Google replies...

Google AdSense finally got back to me about why they disable my ads: Hello, Thanks for providing us with additional information. However, after thoroughly reviewing your account data and taking your feedback into consideration, we've re-confirmed that your account poses a significant risk to our advertisers. For this reason, we're unable to reinstate your account. Thank you for your understanding. Well, that's ok. I think your "service" poses a significant annoyance to myself (in terms of having to monitor what kinds of ads are being run) as well as to my reader(s).

Newsflash for the Pope...

from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_en_ot/eu_vatican_avatar/print
 
(regarding the Vatican's review of Cameron's "Avatar")
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that while the movie reviews are just that — film criticism, not theological pronouncements — they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity."
 
 
Ummmm.... nature is the OLD divinity, historically speaking. You guys are new on the block considering that there are cave paintings depicting nature worship from about 25,000 years ago.

I may be extra sensivitve about this right now, as I'm taking a class on religion and science, and it's clear from the outset that conservative Christianity will be the dominant philosophy. A couple of people have even gone so far as to say that anyone who hasn't read the Bible (though they don't bother to capitalize it) doesn't have any business arguing about religion... which implies that those who've been exposed to Christianity can't have formed an opinion about it, and that those with differing faiths can't have an opinion on the topic of religion in general. These minds will need a good long soak in P'Blaster to break all of that rust, but I don't think we can get them to sit still long enough for it to work. I'm expecting a long semester in which I have to bite my tongue in the discussion boards, while Biblethumpers run rampant.