And is threatened with a lawsuit paid for by the falsely named “Liberty” Institute, a Christian right-wing cabal.<\/p>\n
Got this story from Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True: Purdue University rejects \u201cGod\u201d language on donor\u2019s plaque \u00ab Why Evolution Is True<\/a>. It’s yet another nonsensical battle in the “Christians are being persecuted in the U.S. of A.” meme.<\/p>\n And finally I found a definition for this over-used term that all of a sudden popped up a couple of years ago. Meme<\/em>, as defined in the Urban Dictionary:<\/p>\n 1 : an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media) <\/em><\/p>\n 2 : a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I bolded the definition that makes sense to me. “Parasitic code.” Yeah.<\/p>\n And re the Purdue situation, this thing reads as a Christian set-up. That is, the “donor” donated knowing that Purdue would reject his language on the plaque and having already linked up to Liberty Institute (or more likely Liberty Institute found the “donor” and instigated the whole thing), had a very powerful, very expensive law firm, Covington & Burling, ready to threaten a lawsuit. Paid for by Liberty Institute.<\/p>\n Ugh, ich, yuch.<\/p>\n UPDATE: Just to keep everyone fully informed on what solid Christians are up to, the Times hath given us An Argument to Turn to Jesus Before the Bar – NYTimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seems that evangelical Christians who want to sue (and as the NYT article notes Americans do<\/em> like to sue) go to the literal gospels (Matthew’s was cited) and their<\/em> procedures before going to court. Truly. Verily. Yea.<\/p>\n Proof that these people desire to live not, as many of us suspected, in the 19th Century but in the 1st Century.<\/p>\n Unfortunate 3\/9\/14 UPDATE<\/strong>: Purdue wusses out on God plaque \u00ab Why Evolution Is True<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And is threatened with a lawsuit paid for by the falsely named “Liberty” Institute, a Christian right-wing cabal. Got this story from Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True: Purdue University rejects \u201cGod\u201d language on donor\u2019s plaque \u00ab Why Evolution Is … Continue reading