Devolution in America
February 28, 2008 > MAUI TODAY, Maui Curmudgeon No Comments |
|
Public Sleeping Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Mo’olelo: Myth PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Lotu: Religion HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “One hand points upward, the other gropes downward.“ WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — EvolveFish.com WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — Screen Cleaner PODCAST OF THE WEEK — Slate BLOG OF THE WEEK — Nader’s Nadir
February 28, 2008: The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life just released the results of an extensive survey of Americans and religion and the results are startling.44% of Americans are NOT the faith of their parents, having left that religion for something else — or nothing all together. That’s right, the fastest growing “affiliation” for religion in America is NO affiliation (just like political parties). Could it be that Americans are finally beginning to understand that religious myth, while effective and even helpful 2,000 years ago, is not only a detriment to modern living but destructive today?
Sadly, no. It will be a long time — or as Catholics first said, a cold day in hell — before Americans catch up to Europe in bullshit detection and rejection. The “religious churn” is merely a sign that Americans are shopping around for something which, apparently, current religions cannot give them.
Many modern philosophies offer a solution to that search: common sense and science. Americans thus far are having none of it. i.e. a majority of Americans do not believe evolution, while nearly 90% of Europeans do.
It seems that the worthlessness of American ideals is catching up to the worthlessness of its currency.
– Maui Curmudgeon
HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — February 28th
- 1692: Accusations of witchcraft arise in Salem Massachusetts
- 1827: The first commercial railroad in U.S., the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), is chartered
- 1854: About 50 slavery opponents meet in Ripon, Wis., to call for creation of a new political group, which became the Republican Party
- 1861: Colorado becomes a territory
- 1940: The first basketball game is televised
- 1959: Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR), the first satellite with a polar orbit
- 1977: The first Killer Whale is successfully bred in captivity (Marineland in Los Angeles)
- 1993: A 51-day standoff begins when a gun battle erupts at a compound near Waco Texas, when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms try to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians (four agents and six Davidians are killed)
- 1995: Denver International Airport opens after 16 months of delays and $3.2 billion in budget overruns
BORN ON THIS DAY — February 28th
- 1893: Ben Hecht, novelist/playwright/screenwriter
- 1901: Linus Pauling, chemist/peace worker (Nobel 1954, 1962)
- 1909: Stephen Spender, poet/critic
- 1910: Vincente Minnelli, movie director
- 1915: Zero Mostel, actor,
- 1939: John Fahey, guitarist (1969 Indianapolis 500) (68 years ago)
- 1942: Brian Jones, rocker
- 1944: Bernadette Peters actress
- 1955: Randy Jackson, rocker
- 1957: Cindy Wilson, vocals/percussion
- 1957: Phil Gould, rock percussionist
- 1962: Rae Dawn Chong, actress
- 1970: Robert Sean Leonard, actor
- 1971: Maxine Bahns, actress
