New Humanist magazine announces candidates for 2009 Bad Faith award, for the promotion of unreason

  Head over to NewHumanist.org.uk to vote.

Now is the time for the annual Bad Faith awards from the UK based New Humanist publication, and they are looking for your vote. Awarded to the "person deemed to have made the most outstanding contribution to the cause of unreason," nominees have come filtering in, and now it is up the public who has really had the most success at promoting woo, quackery and ignorance. Last year saw the runaway victory of Sarah Palin, for her high-profile cheer-leading of anti-science, pro-ignorant political campaign. Thankfully no shining star of stupidity has quite been able to make quite so impressive a breakthrough here in 2009.

Which isn't to say people haven't tried.

The nominees are primarily European, so we lose out on definite award winners like Jenny McCarthy or Deepak Chopra, but Britain does have its fair share of woo-peddlers. One big name this year is the British Chiropractic Association, for their lawsuit against Science writer Simon Singh. Singh wrote an article critical of the BCA's claims that chiropractic could treat illnesses unrelated to the spine, such as "children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying." Singh labels these unsupported claims "bogus", a term the BCA felt was defamatory, Due to England's libel court requiring the defendant bear the burden of proof, the case has been rather difficult. You can read Singh's full account online at SenseAboutScience.org. Rather than simply present the evidence they claim to have, the BCA has tried to stifle critical inquiry and the popularization of scientific thinking, making them a prime target for the award.

The way things are shaping up though, the BCA isn't holding a candle to Pope Benedict XVI, whose comments regarding the efficacy of condoms for preventing the spread of HIV garnered international attention back in March. According to Catholic doctrine, and made clear in the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, any artificial methods of birth control are condemned. What this means for married couples, where one is HIV positive and runs the risk of infecting their partner, is still controversial within the church. Some feel an exemption should be made, while others stress "God's law," and believe these married couples should abstain from sex entirely. While this is an argument for the church, the Pope's claim that "condoms...even aggravates the problems" of AIDS is simply a lie. Similar to the pernicious propaganda promoted in 2003, where church officials were teaching that the HIV virus could pass through the barrier created by the condom, this misinformation serves only to undermine the necessary and life-saving use of condoms in the world, spreading disease and misery under the guise of saving souls.

Head over to New Humanist for the complete list of nominees, submit your vote and spread the word.

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