1. To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups

Comment #221911 by PopeStig on July 30, 2008 at 9:41 am

H4D @ 37,

I am not sure the 'delicacy' as you put it is due to guilt for past colonial crimes. The same approach can be found in for instance Norway and we sucked as a colonial power after 1050 AD or something.

(There's also very little guilt about us travelling around Europe prior to 1050 and umm....refreshing the gene pool of various countries.)

2. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220300 by PopeStig on July 28, 2008 at 9:30 am

So let's see next... Stalin... Collectivization among other communist ideas. 20 million bodies there.


Pol Pot, a "Peasant Revolt" as called by leftists.... over 1 million there.


Mao Zedong, conservatively 40 million deaths.

Bah....everyone knows that these deaths were due to atheism and not due to socialism :-)

3. A third of Muslim students back killings

Comment #220286 by PopeStig on July 28, 2008 at 9:22 am

And exactly how many Muslims are of white complexion...

11.6% of the British muslims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_Kingdom

4. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #218345 by PopeStig on July 25, 2008 at 9:33 am

I believe what has turned large portions of feminism into an annoyance rather than a force for enlightenment is post-modernism. Unfortunately my belief is little more than a gut-feeling, but I'd be curious as to what you more 'edumacated' people here on RD.net might think of my unfounded belief.

I also believe post-modernism is the root of a number of other evils, including our current incarnations of multi-culturalism and political correctness and is to the political left what bigots are to the political right.

But I might be wrong. Gut feelings often are.

5. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #218299 by PopeStig on July 25, 2008 at 7:12 am

Hi all,

I think this discussion is quite an interesting read.

Al,

Would
http://www2.asanet.org/media/discriminate.html be an indication that there's fairly significant work still to be done in the US? I don't have any specific knowledge on the topic, but I would hate for this discussion to stop due to lack of facts.

6. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213228 by PopeStig on July 18, 2008 at 10:10 am

Chris,

If you do decide to post/publish you comments in a better format, it would be interesting to read so please link to it here as it is bound to cause an interesting discussion and help educate us lay-people. Have a nice one.

7. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213034 by PopeStig on July 18, 2008 at 3:32 am

I am not too familiar with American football, but it seems that most quarterbacks are white, where wide receivers who have to run very fast and 'light-footed' to escape the defense are blacks. And most blacks are able to run faster in short sprint, longer in Marathon (mostly form Ethiopia or Kenya highlands), jump higher (an advantage in basketball) and so on ... so races can have different bodily abilities which is based on the ancestry and the natural selection for heat resistance, cold resistance, faster running, adoption to high altitude, so this shouldn't be a taboo for political correctness - that's the point I wanted to make.

I agree with you that genetic differences shouldn't be a taboo to discuss, but it needs to be discussed at a different level than at comparing 'blacks' with 'whites' or Europeans with Asians. Given that us humans started out in Africa there is (to my understanding) bigger genetic differences within Africa than you'll in some cases find between Africans and other groups. For instance, the people that do well at short sprint are big and powerful and often of West-African origin, whereas people that do well at Marathon/Cross-Country running are significantly skinnier and from Kenya/Ethiopia. In for instance Kenya, a large portion of the successful runners come from a tribe that represent 10% of the population.

I think if the discussion is focused on more rigorously defined genetic groups than the poorly defined 'races', accusations of racism won't be as frequent or (sometimes) as justified.

8. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213003 by PopeStig on July 18, 2008 at 1:47 am

Umm...Christoper Davis,

Boston Marathon has been won twice by a Norwegian. New York Marathon has been won 10 times and London Marathon 6 times.

Grete Waitz (9 times New York Marathon winner) and Ingrid Kristiansen.

Both ran in the 80s.

Marathon is just not a popular sport in Norway, where you'll find far more people playing soccer, handball, orienteering or take part in the national sports of skiing and hiking.

As far as I know, Marathon and Cross-Country Running are the most popular sports in Ethiopia and Kenya both, and the multi-medal winning athletes are national heroes the same way the cross-country skiers are heroes in Norway.

If it was a matter of genetics I would have expected Ethiopia and Kenya to dominate Orienteering as well, but in this sport the Scandinavians seem to rule the roost. Probably due to its popularity there.

Also, given the special diets a lot of weight-lifters are on, I would be very surprised if the World's Strongers Man came out of Ethiopia or Kenya anytime soon.

9. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #211019 by PopeStig on July 15, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Not sure I agree with you on this point.

Having less guns probably reduces sucicides because there's more time for second thoughts and easier to rescue someone who's taken too many pills than someone with a hole where their brain used to be.

I'd think this would be one of the arguments against guns that would hold some water. But I suspect it could also just be an argument in favour of ensuring gun owners are sane to begin with.

10. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #211009 by PopeStig on July 15, 2008 at 11:55 am

Al,

55% of all gun deaths in the United States are suicides (31,000 deaths in 2005). Are you prepared to tell me that if guns were illegal these people wouldn't hang themselves, jump in front of a train or take a bottle of pills?

On suicides I have seen research that indicate that lots of guns = more suicides. I am guessing the reason is linked to how easy it is.

Umm....where's the link....here we go...
http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/culture-society/articles/hsph-study-shows-guns-homes-linked-higher-rates-suicide

11. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210978 by PopeStig on July 15, 2008 at 10:32 am

Al,

Are you aware of any theories supported by factual evidence on what could help reduce the Gun violence in the US, would implementing a similar self-defense service such as in Switzerland perhaps work?

12. Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

Comment #210967 by PopeStig on July 15, 2008 at 10:04 am

Al-Rawandi,

if it's any comfort you have convinced me (in previous threads abouts guns) that a high number of guns in a country does not equate to lots of violence and banning or severely restricting access to guns in the US would not necessarily lead to a decrease in violence and murders. So even though you may not convince your debating opponents, there are plenty of people just reading that may be influenced by your line of reasoning.

13. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #210444 by PopeStig on July 14, 2008 at 2:46 pm

Al,

Given our differences in population 580 men is the equivalent of the US sending 37-38000 soldiers to help an ally. Calling that a token force is just ungrateful. I appreciate in the grand scale of things it's not a lot, but in the grand scale of things we're not a huge country either. You have cities that dwarf our entire country.

4 planes is not a lot, but we only have 57 :-)

Some of which need to be kept near our borders with Russia.

You could argue that we could contribute more, but arguing that we're not involved or only sent a token force is not right.

14. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #210415 by PopeStig on July 14, 2008 at 1:41 pm

Sciros,

Stig's not an uncommon name. And if it happens to be your name, your jokes aren't that uncommon either :P

On another note, the Swiss cannot come along to the many romps around the world to beat democracy into people's heads. They're far too busy protecting Pope Ratty.

15. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #210408 by PopeStig on July 14, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Al,

Huh?

Norway has troops in Afghanistan. How are we not involved?

16. PLEASE WRITE IN SUPPORT OF PZ MYERS

Comment #208778 by PopeStig on July 11, 2008 at 8:40 am

Dear President Bruininks,

I would like to express my support for Dr. PZ Myers and my dismay at the of the aggressive actions against him over the Eucharist Wafer fiasco that recently occurred in Florida. I believe he brings both prestige and recognition to your institution and as someone who did not study science, his blog posts and the discussions they spark are valuable sources of education on both science and politics.

I urge you to help find ways to ensure that he has the security to know that he can continue his ongoing education of his online audience and share his opinions unafraid of reprecussions. It would be a shame if he felt he had to share less with the rest of us because of the irrationality of a group of intolerant religious people.

Thanks for listening and have a nice day.

Yours sincerely,

17. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #193311 by PopeStig on June 15, 2008 at 8:56 am

Diacanu,

I think you had a 'la' too many, but otherwise you were fine.

FWIW, you made me laugh.

18. The 14-year-old Afghan suicide bomber

Comment #191039 by PopeStig on June 10, 2008 at 6:30 am

Does anyone know anything about Afghan law and whether these two Imans are likely to face procecution and punishment?

19. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #191021 by PopeStig on June 10, 2008 at 5:53 am

Kabaman,

IANAL but here's my understanding...

I suspect the legislators looked at similar punishments and used the sentences from there. It seems to be the same punishment as for other types of bodily harm.

The punishment is up to 3 years for the FGM, but given that it is up to 6 years if it causes illness/dysfunction of more than two weeks or irreversible disfigurement, error or harm, i suspect most cases would be looking at the 6 year maximum.

The 1 year punishment is for people not taking action to prevent FGM, not for the actual perpetrators of the crime or anyone actively helping them.

And yes, it may seem a small punishment compared to other countries, but that's Norway as a whole for you. I don't think this crime is being treated lightly in comparison to other crimes.

(As a side-note, reading the law, I suspect it technically it also bans the practice of adult women having purely cosmetic changes 'down there'or even piercings.)

In addition to the parents, the bad guy in this story is also the president of Gambia who flat out refuses to do anything about FGM in his country. Several of his neighbouring countries seem to have on-going anti-FGM work and legislation. I know the Norwegian governement has funded anti-FGM projects (amongst other places) in Ethiopia since 2004 that seem to be enjoying some success. But given that the numbers they operate with are in the region of 3 mil mutilations happening a year in Africa, there's a long way yet to go.

I also note that at least two muslim leaders in Norway have publically gone out and stated that there is a fatwa against FGM supported by Tantawi and Ali Goomas (great muftis I believe) and that anyone taking part in FGM are enemies of human rights, Islamic and Norwegian law.

Does anyone know of any organisations that work against FGM in Gambia or for the overthrow of the Gambian presdident that could do with our support?

20. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190970 by PopeStig on June 10, 2008 at 2:51 am

Hi Fanusi,

I am not familiar with the Doctor's Plot. A brief excursion into Wikipedia tells me it is something Stalin made up to be able to justify his anti-semitism. I don't see how that is relevant here?

21. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190693 by PopeStig on June 9, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Stella,

I was a bit surprised at 8 years as well, but checking further it seems to be in line with other types of penalties for causing bodily harm in Norway.

(www.lovdata.no should have the law in Norwegian and English in case anyone wants details).

22. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190116 by PopeStig on June 8, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Alex @ 32,

I haven't found any demands linked to this case that asks for mutilation to be accepted. According to the articles I have read the father refuses any knowledge of the mutilations and the mother (also charged) has yet to be questioned. Not exactly a 'respect our culture' scenario.

I am pleased that Norway, a country that is guilty of its fair share of 'multicuturalism' is finally dealing with this. Fingers crossed they will be able to get a convictions, retrieve the 4 children from Gambia and place them with a foster family that is a bit more enlightened.

23. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190100 by PopeStig on June 8, 2008 at 11:29 am

Fanusi @ 21

Immigrant population in Norway per ssi.no is 460,000 amd the official number of muslims is just shy of 80,000 again according to ssi.no. Hardly 'principally muslim'.

Of course, if you have facts that say otherwise, I am of course open to be corrected.

24. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190046 by PopeStig on June 8, 2008 at 9:24 am

Alex @ 4,

If they had not moved to Norway and had stayed in Gambia, the mutilations would have happened anyway and their 3 year old would probably also have gone under the knife without the parents being charged at all.

I am not sufficiently familiar with Norway's immigration policy to discuss it confidently, but I don't see how this case relates to it in any other way than enabling the Norwegian police to prosecute the family.

25. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190039 by PopeStig on June 8, 2008 at 9:15 am

Mordacious,

In the Norwegian newpaper Aftenposten's coverage of this case there's a sidebar that specifies that most of the operations are carried out by women, and also that the actual mutilation probably happened in Gambia and not in Norway. IANAL but I believe the family's Iman in Norway (if they are muslim) could be charged if he knew about this and did nothing to prevent it.

The same article points out that the mutilations are not illegal in Gambia and that Gambia's president has stated that he has no intention of outlawing them.

26. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190033 by PopeStig on June 8, 2008 at 8:56 am

The 2004 amendement to the law also includes people working for a religious organisations in addition to health and school personnel. Priests and imans that allow this practice to go on in their congregation would face up to one year in prison.

27. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #98079 by PopeStig on December 13, 2007 at 3:47 am

Father Mike,

I would agree that an Atheist organisation (such as AAI) should take responsibility for those that represent the organisation and should expel members that do things that do not fit with the stated tenents of the organisation. But to my knowledge, no atrocities have been committed in the name of AAI that they ought to condemn publically and afaik Pol Pot, Mao, Hitler or Stalin were not card carrying AAI members.

28. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #98062 by PopeStig on December 13, 2007 at 3:20 am

Apologies Father Mike,

I was trying to be flippant by answering why you would subject yourself to being an Anglican Priest with your answer to Baeoz - but alas - seems I wasn't successful. I have deleted my post.

29. Jury Awards Father $11M in Funeral Case

Comment #84392 by PopeStig on November 2, 2007 at 1:08 am

Would those who believe what the Phelps are doing at American military grave sites is criminal agree that the holocaust survivors' behaviour in this instance is also criminal?

Yes. Criminal is criminal, regardless of who the victim is. If I wait outside a prison and beat up a released criminal, I would be committing a crime - no matter how vile his/her crime was.

In your example above I would not feel any sympathy for the SS soldiers, but would still think a crime was committed against them.

30. Enemies of Reason

Comment #65387 by PopeStig on August 24, 2007 at 2:11 am

I'd agree with pewkatchoo in his assessment of the show. Although I agree with Prof. Dawkins and am a fan of his writing, as a tv-show it was dull.

The missus (not having read any of the books) was so unimpressed with the first episode she avoided the second. Do we have any other feedback from people that aren't fans? Did they like it.

31. Good luck, Dawkins!

Comment #63793 by PopeStig on August 15, 2007 at 11:50 pm

Jefft0,

I would think that you can still go after the fraudsters that make money and claim this is working and not extend the same protection to all of these weird beliefs that we (wrongly) extend to religion.

By opposing superstition in every arena you can and constantly go after people who make wrongful claims, it will fall out of favour. Whether in online forums, newspapers, blogs and reporting wrongful woo woo claims to the proper ombudsman.

Perhaps if enough people complained to their paper about horoscopes being wrong, we could force disclaimers in that say the horoscopes are 'just for fun', perhaps a step in getting them removed?

Anywhere where city councils or govermental bodies give grants or support to woo woo organisations, you can register your displeasure with your local councilman or mp.

If you go after the people that make all the silly unverifiable claims, they won't be around to spread their nonsense and thus won't infect the rest of us with silly superstition.

In the UK you made a stand against facism and nipped it in the bud early on. Perhaps a similar (although less violent) stand can be made against woo woo and religion.

'They shall not pass'

I am just glad I am a Gemini, as we don't believe in superstition.

32. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62735 by PopeStig on August 11, 2007 at 4:29 am

Islam accepts human beings as they actually are, and gives us laws that lead to peace and brotherhood.

Human beings like Ettore Capriolo and William Nygaard?

I have seen little evidence that Islamic laws leads to peace and brotherhood. Would you have some sort of evidence of this? Stating something doesn't make it true, as I see every morning when I tell myself I have the body of Adonis and the mind of Einstein.

33. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62731 by PopeStig on August 11, 2007 at 3:48 am

I disagree… (so we cannot even agree on that? Sorry)

I believe a god is very, very unlikely and without evidence I will not believe in a god.

However I do not want to call myself an agnostic since this may seem I am just 50/50.

hehe...perhaps atheism needs to be defined as people that think the likelyhood of one or more gods existing is less than 25% :-)

34. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62557 by PopeStig on August 10, 2007 at 5:44 am

Hi Ash

why it is ok to treat Christians like dirt in some places

It isn't. And that applies if you replace Christians with Atheists. Or a race. Or hairstyle. Or political opinion.

I believe it happens when you don't treat people as individuals but start generalising and grouping. I know I have done it in the past (hopefully not on this board) and I've seen you do it in a previous post.

I hope it is something that us humans will get to grips with over the next decades so we'll put tribalism behind us, just like you did when you saw your mistake and apologised for your generalisation - something which I thought deserved a lot of respect.

Have a good weekend,
PopeStig

35. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62556 by PopeStig on August 10, 2007 at 5:28 am

Hi Ash,

Regards the 'trouble'. I believe there's a significant difference between 'caused by' and 'being done in the name of'.

I don't think the shootings and bombings were religious acts or believed to be so - like suicide bombers for instance. If all of the people in Ireland shared the same faith, what do you think would have been the outcome of the Irish Independence War? Would there have been a civil war and would the troubles have been there?

Do you feel that religion had nothing to do with the conflict at all?

36. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62555 by PopeStig on August 10, 2007 at 5:16 am

what do atheists really believe?

That there is no god. Think that's probably the only thing all atheists have in common and will not disagree on.

37. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62096 by PopeStig on August 8, 2007 at 6:36 am

Though I think you also offer a hint at its solution in your own remarks. It is safe to say, I think, that the situation in Ireland has continually evolved over the centuries but that the distinction between Catholic or Protestant has not; even though the tennets of both faiths have.

Possibly an aside, but how does the religion change? Did someone have a new vision? Did someone update the bible?

This, in a way, proves my contention. Whilst the political and religious themes have changed, the need for a convenient distinction between potential targets has not. There are those who have lived with these "troubles" (and I have met them) who would say that the violence has never been about religion, but about occupation, power, history, revenge; anything but religion.

The only way you can tell the difference between the two sides is by their faith. There would not have been a Northern Ireland if it was not for the fact that the Protestants (a majority in the area) were afraid they'd be treated poorly by the Catholics (a majority in Ireland as a whole). The irony is that the 'Troubles' flared up again at the end of the sixties because Catholics felt mistreated and discriminated against by Protestants.

It's all about revenge, occupation and power - but between religious groupings.

My theory is that it's the increased wealth and the accompanying secularism of the area that has enabled the peace treaty to come to pass, and (I hope) will ensure a lasting peace in the area. But I haven't seen any research proving or disproving this.

Not all would agree obviously, but I didn't ask if any one could find a way to prove me wrong? I asked what you really believed? Do you believe that any of the bombers or assasins on either side of that conflict had an image of Jesus or Mother Mary in their head as their motivating thought? Come on! Let's get real. Lets not waste keyboard presses. We could ware out our fingers on such non-arguments. Dawkins wants you to believe that we Christians are evil. He has his own motives, which I suspect is more than just selling books. But just think it through. It dosen't even make sense.

You're attacking statements I didn't make, and opinions I don't hold. I haven't studied rhetoric, but I believe that's called setting up a strawman. It's underhanded and cheap, so I'd rather you didn't do it, if that is okay :-)

I do not believe all or even most Christians are evil (unless setting up a strawman is evil..), but I believe religion as a whole is a kind of blinkered tribalism that underlies a lot of our modern conflicts and increases their duration and the atrocities commited during the war.

38. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62085 by PopeStig on August 8, 2007 at 5:44 am

This Hitler / Catholic thing. You really should let it go. He did not require catholisism from the men who faught under him, or those who committed war crimes in his regime. There were none believers, people who believed in the spurious myths they tried to dig up from the past (including Hitler by the way - not so devout a catholic after all) people who thought of themselves as Christian; they even had muslims in the SS (bet you didn't know that? ;) ) So, baring in mind that nobody cried, "for the Pope!" when running into battle or carried a Papal banner, put all of these faiths and none faiths together and what have you got? A-THEISM. Q.E.D., he said smugly ;)

Hitler himself was born a Catholic and reinforces his Chrisian faith several times in various speeches. The Nazi party program mentioned "We demand freedom for all religious confessions in the state, insofar as they do not endanger its existence or conflict with the customs and moral sentiments of the Germanic race. The party as such represents the standpoint of a positive Christianity, without owing itself to a particular confession...."

I also very much doubt that these are the words of someone who proudly wears an atheist t-shirt : "We were convinced that the people need and require this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out."

Hitler had widespread support from the church (although he met some critisim early on) as he stood against the secularism and godlessness of the Weimar republic, So calling him an atheist and nazism an atheist ideology is stretching the truth more than a little bit.

He does have a go at both Churches and priests, so I don't know if he qualifies for the moniker of a 'good catholic' either, but I can find little evidence for him not being a Christian.

I don't think we can say he's a discredit to atheists at all. Mind you, even if he was an atheist it would not be an argument against atheism, anymore than him being born a Catholic is an argument against Christianity.

39. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #62069 by PopeStig on August 8, 2007 at 5:04 am

Does anybody seriously believe, in this day and age, that Christianity is either causing wars or otherwise?

I do.

If this day and age is the last 50 years, then the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland is a prime example. The only real way of telling the difference between the two sides is...religion. In this case which particular flavour of Christianity you subscribe to. The Catholics and Protestants have been having scraps for the last 400 years, and although other causes have worsened the situation and ignited bursts of violence (Nationlism and Imperialism) - without religion, there would be no way of telling who to shoot or blow up.