible is obviously a large and extraordinarily multi-faceted book.  It is a book worth reading and reflecting on, whether or not one is personally a believer.  I myself am not, but I cherish the Bible and am deeply moved by parts of it.  And no part of it is more important in situations like this than those that reflect on the meaning of life.   In particular there are the books in the Hebrew Bible that scholars have called “Wisdom” literature, the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, the last of which is my favorite, not just of the Wisdom books but of all the books of the Old Testament.

Source:  here

Gary, atheist counter-apologist, ex-fundamentalist Christian:

The Bible has been the cause of massive persecution, suffering, and mass murder. It may contain some fascinating stories and even a few pearls of wisdom, but for a recovering ex-fundamentalist Christian like yourself to say that he “cherishes it” is disturbing to say the least.

I see no difference between someone “cherishing” the Bible and someone cherishing Mein Kampf. Both books preach hate. Both books preach fanaticism (follow me and abandon all else, even your family), sectarianism and elitism (“the chosen ones”, “the righteous”, the Aryans), anti-Semitism (New Testament), racial purity and ethnic cleansing (Old Testament), both concepts found or implied in Mein Kampf, of course.

Please choose your words carefully, Dr. Ehrman. Every time you say something like this, my Christian relatives and their pastor proclaim that “Bart Ehrman is coming back to Jesus”.

 

 

 

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Best Method to Eliminate Stupidity in the United States

It is very distressing to me to see such a large percentage of the American public supporting the idiotic policies of our current president in this time of crisis.  If the leader of any other industrialized nation behaved in the manner as our current president (promoting unproven drug treatments, disputing and attempting to shut down the views of medical experts during a deadly pandemic, etc.) he would very probably be removed from office or his government would fall and new elections would be called.

So why do so many conservative Americans trust the medical advice of a shady New York businessman and his underlings over and above nationally recognized and respected medical experts and scientists?  I believe it is because a significant percentage of people in this country are taught by their religious leaders that “the wisdom of the world” is foolish and therefore dangerous.  Experts in science (and therefore, medicine) are distrusted and even mocked.  Higher education (other than Bible college) is frowned upon as “evil”.

How can we change this?

Answer:  Offer a free public university education to the children of all born-again Christians!

I’m serious.  A public university education exposes you to the worldviews of other cultures, religions, and political views.  It expands your mind.  It pulls young people out of the bubble created by their parents and their parents’ particular social circle; a bubble which isolates most young people from opposing views and inhibits them from challenging the rationality of the views inherited from their parents.

I therefore strongly support a free public university education for all Americans, but in particular, for the children of fundamentalist Christians (and fundamentalist Muslims, fundamentalist Jews, fundamentalist Hindus, etc.).  I would also make private religious schools for children under 18 illegal.  All American children under the age of 18 should attend a public school.  Public schools are the primary “mixer” to the melting pot that is the United States.  If someone wants to go to a religious college after they graduate from high school, no problem.  It’s a free country.  Knock yourself out.  But no public financing for your religious education (indoctrination).

 

 

 

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