A recent meta-study showed that strong religious belief is positively correlated with racism. Of course, correlation does not imply causation. So it’s not clear whether religious belief causes people to become racist, racism causes people to become religious, or some third factor causes both (poor critical thinking skills, for example).

In any case, it’s yet another nail in the coffin of the idea that religion is a source of morality. In fact, the two seem increasingly to be in conflict.

That’s right, suck it, James

The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture, with director Kathryn Bigelow picking up Best Director (the first woman to earn the prize, ever). Avatar gets Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Cinematography. I completely agree.

Avatar was a special effects extravaganza, and James Cameron deserves props for pulling off another mega-successful blockbuster. But the movie was entirely about the visuals. The story was cookie-cutter: predictable and trite. The characters were one-dimensional; the acting was mediocre. It was like these elements were after-thoughts, like Cameron needed something to wrap around his (admittedly impressive) new technology. An extremely accurate and ridiculous review here.

You know what makes me totally incensed? A good movie playing on cable TV, in which they replace the “bad” words with baby talk (I’ve been watching 25th Hour on FX). It ruins the experience, and for no good reason.

I completely reject the idea that we should infantilize and sanitize everything that kids might be exposed to. For one, that’s impossible. You can’t insulate them from everything. There is still HBO and DVD and the internet and the real world. Censoring the dialog on FX is hardly going to do the job; it’s just a meaningless and ineffectual gesture.

Furthermore, I think we seriously underestimate what kids can be safely be exposed to. At the very least, our priorities are misaligned. I am not at all convinced that so-called course language is harmful to children. But even if we assume it is, so is violence on TV (a minor, but documented effect). Tonight, the commercials alone were packed with dead, bloody bodies advertising World War II miniseries The Pacific. And yet, I didn’t see any guns replaced by their Nerf equivalents.

I’m not arguing that fictional violence is something to worry about, either. The whole issue is just a distraction from what really makes a difference in raising healthy, well-adjusted people: parents that take responsibility for their offspring, that are aware of what they’re exposed to, and that help them clearly delineate fantasy from reality. That interaction is way more essential than papering over “offensive” content and pretending it doesn’t exist. But maybe that would be asking too much.

Recently, I have been getting irritated a lot, mostly at the behavior of other human beings. It’s really not a very hard thing to do. But instead of dwelling on that, I’d rather focus on those who elicit the opposite effect. And so, thank you:

• People who work to advance science and engineering, to the benefit of everyone
• People who seek to add a bit of whimsy to the world, while also adding value
• People who practice or study (modern, Western, non-alternative) medicine, even though it can be extremely challenging and underappreciated
• People who fight for equal rights
• People who make jokes about topics I can appreciate
• People who put up with me on a regular basis, particularly those with a knack for making baked goods