Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

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God hates Mars

by Bad Astronomy - Phil Plait

Reposted from:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/06/25/god-hates-mars/

God hates Mars

I sometimes wonder just how messed up some people's logic can be.

The answer, in many cases, is none. None more messed up.

I present to you one Rob Hood, commentator on The Conservative Voice. He has written a remarkably logic-free screed saying that the Mars Phoenix Lander is a waste of taxpayer's money. Why?

Because searching for conditions supporting life on Mars is silly. We already know where life came from. Can you guess? Bueller? Bueller?

Mars is a desert planet and perhaps there is ice and maybe even water there. So what? Who cares? It's water! That doesn't mean a thing. Life originated on Earth when God spoke it into existence and there is no need in wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money searching for an answer that is based upon faulty evolutionary ideas.

Ignoring the fact that we've known about water ice on Mars for decades, and that Phoenix didn't cost billions, and that lots of people care about exploring the real universe around us, and that evolution is a fact, there is still a pretty big hole in his logic.

Applying his (heh) reasoning, I guess there's no reason for, say, research into malaria. If God created it, why cure it? It's part of God's plan. Same goes with cancer, smallpox, lupus, Down's syndrome, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, glaucoma, pertussis, and oh, say, one million other ailments. After all, as he points out in the case of astrobiology, all our medical research — all of it — is based on "faulty evolutionary ideas".

Not to mention trying to predict earthquakes, or tornadoes, or floods, or hurricanes, or meteor impacts, or solar flares, or heat waves, or ice storms, and thus potentially saving millions of lives. After all, this science is based on the same principles that show that the Earth is older than 6000 years, and that clearly can't be correct, right?

What's funny is that he actually contradicts himself here in his own essay:

The same billions of dollars that goes into these hopeless projects to look for water on Mars or other places could be better spent. We people of Earth need new bridges, new highways, new dams. We could use the money to feed people, fight disease, rebuild our infrastructure, research cancer (ethically, of course), and to help those who have little or no clothing, shelter, food, etc.

Ignoring this same tired false dichotomy trotted out by everyone who doesn't understand anything about space exploration, I find it very funny that he uses God to deny funding to us understanding the Universe, but then invokes God to fund what is essentially the very same thing.

Sorry, dude. You don't get to pick and choose what aspects of science you're willing to believe in and what you're not. Reality is a package deal. If we can use science to develop the engineering to build dams, to develop the medical knowledge to cure cancer, and to develop the agricultural methods necessary to feed the hungry, then we also have to acknowledge that science works.

It does. So you may wail and rant about reality-based scientists exploring Mars all you want, but you'll be wrong. And while Phoenix buries its scoop into the Martian sand, you keep right on burying your own head in the sand here on Earth. I myself, and millions of others, prefer to look upward and outward.

Tip o' the Phoenix TEGA to BABloggee dehbeaver0.

Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | Permalink

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1. Comment #199388 by Nova on June 25, 2008 at 4:51 pm

Rob Hood:

research cancer (ethically, of course)

Because, of course, researching treatment for cancer is known to be an activity often practiced by villains...

Other Comments by Nova

2. Comment #199392 by acs on June 25, 2008 at 5:02 pm

An creationist shitting on science and then asking for all of its wonders - never.

Thats the problem with faith: as soon as you are convinced that God exists there is no need to search the universe.

I regularily debate with a chapter of local baptists. I asked the preacher (a kid of about 20), if there is a God then how did he make the universe. He turned to me with a quizical look and asked why it was necessary to know that - "Does it really matter?". Well, I guess it doesnt if you believe.

Other Comments by acs

3. Comment #199395 by SPS on June 25, 2008 at 5:14 pm

...no need in wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money...

Oh, that's right. How will the greed-mongers get it then? Next they'll want to waste our money on something silly like healthcare.

Why bother exploring when everything can conveniently be thrown in the god-box?

Other Comments by SPS

4. Comment #199398 by wengerj on June 25, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Don't these jerk-offs understand that the tchnology we use to do things like send rovers to mars, men to the moon, etc, has also been used to help us here at home. For example, certain silicon chips (used to convert light into digital/elcetronic images)invented for use on the Hubble Space Telescope are now used to detect breast cancer?

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/at_home/hospital2.html

These people are completely myopic.

Other Comments by wengerj

5. Comment #199399 by Double Bass Atheist on June 25, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Great article!
Ya gotta love 'badastronomy.com'!

There is a recent comment thread in our Forum called "What is the christian perspective on space travel?" Here is a link to it:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=48230

Some interesting opinion in there... and that was before this story here on the main page.
Check it out.

I'm going to link this article in that thread as well.

Other Comments by Double Bass Atheist

6. Comment #199401 by Border Collie on June 25, 2008 at 5:35 pm

I can't tell you how many people I know who hold these same idiotic "ideas". They are generally right-wing, church-going, ultra-conservative types who want tax money to only go for things that benefit them immediately, directly. And, they want only other people to pay those taxes. They absolutely don't want to pay any taxes themselves. Screw 'em. I like the space program.

Other Comments by Border Collie

7. Comment #199403 by LaTomate on June 25, 2008 at 5:38 pm

From the original article:

I am not calling for socialism, but helping people in real need is money better spent. I would rather give people in Africa fresh water, than find fresh water on a desolate planet that offers us nothing in return but wasted time, resources, and money.

Oh but people like him never selflessly give anything to Africans or anyone else for that matter. When they give anything it's in the hope of enticing people to convert to their stupidity.

Other Comments by LaTomate

8. Comment #199406 by Border Collie on June 25, 2008 at 5:52 pm

Didn't catch the name of the series that I caught a piece of last night on Discovery about the US space program. One of the astronauts said while the credits were running ... "We went to the moon nine times! Why would we fake it nine times?!" I entered part of that quote on Google. All I got was page after page of 'we didn't go to the moon' conspiracy crap. Sometimes I simply can't believe how damned stupid people are. We didn't go to the moon, there is no global warming, evolution is a lie, God and or Satan put those fossils in/on the Earth to test our faith, etc., ad nauseum ... I'm gonna take an aspirin ... There are many things that taxpayer money is wasted on ... the space program is not one of them ...

Other Comments by Border Collie

9. Comment #199409 by MaxD on June 25, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Nova,
Regarding your comment 1.
I submit villains searching for cures to various diseases or otherwise fighting such things.
Mr. Freeze wife has some disease (very cancer-like)
The Sandman steals to fund daughter's cancer treatments
Magneto often used any means necessary to combat mutant prejudice (okay not officially recognized as more than a senseless bigotry, but still villain fighting the good fight)

Those are all I can think of off the top of my head.

Other Comments by MaxD

10. Comment #199411 by mmurray on June 25, 2008 at 6:05 pm

research cancer (ethically, of course),

Presumably this is code for not using embryonic stem cells ?

Michael

Other Comments by mmurray

11. Comment #199412 by markg on June 25, 2008 at 6:07 pm

{edit} continuing form MaxD's post...
According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman Batman is a philanthropist. Surely he has given charitably to fund some sort of medical research.

Other Comments by markg

12. Comment #199413 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Dog hates Mars Bars ? What a fucking philistine

Other Comments by 8teist

13. Comment #199417 by Enlightenme.. on June 25, 2008 at 6:21 pm

This excerpt is rather telling;

"I have four year old kids in my church that could tell you where life originated. If people would bother to accept the fact that everything in existence is created by an omnipotent God then, we would not need to waste money searching for an answer that even small children already know."

Give us the kid for its first seven years, and we'll give you back the braindead goat - sick fucks.
(God hates commas too - they have to wait until after a then)

Other Comments by Enlightenme..

14. Comment #199420 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Snickers are better than Mars Bars.

Other Comments by TeraBrat

15. Comment #199421 by Styrer- on June 25, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Nice to read.

Makes me wonder what wonders of literary excellence Richard might reach if he negotiated his way linguistically through a particularly tricky bit of evolutionary theory only to gift us a 'sorry, dude', before giving us the real deal.

I for one would buy any book containing such, and encourage all my colleagues thereafter to grab as soon as possible one containing a '(heh)' before Lalla's informing such an adventurous author that he was bringing her into disrepute and that book pulping must follow...

What a book that might have been...

Ah well.

Best,
Styrer

Other Comments by Styrer-

16. Comment #199422 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Tera, you are spoiling for a fight, back up your claims with irrefutable evidence ...

snickers are to mars...as scientology is to atheism

Other Comments by 8teist

17. Comment #199426 by Cartomancer on June 25, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Am I the only one who has noticed that this guy is called Rob Hood and he makes the suggestion that money be taken from those who have it and then given to those who do not? I wonder if Friar Tuck, Maid Marian and Little John are going to issue a press release denying any links to The Conservative Voice?

Actually, he's really an intellectual Robin Hood in reverse. He takes ideas from those who can't think of any decent ones (the religious community) and then tries to force those with an abundance of good ideas (the sensible community) to accept them.

Where is that blasted Sheriff of Nottingham when you need him?

Other Comments by Cartomancer

18. Comment #199428 by noodly_noodleson on June 25, 2008 at 6:41 pm

'Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling how it ends. I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!' -- Ned Flanders

Other Comments by noodly_noodleson

19. Comment #199429 by Enlightenme.. on June 25, 2008 at 6:42 pm

^Mars bars always were a hideously sweet glutinous mess that I regretted buying after the first mouthful, a marathon had nuts in.
It was a chocolate bar with balls, a true classic to rival curlywurlys (the old proper-sized ones), and that stuff that crackled on your tongue, wash down with a nice coke, and a couple of years doing coke to remove remaining teeth.

Other Comments by Enlightenme..

20. Comment #199431 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 6:49 pm

Is that a bar in your pocket........Brian???

Other Comments by 8teist

21. Comment #199432 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 6:49 pm

The best candybar is an Egozi. I really miss them.

Mars bars always were a hideously sweet glutinous mess that I regretted buying after the first mouthful

Yup!!!!

CaNdy FighT!!!!!!!!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. Comment #199431 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 6:49 pm

Is that a bar in your pocket....

No he's just happy to see me.

Other Comments by TeraBrat

22. Comment #199433 by Cartomancer on June 25, 2008 at 6:50 pm

Frisking the merry men I believe...

Politicians get all the fun don't they...

Other Comments by Cartomancer

23. Comment #199434 by SPS on June 25, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Mars addict lives on chocolate for 17 years

Other Comments by SPS

24. Comment #199435 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Can you deep fry a snickers ?.....No, I rest my case . Thank you and good day

Other Comments by 8teist

25. Comment #199436 by Cartomancer on June 25, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Oh, and while we're on the subject the simple old 15p Cadbury's Fudge (the one in the red wrapper) is easily the best chocolate bar in the world. You can hardly find them these days, but there's nothing better. And that includes Milky Ways and the king-sized Twix. So there.

Other Comments by Cartomancer

26. Comment #199437 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Exactly!

You can't deep fry a Snickers, that makes them the ultimate!!!!!

I'm starting a new reiligion. From now on we all pray to *Snickers* (pun intended).

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I guess your case was tired.

Other Comments by TeraBrat

27. Comment #199439 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 7:02 pm

I need proof that your snickers exist.

snickers did it , does not cut it.
but then again has snickers got a talking snake? you MIGHT be able to convince me if snickers has a jelly snake that speaks

Other Comments by 8teist

28. Comment #199440 by Goldy on June 25, 2008 at 7:06 pm

Snickers? Pah! Marathon bars they were and Marathon bars they shall remain!
Deep fried Mars Bars, invented, apparently, in Stonehaven. Actually, the chippy there would deep fry anything - pies, pizza, you name it.
"Snickers"....aaah, how the young are easily misled! How whitewash is applied to history!

Other Comments by Goldy

29. Comment #199444 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 7:10 pm

So what happened to marathon bars? I've never had one.

8teisssssssssst.
Of coursssssse sssssssssnickerssssssssss hassssssss a talking ssssssssssnake...

You have to really BELIEVE in Snickers to hear it talk ;-)

Other Comments by TeraBrat

30. Comment #199445 by Enlightenme.. on June 25, 2008 at 7:11 pm

Fudgepa..
er no.
I'm not s'posed to say that..am I

Other Comments by Enlightenme..

31. Comment #199448 by Frankus1122 on June 25, 2008 at 7:18 pm

Snickers really satisfies.

Happy peanuts soar
Over chocolate covered mountain tops
And waterfalls of caramel
Prancing nougat in the meadows
Sings a song of satisfaction to the world.

The world.

Other Comments by Frankus1122

32. Comment #199449 by Nentuaby on June 25, 2008 at 7:18 pm

Damn straight you can deep fry a Snickers. It is GLORIOUS.

Other Comments by Nentuaby

33. Comment #199450 by Styrer- on June 25, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Comment #199426 by Cartomancer on June 25, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Am I the only one who has noticed that this guy called Cartomancer takes articles such as these and extracts from them a meaning and a richness never before revealed, before yielding, on metaphorical horseback, such findings to us poor and lowly lot for consideration?

Or is he in fact returning, silently and heroically, horse silenced, to those very articles themselves all of the very rich ideas that we poor betrodden should have been able to come the fuck up with by ourselves...?

That bloody Sheriff just got right up my arse!

Anyway - Carto - you should write for a living, you ingenious bugger. I'll be first in line to buy.

Best,
Styrer

Other Comments by Styrer-

34. Comment #199457 by Goldy on June 25, 2008 at 7:37 pm

So what happened to marathon bars? I've never had one.

See? Just as the Abrahamic religion has subsumed all the old European religions and left us with some half forgotten snippets of the old days, the Snickerites assume the Marathon bar has always been called Snickers.
You have had a Marathon Bar TB - for some reason, unknown to us Brits, Johhny Foreigner could not pronounce "Marathon" so we had to change over to Snickers. I have never allowed my mind to forget the True Name!

Other Comments by Goldy

35. Comment #199460 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 7:44 pm

I still say that the best candy bar EVER is an egozi.

http://www.israeliwishes.com/browseproducts/Egozi-Bar.HTML

That does not do it any justice at all. You have to have one to appreciate it.

Other Comments by TeraBrat

36. Comment #199462 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 7:49 pm

The egozi is a pale immitation of a chocolate bar, it is a pseudobar a veritable antichocolate bar.

you, Tera, have brought a pointed stick to a gun fight.

Other Comments by 8teist

37. Comment #199463 by Sciros on June 25, 2008 at 7:52 pm

This article has a Spinal Tap reference, which is automatically an epic win. However, it also has a Ben Stein reference, and since Ben Stein is apparently a total retard and douche the article drops down to "normal" for me. :-(

Batman is a philanthropist, yeah. But I'll tell you who isn't -- Superman! That SOB won't use his super-speed and super-intellect to help Waynetech develop cancer cures and all sorts of other goodies. WTF! Constantly worried about nonsense like himself going evil or Batman "monitoring everyone" with spy satellites and what-have-you. I'm ranting.

The best candy bars are Twix. The only candy with the cookie crunch. And yes, the vending machines at work frequently refuse to dispense them for unknown reasons (they're there, I've deposited enough money, but instead of giving me Twix they beep and say 'make another selection').

Other Comments by Sciros

38. Comment #199466 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Sciros, you had me until you mentioned twix.
Twix is a biscuit , a sad wannabe chocolate bar.....................fuck i`m bored

Other Comments by 8teist

39. Comment #199467 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 7:56 pm

The egozi is a pale immitation of a chocolate bar, it is a pseudobar a veritable antichocolate bar.

Ummm, it's a candy bar...

Other Comments by TeraBrat

40. Comment #199468 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 7:58 pm

Yeah , whatever

Other Comments by 8teist

41. Comment #199469 by Sciros on June 25, 2008 at 8:01 pm

Actually, 8teist, I take back what I said about Twix being the best. My favorite is actually Butterfinger (you probably like that even less... although if you're British you may have never tried it... I don't remember seeing them in Sainsbury's or M&S). Anyway, Butterfingers rule because they're not like other bars but they're still good.

Other Comments by Sciros

42. Comment #199472 by MaxD on June 25, 2008 at 8:08 pm

I'm a bit surprised the Zagnut has not been mentioned. That was an odd candy bar that I am sure any self-respecting god would hate.

Other Comments by MaxD

43. Comment #199473 by TeraBrat on June 25, 2008 at 8:10 pm

If you want to make a fortune come up with a "Bible Bar" and tell people that if they don't eat one at every meal they are going to hell.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yawn! Bed time. Goodnight everyone.

Other Comments by TeraBrat

44. Comment #199476 by Frankus1122 on June 25, 2008 at 8:15 pm

My wife went into a corner store to get a chocolate bar and asked if I wanted one.
Sure.
What do you want?
Oh, anything.
She bought me an Eatmore. A fucking Eatmore.
It is not a chocolate bar.
It is a piece of shit with peanuts in it, flattened out to fit in a candy bar wrapper.
Snickers is the best.
Twix is good too.
Zero is a great chocolate bar.

Other Comments by Frankus1122

45. Comment #199480 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 8:19 pm

Dog,.......so many HERETICS on this blog

Other Comments by 8teist

46. Comment #199483 by sent2null on June 25, 2008 at 8:22 pm

If only the analysis being done on that ice would reveal some form of alien microbial life to have this idiot eat his words straight.

Of course even if it did happen tomorrow "Nasa confirms life on Mars!"

this guy would claim we put it on Mars or that it traveled there from Earth. If you believe in an infinitely powerful cosmic puppet master that knows all, then anything else is easy to believe in by comparison.

Other Comments by sent2null

47. Comment #199486 by SPS on June 25, 2008 at 8:25 pm

sent2null,

Yes, but what are your thoughts on candy?

The Skor bar is highly underrated, and is a good use of taxpayer money.

Other Comments by SPS

48. Comment #199490 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 8:36 pm

WHAT.........the fuck is a pollywaffle?

Other Comments by 8teist

49. Comment #199495 by 8teist on June 25, 2008 at 8:50 pm

I want one.......................NOW

I feel a tantrum coming on......

Other Comments by 8teist

50. Comment #199496 by MelM on June 25, 2008 at 8:53 pm

CRACKPOT--a good term for the holy men.

From Merriam Webster online:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crackpot