1. Unintelligent Design

Comment #233213 by Dower on August 19, 2008 at 11:07 am

RE chutists

they know they forgot to pull the cord because they examined the chute on the body ... it had never been pulled ...

2. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156832 by Dower on April 8, 2008 at 10:01 am

Once again, trying not to offend our American friends but ---

3. Church exhumes Padre Pio

Comment #139251 by Dower on March 5, 2008 at 11:41 am

He added, however, that it was not possible to see Padre Pio's stigmata, which were said to have disappeared just before he died without leaving any scars.

4. Moderates Storm The Religious Battlefield

Comment #106675 by Dower on January 3, 2008 at 8:40 am

Finally, coming in March, a surprising confession: the prolific Bible scholar Bart Ehrman, who is known mostly for his work on the historical Jesus, concedes that in spite of his Christian credentials—which include four years at Bible college and a divinity degree from the Princeton Theological Seminary—he can no longer believe in the Christian God. An all-loving and all-powerful God, he concluded after years of struggle, would not cause so much suffering.

5. Man and God

Comment #103344 by Dower on December 25, 2007 at 8:30 am

It would be interesting to know. My gut feel, just from reading the comments here and elsewhere is that probably around 40% of us have. If I'm right, that would be a large minority to write off as "knowing not whereof they speak", wouldn't it?

6. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101254 by Dower on December 20, 2007 at 6:40 am

But Dr Williams said almost everyone agreed on two things - that Jesus's mother was named Mary and his father Joseph.

7. Borders Tags Atheist Book with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards

Comment #100203 by Dower on December 18, 2007 at 11:32 am

Even Borders has a right to exercise free speech.

Christians are so insecure in their faith that any hint that it may not be true gets their panties bunched up.

8. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #86009 by Dower on November 7, 2007 at 8:16 pm

Christ on a bike Dower, can't you see the guy's been trying to make peace with you for YOUR misinterpretation of HIS bad joke for the last 6 posts? Chill the f**k out man!

9. Same Flea, Different Name?

Comment #85858 by Dower on November 7, 2007 at 10:46 am

Monkey2 says:

God is no delusion in the mind of the deluded.

10. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85618 by Dower on November 6, 2007 at 1:51 pm

You are very committed to disliking me. I can see that.

11. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85602 by Dower on November 6, 2007 at 11:30 am

...Dower. You bastard ...

12. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85587 by Dower on November 6, 2007 at 9:36 am

Crazy Old Man, you give our cause a bad name by using the same dishonest tactics that the faith-based folks use.

Look up your own spelling of "subtelty" -- yes, that is YOUR version -- and tell me what you find. It is spelled "subtlety," which is the way I have been spelling it all along.

BTW, the only reason I "represented" myself as a professional editor (retired after 40 years) was to establish my expertise in the field before stating that Kelly's article was something that we in the newspaper business would publish.

And, no, I will not accept your invitation to "show some solidarity" in your bedroom. I am not gay.

13. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85546 by Dower on November 6, 2007 at 6:13 am

From Crazy Old Man:

I know it was a cheap shot. I just couldn't resist. I happen to agree with you that being direct trumps subtelty, for the most part. If Kelly had an editor, we'd probably none of us be having this exchange. She's self-publishing, and that's not easy. Everybody has to start out somewhere, and I'd say the RRS has gotten pretty far to be a topic of discussion in the first place.

14. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85537 by Dower on November 6, 2007 at 5:35 am

54. Comment #85527 by crazy old man on November 6, 2007 at 4:14 am
Dower,

Respectfully, it's comment number 85349. Check it out for yourself. The word is missplelled. There's always the "edit" feature, if it really bothers you.

I know it was a cheap shot. I just couldn't resist. I happen to agree with you that being direct trumps subtelty, for the most part. If Kelly had an editor, we'd probably none of us be having this exchange. She's self-publishing, and that's not easy. Everybody has to start out somewhere, and I'd say the RRS has gotten pretty far to be a topic of discussion in the first place.

Also, I have just watched a video on the RRS website titled: "Kelly and Sapient Strip for T-Shirt Sales", and while I did not buy a T-shirt, I have come away with a new appreciation for Kelly's rack.

15. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85424 by Dower on November 5, 2007 at 8:27 pm

-I'm not sure if I'm persuaded by your argument, Dower, inky wretch or not, that a good editor says "Too hell with subtelty", and not just because of the careless spelling. There is something called respect for the intelligence of the reader.

16. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85349 by Dower on November 5, 2007 at 2:25 pm

Okay, a certain degree of subtlety when it comes to insults.

17. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85332 by Dower on November 5, 2007 at 1:50 pm

A certain degree of subtlety is a must in professional writing.

18. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85330 by Dower on November 5, 2007 at 1:48 pm

This is a childish insult. Yes, you're right, D'Souza is dishonest and deluded, but stating it so bluntly makes you look bad. Most importantly, if you have to insult him in such a way, do it at the end of a paragraph _after_ you've given evidence that he is in fact a deluded liar. It's not something you say in an article's introduction.

19. Response to Dinesh D'Souza op-ed

Comment #85326 by Dower on November 5, 2007 at 1:42 pm

The RRS' style is fine for blogs and podcasts, but now it looks like Kelly is hoping to get her stuff published by some papers. If she wants that to happen (and if it happens, if she doesn't want to tarnish our reputation, heh), she has to stop writing as if she were flaming a troll on a forum.

20. A question of belief

Comment #80079 by Dower on October 19, 2007 at 9:43 pm

http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000100-000400.html

21. Muslims tell Christians: 'Make peace with us or survival of world is at stake'

Comment #78099 by Dower on October 11, 2007 at 8:27 pm

"Finding common ground between Muslims and Christians ..."

22. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73826 by Dower on September 26, 2007 at 9:33 am

The whole Chick comic thing rests on the bible ... anybody who is intellectually honest and studies the origins of the bible would reject it outright ... the key is to be intellectually honest ... a good place to start would be Ehrman's "Misquoting Jesus."

23. RELIGULOUS: A Conversation with Bill Maher and Larry Charles

Comment #69949 by Dower on September 13, 2007 at 9:48 am

I think we need to remember that the only thing we atheists agree on completely is that we are not theists. We need to focus our efforts in that direction. Everything else is crapola.

24. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #68792 by Dower on September 8, 2007 at 3:23 pm

Check out WorldNetDaily's latest magazine, "The Rise of Atheist America," and note the lies about the Founding Fathers being bible-believing Christians ...


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57512

25. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #68711 by Dower on September 8, 2007 at 8:22 am

The theists' arguments are based on their bible ... destroy their bible and you destroy their arguments ... nobody does that better than Bart D. Ehrman in "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" ... honest to Zeus, once you realize where the bible came from and how it got here, you will be shaking your head in amazement ... the theists have no basis for their arguments ... the atheists have reason ...

26. Mother Teresa's '40-year faith crisis'

Comment #65559 by Dower on August 24, 2007 at 8:14 pm

Mother Teresa's experience reminds me of my own.

I was a fundamentalist Christian and a lay preacher for years. I was a Bible scholar, but I was blind to all the contradictions of the Bible.

However, when I prayed or lead the congregation in prayer, I was very conscious of the fact that there was no one "out there."


Dower

27. Artificial Life Likely in 3 to 10 Years

Comment #64486 by Dower on August 20, 2007 at 8:44 am

Scooter, add Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" to your library. Paine was a Diest, but he sure did a good job of using the Bible to refute the Bible.

28. Artificial Life Likely in 3 to 10 Years

Comment #64475 by Dower on August 20, 2007 at 7:28 am

I only argue that life reflects an intelligent force of will. I believe this Will to be the God of the Bible ...

29. My Road to Atheism, What Took Me So Long and The Aftermath

Comment #47341 by Dower on June 4, 2007 at 6:05 am

As a former fundamentalist Christian lay preacher, nothing is more exciting to me than to see other one-time devout believers come to the light of rationality.

Good for you, Secular Skeptic.

30. Dental healer finds share of faithful believers

Comment #44107 by Dower on May 23, 2007 at 10:21 am

"It's the Lord that does the work; man doesn't do the work," Jones said. "All He says is all things are possible."

31. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #43195 by Dower on May 20, 2007 at 6:19 pm

3. What is God's punishment of those who overeat?

Correct answer: B. (Death by plague) "And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:32-33). "The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel" (Psalms 78:31).

32. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #43135 by Dower on May 20, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Devolved: Citing all this stuff is useless; you have to understand where all these translations and texts came from ... how long after the fact they made it into print ... how they were translated and by whom and with what agenda ... how they were copied and by whom and with what agenda ... once you realize how corrupt it all is, you don't have anything left ... citing a corrupt text proves nothing ... it takes an act of faith along with a bit of wishful thinking to accept these texts ... The Jews and Islams, along with the Chrisitians all had their sacred texts and they are all mutually exclusive ...

33. The Paradoxical Hatred of Christopher Hitchens

Comment #42950 by Dower on May 20, 2007 at 6:10 am

I don't know whether Hitchens considers strong evangelical Christians, like Falwell, to be as evil as jihadists, but he made clear he has abundant contempt for them.

34. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42917 by Dower on May 20, 2007 at 5:30 am

[Not all manuscripts have 'me']

35. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42803 by Dower on May 19, 2007 at 6:26 pm

Do I fully understand why some prayer goes unanswered? No. Does that make Jesus a liar? No.

36. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42787 by Dower on May 19, 2007 at 3:08 pm

Answer my question, Devolved.

37. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42778 by Dower on May 19, 2007 at 2:11 pm

Devolved:

Jesus said: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." (John 14:14)

Never have the amputated legs of a war veteran been restored in the name of Jesus. So, either Jesus is lying, or the sacred book is not inerrant.

Which is it?

38. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42777 by Dower on May 19, 2007 at 2:09 pm

Bizarro Dawkins:

Jesus said: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." (John 14:14)

Never have the amputated legs of a war veteran been restored in the name of Jesus. So, either Jesus is lying, or the sacred book is not inerrant.

Which is it?

39. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42594 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 2:01 pm

Updated version: Arguing over the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics. You might win, but you're still retarded.

40. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42573 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 12:42 pm

Prayer's Power to Heal Strangers Is Examined
Cardiac Patients in New Study Fared No Better With Spiritual Intercession

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 15, 2005; A08

Praying for sick strangers does not improve their prospects of recovering, according to a large, carefully designed study that casts doubt on the widely held belief that being prayed for can help a person heal.

The study of more than 700 heart patients, one of the most ambitious attempts to test the medicinal power of prayer, showed that those who had people praying for them from a distance, and without their knowledge, were no less likely to suffer a major complication, end up back in the hospital or die.

41. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42536 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 10:57 am

Dower, I think you hit on a good point here. This is probably the issue that I struggle with the most. Personally, I don't believe in faith healings. I believe that it was the tool of the early church to become established. I certainly believe that people can still be healed through prayer, but that it is rare and does not necessarily manifest itself in obvious ways (i.e., a "miraculous" recovery from cancer). Also keep in mind that the Bible never says that God will unconditionally say "yes" to anything we ask. One of the apostles even suffered from a debilitating physical condition (I forget which one it was and I'm too lazy to look it up), and he prayed many times that God would heal him and He never did.

42. Freethinking Ruins All Things

Comment #42511 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 10:09 am

Welcome DawgDoc!

I was a Catholic, too, before becoming a hard-core Calvinistic Christian lay preacher in a fundamentalist church.

I became a Catholic in college while studying philosophy and "looking for the truth." The priest who instructed me did a real good job of "logically" answering all my questions.

Especially the part about the Catholic church being the one true church because of what Jesus said about founding his church "on a rock and that rock was Peter" and Peter was the first pope ... blah, blah, blah

I am 62 now, and have spent my whole life looking for "the most reasonable religion," an oxymoron if there ever was one.

Glad you are here.

Dower

43. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42491 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 9:37 am

It's not that I had actively wished for Falwell's death, but I certainly am glad that he's gone. Now, I am hoping for a Falwell, Dobson, Robertson reunion real soon.

44. Freethinking Ruins All Things

Comment #42477 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 9:18 am

"At the heart of every freisinning appeal"

This moron doesn't even know how to write the word he is boasting with.

It is: "freisinnig", or "freidenkerisch".

45. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42437 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 7:42 am

Bizzaro Dawkins: Another question for you:

Does your sky god really heal in answer to prayer?

I am deaf and on numerous occasions when I was a devout hard-core Calvinistic Christian believer attended "faith-healing" services.

I was never healed.

Even though your sky god in his sacred book promised that I would be:

James 5:14-15: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him."

Now the typical Christian comeback (I know because I once was a Christian) is that I didn't "have enough faith."

That begs the question because in this passage it is not my faith but the prayer of faith by the elders of the church that is supposed to accomplish the deed.

BTW, my daughter, who has MS, left the church after being told that she was not healed because she "did not have enough faith." It was heartbreaking to watch.

I will believe that prayer heals when I see the amputated legs of an Iraqi war veteran restored to their original state, but all that will prove is that "prayer can heal (sometimes); it certainly will not prove that your god is the one who did it.

46. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42329 by Dower on May 18, 2007 at 4:36 am

Why do ask questions to which you already know the answer? Are you trying to trap me or something? Of course I believe that someone who chooses to be separated from God will be separated from God. It's only logical.

47. Jerry Falwell's Hit Parade

Comment #42187 by Dower on May 17, 2007 at 8:58 pm

Bizarro Dawkins:

I am an apostate, a former hard-core Calvinistic Christian.

You claim there is a heaven and a hell.

Am I going to hell?

If so, prove it to me.


Dower

48. Christopher Hitchens to God: Drop Dead

Comment #42054 by Dower on May 17, 2007 at 2:30 pm

How can you possibly hope to win over a friend when you you use these kind of arguments?



Friends don't let friends drive drunk.

49. Christopher Hitchens to God: Drop Dead

Comment #42043 by Dower on May 17, 2007 at 2:10 pm

From this day forward, O liberal religionist, each moment you do not declare yourself an enemy of faith, you stand accused by the blood of those murdered in God's name.

50. Christopher Hitchens to God: Drop Dead

Comment #41944 by Dower on May 17, 2007 at 10:54 am

I get the feeling that his publisher picked out the title because most of the verses he discusses in there weren't really quotes of Jesus.