Islam (various sects), Christian (various sects), Buddhism Razib Khan over at Gene Expression indirectly makes an interesting point, which I’d not previously realised and which is illustrated by the map: How few countries actually have an official state religion. And how many we would think have an official religion (eg. USA, Brazil, Spain) actually don’t.
OK if you follow the link behind the map some of the data are a bit debatable, but however one cuts the numbers it means that somewhere around 90% of the world’s population live in countries with no official state religion. And many of the countries which do have a state religion are tiny (eg. Lichtenstein, Yemen, Bhutan).
Another interesting thing is that over 50% of the countries with a state religion are Islamic. Does this say something about Islam or about the underlying mindset of the peoples of these countries?
It also demonstrates how far behind the game we English are in clinging to our official state religion. Time to wake up and smell the coffee?
Noreen bought a book yesterday. I stole it. I stole it because it contains such twinkly brilliant gems as:
Bottled at Source. Abbey Well, Highland Spring, Glenpatrick, Ty Nant Welsh Spring, Pennine (bottled at source in Huddersfield) … Apparently, you can’t walk more than a hundred yards in the UK without falling into a natural spring, an Ice Age glacier, a gushing source of healing, sparkling spring water or a 400-year-old magical fairytale wishing well with purifying pixies, adjacent sandstone filter, bottling plant and market-research department.
Mozzarella. Mozzarella cheese comes in Silly Putty-shaped shiny balls … It tastes of nothing. Mozzarella is stored in those unsettling little water-filled tubs – displayed like some sort of soft-cheese Petri-dish specimen …
Muffins. Since when did it become acceptable to eat fairy cakes for breakfast? … You can keep the modern breakfast muffin. I’ll take the fairy cake any day. Not one of those chi-chi chain coffee shop cupcakes; a proper fairy cake, one with icing and those edible rice-paper cake-toppers in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s face, that crab thing from The Little Mermaid, the Wuzzles or the Popples.
I was in Pinner today to see my hypnotherapist. When I left I was surprised to spot this this roughly 150mm across patch of liverwort growing among the the paving slabs and general detritus. I’m no expert on liverworts although I think this is a common one, but still a nice surprise find.
When we remember that we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained. [Mark Twain]
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense. [Carl Sagan]
As an atheist I do not believe that there is a God in fact, but the fact of the beliefs of others that God is is highly consequential. It is less important what the real Islam or Christianity is, than what Islam or Christianity is for the people at any specific place and time. [Razib Khan at ]
Science has nothing to do with common sense. I believe it was Einstein who said that common sense is a set of prejudices we form by the age of 18. Inject somebody with some viruses and that’s going to keep you from getting sick? That’s not common sense. We evolved from single-cell organisms? That’s not common sense. By driving my car I’m going to cook Earth? None of this is common sense. The common sense view is what we’re fighting against. So somehow you’ve got to move people away from that with these quite complicated scientific arguments based on even more complicated research. That’s why it’s such an uphill battle. People start off with a belief and a prejudice–we all do. And the job of science is to set that aside to get to the truth. [Simon Singh in an interview with Wired at http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/mf_qa_singh/]
Not much by way of amusing or thought provoking quotes this week as we’ve been away, but here are what has passed by me…
What we’re suggesting is that something that doesn’t really interact with anything is changing something that can’t be changed. [Dr Jere Jenkins quoted on Discover Blogs, 80Beats in trying to explain the theory that neutrinos are affecting radioactive decay half-lives]
Yet more proof I could not possibly handle even the most glorious of small children … unless they came with pause and mute buttons. [Comment at Whoopee]
Our ham is formed from cured RSPCA Freedom Food assured pork leg [Tea shop menu, Rye] WTF is an “assured pork leg” and how do you cure an RSPCA?
We’re just back from spending a week in Rye, East Sussex with a friend and her three children. The children were a delight: great fun and very amusing if a bit noisy at times. Everyone seems to have had a good time. Amongst other things we got in: the late Derek Jarman’s cottage at Dungeness; several Romney Marsh churches; Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway; some bookshops; a couple of trips to the beach; as well as lots of Rye itself and too little sleep because we sat up talking until late. We could easily have stayed another two weeks and still not run out of interesting things to do. Many thanks to Katy, Tilly, Tallulah and Oscar!
More photos on Flickr as I get time to do post-processing.
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
