and was really offended by what they said. I know I can't talk about the reasons here, but is there anywhere I can talk about them? Because if I don't I think I'm going to explode

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

Are you sure you can't? From the rules, on what is allowed:

Focused, polite discussion of the difference between astronomy (including cosmology) and religion

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

So was the podcast Bill Nye the science guy?

Yeah, although I didn't get that far. And no, it wasn't about astronomy.

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

If you don't think you can discuss them in public, there are always PMs, and email adresses, of those whom you may wish to exchange your views. I utilize this from time to time, myself, when I don't feel like I can publicly comment

__________________
"I have this theory that the Apollo missions were faked when NASA found out that general relativity was wrong because the Earth was expanding due to the Sun's iron core being influenced by magnetic waves from the electric universe after being perturbed by Planet X and thereby causing global warming. Where should I start a thread about this?" ~ ToSeek

"Those are the people that wonder how a thermos knows whether to keep something hot or keep something cold." ~ NeoWatcher

I can't imagine being offended by The Science Guy.

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Bill Nye rocks! I used to watch him all the time when I was younger. When I found out that Sagan was his teacher, my first thought was: "Wow, that's like being Obi-Wan's Jedi master."

__________________
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"The only way to explore the universe is to go and look." - Brian Cox
Well, the best way to find out is to go there and, find out. - Raven's Cry
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Why is this being made a puzzle?

Listening to Skeptic's Guide to the Universe #111, 2007 September 5, featuring an interview with Bill Nye.

Issue 1: The sacrifice of goats by Nepal Airlines. The speakers ridiculed pre-21st century thinking. Unwisely, I think, might have ridiculed regions and faiths where goat sacrifice might be more prevalent.

Issue 2: A portrayal of King Tut that is controversial because of the race depicted. Speakers wandered around, but emphasis was on favoring science, and Tut's being what Tut was.

Issue 2.1: Related. Does race as biological concept does exist; is it only a social concept? Speakers: don't alter the science for social goals. Had a real hard time defining what they were talking about. Never really succeeded.

About 24 minutes in, discussion moved to questions and emails. Didn't listen.

Around 29 minutes in, was the Bill Nye interview. (That was eliminated as the thorniness, right?)

I didn't listen hard, but I failed to get highly offended. They didn't engage me. Were I on a mic, I might have been tempted to say, "Don't be a jerk," a couple times.

And, I remain as frustrated by parallaxicality's opaque opening comment as before listening.

Edit: After the Nye interview, there was a long regular bit about which one of three science news items is the fake, with a protracted digression on mouse genes. Nothing much controversial there.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

I listened too (I normally don't) and couldn't figure it out either. It isn't obvious what couldn't be discussed here, or what was so offensive. *shrug*

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

That was it. Issue 1. Animal sacrifice is rare in Hinduism these days, but sacrifice (in the form of offering food and drink to gods in shrines, say) is still a fundamental act of Hindu devotion. Besides the ludicrous Apu-accents, they snidely made references to such old gods as Zeus and Thor, forgetting, perhaps, that Zeus and Thor are in fact manefestations of the same Indo-European religion still worshipped, under different names, in India. It was quite clear that these people knew nothing about Hinduism and were dissing something because they were unfamiliar with it. If, for instance, a Catholic priest had offered a bennediction for a safe flight, I doubt it would have made the news at all, nor would they have found anything wrong with it.

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

So what makes it so difficult to discuss here? The goat-sacrifice news itself was discussed in topic The "You could not make this up" Section. That didn't touch off a firestorm of religious debate. It probably could if people argued either side passionately, and there may be some potential there still. Nobody took the bait last time.

Complaining about a couple of jerks who ridiculed religion and region seems harmless enough. There's no reason for you to explode.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

That, although at least only momentary, was bad; no argument there from me.

Since their whole point was that it WAS the same primitive attitude, I don't understand how you could think they were forgetting the similarity. They couldn't have used an analogy without being aware of the two things' analogousness... analogosity... analoguity...

What made either of those two things "clear"? Their only comments about the religion were on the subject of the event in the news story itself, so that was the only thing they could have been right or wrong about; are you saying the news item was inaccurate and the goat sacrifice didn't happen? And on the reason they "dissed" it, no, they were pretty specific about the dissworthy aspects of the story being the bad logic behind the idea, and the superstition's juxtaposition with modern science in the same environment where people should be expected to be more rational.

In fact, such things have made news, not only more often but also with more uproar about how "offensive" it is when Christianity does it.

Careful, folks.

Discussing in a scientific manner non-scientific practices is one thing. Complaining about how one's religion is being persecuted, ridiculed, etc., is quite another.

You're heading for a lock down.

__________________
A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Fair enough. It's out of my system now. Lock it away and throw away the key.

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.