1. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #169472 by Gymnopedie on April 26, 2008 at 6:58 am

I think some of us see wearing this shirt as a form of bullying (such as I) and others see it as "just another day in the life" for Freedom of Speech. It sickens me a bit that so few people can even make the connection here with bullying. But bullying is Freedom of Expression, so we must allow that, too.

2. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #169366 by Gymnopedie on April 25, 2008 at 10:00 pm

This is a school, people. We all love to think of it as a training ground for the real world where we all have Freedom of Speech, but this attitude is just plain stupid. Although a rule on no slogan t-shirts would probably be a good thing, the better reason is to avoid offense in school. The school should be a "neutral zone" in that the kids shouldn't have to be afraid to be demonized or harassed for their lifestyle. And let's face it, the whole bullying thing isn't too pleasant.

Did I mention the whole "kids" thing...? Ugh, whatever...

3. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #168567 by Gymnopedie on April 25, 2008 at 7:57 am

I really think public schools should be a "neutral zone" of sorts, where stupid things like this offensive shirt should be banned. Freedom of Speech for ignorant little kids with, perhaps, even more ignorant parents is not the same thing as Freedom of Speech as we see it on a day to day level. For a school, I think a reasonable level of censorship can be had without any of the slippery slopes we expect when we deal with censorship issues on this site oh so regularly. If I am missing something, please protest. (I should note that a new policy should not be enacted to ban the shirt if a policy did not exist before that would ban it. Creating rules for one incident is both paranoid and stupid.)

I always wonder about the parents in a situation like this. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the kid is wearing the shirt at their suggestion or with encouragment from his church or something of that nature. When dealing with kids, the issue is far blurrier than we can see from a tiny article.

4. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #168426 by Gymnopedie on April 25, 2008 at 6:21 am

What a little rebel...

5. Responses to 'Gods and Earthlings' by Richard Dawkins

Comment #166102 by Gymnopedie on April 22, 2008 at 6:36 pm

Freakin' scholars writing in. Sheesh.

6. Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in 'Expelled' Flap

Comment #162571 by Gymnopedie on April 17, 2008 at 4:45 am

Anybody remember the 8th and 9th Commandments?

7. Teacher Expelled Over Religion

Comment #161586 by Gymnopedie on April 15, 2008 at 12:30 pm

I thought this crap would end after Dover.

What the hell?

8. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160471 by Gymnopedie on April 14, 2008 at 6:16 am

How does trash like this get into a major newspaper? This is complete and absolute childish garbage with no hint of eloquence or authority.

Or as Hitchens once commented: How silly.

9. A New Flea

Comment #160137 by Gymnopedie on April 13, 2008 at 5:29 pm

OK, so finally this guy proves Dawkins wrong and almost certainly proves there is a god. Took enough books.

10. Scientists take drugs to boost brain power: study

Comment #158865 by Gymnopedie on April 11, 2008 at 6:10 am

I've known a lot of people who abused those stimulants like crazy. One of the people would describe the overwhelming desire to learn when he's on the drugs, and we would go through the course of 5 guitar lessons in 1 hour.

If half the kids at a school are taking these drugs, then do you let your kids take the drugs or let them slip behind? It is an interesting ethical dilemma and one that I think will become far more relevant in the next 20 years.

11. Commentary: Democrats finally getting religion on religion

Comment #157915 by Gymnopedie on April 9, 2008 at 6:19 pm

The Supreme Court will start pumping Creationism in schools and promoting strict anti-abortion laws if another fucking republican nut case is elected. When will people wake up and realize how important the Supreme Court it!?

BTW there was a time when political figures did not express their love of religion - think of the country's founders! And I think it is sad that people here repeat the myth that politicians have to kiss the religious right's ass (or simply kiss up to the religious) to win an election. Obama has endorsed the separation of State and Church and is no raving religious lunatic and look at how far he is. There was a time when I suspected he was actually an atheist (who knows, maybe he is...).

12. Get out of here, atheists!

Comment #156416 by Gymnopedie on April 7, 2008 at 1:55 pm

I'm sickened by what that nut said, but I can't say I was shocked. This kind of bullshit is so commonplace. Everday I would be involved in any sort of activism this kind of thing would happen, in virtually the same manner, if there was an audience. The calm and quiet representative gets louder and louder then blows a fuse. Try it at your next town/city/state/local school meeting and you'll see what I mean.

We need to make sure we keep this stuff above the fold, so I'm glad to see it posted here.

13. Thy will be done

Comment #154143 by Gymnopedie on April 2, 2008 at 6:47 pm

Well I'm glad we have the Constitution here in the states. Falcon, you just bow your head to the sword. You do know this is public, right? I'm sorry I have to be so American on this...

14. BBC 'too scared to allow jokes about Islam'

Comment #154141 by Gymnopedie on April 2, 2008 at 6:43 pm

Come on guys, think this through. If we insult religion, we might hurt someone's feelings. Can't we all just get along?

15. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #154003 by Gymnopedie on April 2, 2008 at 11:26 am

So much of the knee-jerk reaction in this thread so far is out of sheer ignorance (not meant as an insult, simply an observation). Read AHA, Ibn Warraq, Sam Harris, Robert Spencer for harsh criticism of Islam and read Karen Armstrong and the million Islamic apologists ever-present in media and academia for the view from "the other side". I had no idea about the threat Islam posed to the west until I read Ibn Warraq. I would actively debate using the old lines such as "but Christianity has a bloody history, too", "The terrorists pervert the true religion", "terrorism is 99% a bi-product of American/European imperialism", etc... Then I read a book (including the whole Koran, front to back, which I will summarize for those of you who don't have the time: The unbelievers are maggots that will rot in hell, Allah is great and merciful").

Everyone needs a bit of perspective. How bout we all take a breather and read some books.

16. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153645 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 6:12 pm

Causing controversy is right, what an inane stroll through non-argument.

quantum tuba, thanks! That must have been what I was thinking of. It's so strange to see someone actually break down the pros and cons and try to find a solution. Politics never work like that.

17. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153530 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm

When did I say they shouldn't receive a fair trial? It seems pretty clear they neglected their child and it led to the death of the child. Apparently it is then controversial to say they deserve to rot in jail the rest of their lives.

Their intent is irrelevant because they are thinking adults; we aren't talking about kids here neglecting other children. Adults take full responsible for their nonsense. Should we excuse a parent who fires a "holy" bullet into their child's head because he believes the child will grow up to be Satan? Religion is absolutely no excuse, as the beliefs themselves are utterly capricious (or at least can be).

18. Supreme Court to consider Ten Commandments vs. 'Seven Aphorisms'

Comment #153439 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Tabash, American Atheists, et al... have talked about all the cases we would love to pursue in the US, but don't have the funds to. In the end, that is the American court system: a test of richness.

19. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153436 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 1:17 pm

Sagan was one of the most eloquent defenders of reason when it came to abortion. Now, I can't recall whether he talked about it in "Billions and Billions," or "Dragons of Eden." Maybe it was somewhere else. But if you haven't read all of Sagan's works, you are hardly a skeptic, are you!? Haha...

20. Supreme Court to consider Ten Commandments vs. 'Seven Aphorisms'

Comment #153300 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 11:10 am

Calling all Satanist, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Humanists, Pastafarians...

Sort of a silly way to solve the problem, but it gets the job done when needed.

21. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153298 by Gymnopedie on April 1, 2008 at 11:07 am

I hope those parents rot in jail for the rest of their lives.

22. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152943 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 6:35 pm

I took the political compass just for s&g's and got pretty close to Dalai Lama result as well. People brand me as very liberal, until they hear me talk about Islam, then all goes to hell and suddenly I'm a neo-con hate-monger.

23. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152929 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 6:09 pm

I find it somewhat odd how anyone holding views critical of Islam, Jihad ideology, and Islamic supremacism are branded as conservatives or right-wingers. Does anyone else get the impression that the left ignores the threat of Islam and the right pretends to understand the threat? The right is blinded by religion, the left by multiculturalism. The issues here are very depressing, yes, but should be explored more and more and exposed more and more, not avoided.

24. Christian Founders 3D Adventure Computer Game

Comment #152918 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 5:48 pm

And this is why everyone needs a good civics lesson. I'm not completely convinced this isn't a joke, but (assuming this is real) this is just another extension of the whole Pat Robertson's law school rewriting of American history - for kids!

25. Vatican: Islam surpasses Roman Catholicism as world's largest religion

Comment #152917 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 5:45 pm

How do you even count the number of Muslims? The entire population of Saudi Arabia is counted as Muslim simply because it is mandated by law that every citizen is a Muslim. It is like trusting polling in police states...

26. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152915 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 5:42 pm

The impression from the article is that Western nations don't seem too bothered by this whole fiasco. Why am I not surprised? We might insult someone if we oppose their right to stone adulterers!

27. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152836 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 3:57 pm

The problem I have with punishing hate speech is the fact that I don't trust the people who are going to be calling those shots.

On the police report for the incident of the Muslim threatening to slit my throat and display my corpse in public, the "Hate bias" box was not checked (I didn't notice this until after I had my PPO). I wonder why the police officer didn't check that box...?

28. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152784 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Oh, Al-rawandi, that's the beauty of modern multiculturalism, being tolerant of the intolerant.

For an interesting inside view of Muslim refugees in the Netherlands, I, once again, highly recommend Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book Infidel. It illustrates how the enormous amount of perceived racism is mixed with actual racism into one big giant snowball that blinds so many of us.

As for the commonplace assertion that Wilders is a racist, does anyone have evidence? I asked this before and never received a response. I am not at all familiar with his politics, except for what I am exposed to here.

29. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152703 by Gymnopedie on March 31, 2008 at 11:30 am

The main difference in the threat to US and Europe from Islam/Violent Jihad has to do with 2 factors, numbers and organization. Europe has far higher number of Muslims as well as greater organization among them. I have been under police protection HERE, in the US, due to threats by Muslims (for putting a fiction sticker on the Koran, go figure). A jihad terrorist was arrested with an AK-47 (self admitted member of Hezbollah) a few miles away from where I live. Now these sorts of events are completely under the radar and perhaps commonplace in the US. But they are unorganized. Imagine if there was a mass organization of all Jihadist... I think the West would probably be overtaken in a few years.

Al-Rawandi, maybe my memory is completely faulty, but I recall at one time thinking you were a Muslim apologist. What exactly have you been reading and researching over the past few months to change your opinion so drastically? I'm quite curious. Perhaps my first impression was utterly off.

30. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152364 by Gymnopedie on March 30, 2008 at 8:14 pm

Wilders is a shock politician with little in the way of policies, but the movie is accurate. All the events in the film are uncontroversial enough for everyone to rally behind and condemn. But, for some reason, people pretend the film is some racist piece of trash and condemn the film, rather then the terrorism. Nobody likes Wilders, fine, but let's (everyone, not just posters here) focus on the real issues.

31. Expelled from Expelled: PZ story goes global

Comment #150536 by Gymnopedie on March 27, 2008 at 4:43 am

So there are pros and cons of this whole issue, I'm shocked!

As for publicity, that refers simply to public awareness/notice. So I don't really see how publicity can be good or bad (except that good publicity might refer to more people noticing the story).

32. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #149845 by Gymnopedie on March 26, 2008 at 9:47 am

Happy Birthday prof!

33. No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film

Comment #148040 by Gymnopedie on March 21, 2008 at 9:43 pm

I'm greatly entertained by the flush of news stories about this event. The Creationists need to be exposed over and over for the disgusting and malicious liars they are. Look at each story posted here, they are popping up in different places visited by different people. All this site is doing is posting them for us to view and laugh at. What in the world is bad about that? I hope this story keeps circulating in different publications.

Dr Benway - Classic Wikipedia entry. I lol'ed.

34. Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled

Comment #148037 by Gymnopedie on March 21, 2008 at 9:26 pm

The more I hear about this nonsense and see the videos, the funnier the whole thing is. How freakin' absurd. The Creationists are liars and hypocrites, what a surprise!

35. Biology prof expelled from screening of 'Expelled'

Comment #147960 by Gymnopedie on March 21, 2008 at 4:43 pm

The irony is divine.

36. I suppose it's due ('Expelled' review)

Comment #147957 by Gymnopedie on March 21, 2008 at 4:40 pm

With all the crazy money these guys have, I expected the movie to be top-notch quality in terms of editing and camera work. Oh well...

37. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #147054 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 6:04 pm

samurai, I have the funniest scene playing in my head of taking a walk through a state forest and finding your fresh corpse on the ground will all your organs surgically plucked out (too odd? fine). If only Monty Python would have known about Tibetan burial practices...

38. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #146997 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 4:27 pm

What an amazing legacy this man left behind.

As for the obsession with our own funerals, wasn't it Freud that commented extensively on that strange habit? Maybe it is similiar to that whole MySpace style obsession with people talking and thinking about you when you aren't there.

39. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company

Comment #146995 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 4:23 pm

theantitheist, I couldn't agree more with you here about the sweeping generalization about atheists (made by atheists, in this case). Anyone can simply browse through the forums to see how hideous some disagreements here at the oasis are.

I used to use the terms atheist and rationalist interchangeably. Then I spent time with atheists... So many of them touted pseudoscience in the form of CAM, even shamanism and TCM, others believed in ghosts and UFO's (not the Carl Sagan kind), and even more defended religious belief as someone inherently positive (I don't even want to get into politics...).

I actually wonder if atheists are any more rational then the average person on topics outside of ye ol' God question. The impression of the rational atheist is given off by most skeptics being atheists, I think.

40. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company

Comment #146752 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 11:01 am

I didn't mean to imply this incident is the same as racial discrimination. What makes this incidence complicated is the religious grounding. Because religious beliefs can be utterly capricious (thank faith for that), religious grounds for discrimination should be treated differently than the others I mentioned. I can make up a religion that believes that God mandates that I get 100% on all college exams and at the same time not study. Imagine going to a professor with that doozy.

If a private company disagrees with a religious message or thinks it will hurt its business, then they should be able to reject it. Now if the company claims it won't advertise because it doesn't deal with blacks, then that is obviously a different case and should be illegal. The difference between religious discrimination and racial discrimination is astonishing and shouldn't be lumped together as being the same.

41. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146586 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 7:56 am

Hungarianelephant and all other who are curious: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gay/long.htm

42. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company

Comment #146488 by Gymnopedie on March 19, 2008 at 6:18 am

In the US, it is absolutely illegal for a private or public company to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, or social status. The law prevents KKK style little cities from taking hold. Religious discriminationg, though, I think is a particularly complicated issue because religious belief can and often is utterly arbitrary to the point of being capricious.

43. Religion 'linked to happy life'

Comment #145968 by Gymnopedie on March 18, 2008 at 12:16 pm

A feel-good delusion combined with a sense of community is religion to most people. So what's the big deal? This "study" is just more rubber bullets for the religiously inclined to use against the big bad forces of secularism.

Favorite Christian Apologist: "Secularism makes you suicidal and miserable, just look at this new study! This proves the only path to happiness is through Jesus, now proven scientifically, of course."

This actually throws me off a bit, because aren't Christians supposed to embrace suffering and misery? It makes them closer to God, remember? Oh, but who cares about Theology.

44. Religious groups want Russian cartoon channel shut down

Comment #145960 by Gymnopedie on March 18, 2008 at 12:09 pm

Oh, those silly New Atheists and their damned cartoons. Let's riot. Who's with me?

45. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145596 by Gymnopedie on March 17, 2008 at 6:51 pm

This isn't even decent sophistry; it is just a string of lies. I don't mean misunderstandings and silly statements, I mean outright, malicious lies.

46. Deadly Sins 101

Comment #143292 by Gymnopedie on March 13, 2008 at 9:56 pm

I can't even imagine the sort of cognitive dissonance a practicing Catholic has to go through. Holy shit!

I remember learning in Catholic after school class about mortal and venial sins over and over and over and over and over again. The priest was EXTREMELY liberal and pretty much only considered murder to be a mortal sin, along with blasphemy. But, shit, even blasphemy could be undone with a confession and a prayer, so make that just murder.

47. God, power and money

Comment #139621 by Gymnopedie on March 6, 2008 at 8:21 am

Exposing these frauds slows them down for a few minutes, but they get right back at it (Peter Popoff, anyone?). When you can just claim that any opposition is the work of Satan, you are invulnerable.

48. How to abandon your God

Comment #139604 by Gymnopedie on March 6, 2008 at 7:48 am

Lu Castro, I feel the same way. The new-age-hippie-buffet religions are just as nonsensical as the monotheistic religions which are just as nonsensical as the polytheistic religions which preceded them. The first baby step to being a rational person is to toss out all religious dogma.

49. How to abandon your God

Comment #139374 by Gymnopedie on March 5, 2008 at 4:49 pm

The point about them only using land line phones seems hugely important, how the hell could they not think of other survey methods? I don't even own a land line telephone, so there goes any chance of my participation.

I think a lot of people stick with religion not because of the deeply fulfilling theology or whatever, but because they like the community of it all. Sunday lunches or Youth groups, anyone? That is part of the reason it is hard to give people a reality slap; they just don't give a shit about the whole fantasy thing, it just feels so darn good.

50. How to abandon your God

Comment #139334 by Gymnopedie on March 5, 2008 at 3:44 pm

Switching a religion seems to me like a great move for the credulous. The old faith is basically cut off like a nasty mole and the new congregation spews forth "love and charity" making the new convert feel wonderful. Plus those feelings must be some sort of divine confirmation as well. Or maybe it's just me, because I know I'd switch religions just like I hit up every event that has free food. The whole thinking thing gets in the way, though.