1. No atheist burials in Co Donegal

Comment #239463 by perkyjay on August 29, 2008 at 4:47 pm

British Columbia, where we live, is the ONLY jurisdiction in North America which permits the relatives to take charge of a corpse and dispose of it 'as they see fit',( provided it is done in a legal manner). "Legal" includes scattering the ashes on a large body of water or in a wilderness area, both of which we have in abundance. We live on the shores of The Arrow Lakes, which is part of the Columbia River and I've got my heart set on that. I'm not ready yet but when my time comes, that's where you'll find me, obviously without "benefit" of clergy !

2. It's no wonder evangelical atheists need to shout so loud

Comment #238026 by perkyjay on August 27, 2008 at 2:08 pm

Barry Cooper is a mentor of our inglorious Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who during his regrettably long sojourn at the seat of Canadian power, Ottawa, has attended the mega-church of George McVety, a born-again preacher and eminence grise behind every piece of restrictive legislation and policy that Harper and his minions have passed or introduced in the last two and a half disastrous years.

3. Michael Coren: Stéphane Dion finds God

Comment #236945 by perkyjay on August 25, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Ishruul: If you knew Stephane Dion, you would know that he is the absolute antithesis of George Bush. Now Stephen Harper, presently Prime Minister of Canada, but, one hopes, not for long, is known in Canada as 'Bush-lite'.

4. US school district sued over homophobic 'witch hunt'

Comment #234438 by perkyjay on August 21, 2008 at 11:08 am

I couldn't help noticing the irony in the name of the High School. Ponce was a British word in the 40s for two things, a male homosexual and what is now referred to as a pimp. Just a thought from an old man.

5. The rise of Miliband brings at last the prospect of an atheist prime minister

Comment #234431 by perkyjay on August 21, 2008 at 10:56 am

What are the chances of Miliband making it to No.10 ? I haven't really had much to do with British politics since leaving the UK in 1957, except for a casual interest in elections. Much more interested in the Canadian scene and in hating the present federal government with a passion, mainly because of Harper's sneering attitude, which gets worse by the day.

6. After Bibles seized, U.S. group won't leave Chinese airport

Comment #232600 by perkyjay on August 18, 2008 at 11:36 am

The solution would appear to be simple - stick 'em on a plane and deport them. Don't worry about smuggling charges, but make sure that their names appear in all the immigration service computers in China as "personae non gratae".

7. More reviews of 'The Genius of Charles Darwin'

Comment #227699 by perkyjay on August 10, 2008 at 1:30 pm

The Guardian/Observer critiques were quite satisfactory, as was The Independent, but the Times was sucking snide. Nothing more can be expected from Gill. I am also intrigued by the missing posts - knowing who the writers were they were not offensive, surely !

8. Do they really think the earth is flat?

Comment #224319 by perkyjay on August 4, 2008 at 1:14 pm

In 1950 I was at university in England and was a member of the college's Flat Earth Society, which I hasten to add, had nothing to do with the shape of the earth, but which was a fine dining and wine appreciation society. On Xmas Day 1950 the Coronation Stone was stolen from Westminster Abbey,and the Dean of Westminster went on BBC following the King's Xmas message to announce that he would "go to the ends of the earth if necessary to recover the Stone. We sent him a letter on the Society's notepaper inviting him to
come to the college when he returned to tell us what it was like. Needless to say, he didn't
favour us with a reply.

9. Embracing goodness, without God

Comment #224240 by perkyjay on August 4, 2008 at 11:06 am

I am bi-animal, having two large dogs and three cats

10. Embracing goodness, without God

Comment #224237 by perkyjay on August 4, 2008 at 11:01 am

To #4 Tiki-Al: Come to the West Kootenay area of BC - specifically The Arrow Lakes - mosquitoes are so rare in this area of BC as to be very hard to find. The Okanagan, the next valley westwards from here, is also good for the absence of bugs.

11. Cardinal accuses Anglican Communion of 'spiritual Alzheimer's'

Comment #217396 by perkyjay on July 24, 2008 at 10:10 am

Re: Comment #7 by melsdr: I just arrived on this board and saw your comment. It occurred to me that a more appropriate expression than "those wankers in the Vatican" would be "those buggers in the Vatican". Just a suggestion.

12. New Zealand man sells his soul to 'Hell'

Comment #203818 by perkyjay on July 3, 2008 at 5:40 pm

Jenny Taylier: When I was at school in England during WWII, we sang an anthem, with one line that read "Our souls are turned to Thee O Lord".
No prizes for how we chose to pronounce it. BTW - that's a cute handle; why no avatar ?

13. New Zealand man sells his soul to 'Hell'

Comment #203779 by perkyjay on July 3, 2008 at 2:40 pm

Steve Zara: Heaven looks like it might be a pub; the co-ordinates seem to be 52/21.58'/56" N and
0/52.0'/72" E. I've been away from UK except on vacations for over 50 years, so it may only look like a pub from "the air".

14. Aliens need Christ's redemption, too

Comment #201430 by perkyjay on June 29, 2008 at 4:27 pm

Oh....for christ's sake !

15. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #196628 by perkyjay on June 20, 2008 at 8:56 am

As it says in either Leviticus or Deuteronomy,"Verily, I say unto you, but who giveth a goddam?". BTW my real name is John Perkins - absolutely no connection to the character mentioned by al-rawandi - that John Perkins, whilst hardly the bane of my life, has caused me some slight embarrassment over the years.

16. George W Bush meets Pope amid claims he might convert to Catholicism

Comment #194112 by perkyjay on June 16, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Bush's comment as he ascended the steps of St.John's Tower - what an honour X 3 - reminded me of a joke which was doing the rounds of England in 1947, just before Prince Philip married Princess Elizabeth,(the present Queen).
Prince Philip was unsure of how one went about deflowering the heir to the British Throne, so he approached the Lord Chamberlain. The L.C. said,"Well sir, it's really quite simple. The princess will come to your bedchamber and say - Sir, I offer you my honour. Then you will say - Madam I accept the offer of your honour. And then, Sir, it's simply a question of on her and off her, until neither of you can stay awake !"

17. Hints of structure beyond the visible universe

Comment #191367 by perkyjay on June 10, 2008 at 5:40 pm

I'm sorry Synchronium - that name should have been
no-pops.com

18. Hints of structure beyond the visible universe

Comment #191348 by perkyjay on June 10, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Synchronium: You do not have to suffer through pop-ups. There are a number of pop-up preventers available for download free. I haven't had a pop-up in 4 years - mine is called "No pop-ups".

19. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190670 by perkyjay on June 9, 2008 at 11:03 am

I'm a Canadian and I was on the point of turning in my citizenship papers, that is until I googled Canada Free Press. 'Nuff said ! I'll hang onto my citizenship in the hopes that not too many more embarrassing things happen. We atheists will always have the respect and support of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

20. A natural selection

Comment #180726 by perkyjay on May 15, 2008 at 4:17 pm

Ever since I've lived in Nakusp I've had respect for United Church people. In fact I've said,"scratch a member of the United Church and you'll find a very lukewarm believer, even maybe an agnostic". Anyway they are,in the main, very pleasant people.

21. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177086 by perkyjay on May 8, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Richard - I think that to respond would tend to give his comments, in his view at least, some semblance of dignity. I don't think that he is half the man, intellectually, that Richard Harries is. If I was in your shoes, I would ignore him.

22. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #172241 by perkyjay on April 29, 2008 at 11:28 am

To Jolly Blogger: There has been an announcement on the Home Page of this web-site for at least three weeks, in the top left-hand corner, for both the Chan Centre and yesterday's interview on CKNW.

23. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #172234 by perkyjay on April 29, 2008 at 11:21 am

Since I live in BC, although too far from Vancouver to drive there comfortably, I was able to listen to RD's interview with Bill Good of cknw in its entirety and thought that Good was very sympathetic to RD's points. As to McKnight's views, I think most commenters are being too harsh on him. He's a journalist first and foremost, not an atheist, but he is ripe for the picking. British Columbia is the most evolved province in Canada, in terms of shucking off ancient belief systems. In my own village of Nakusp there are so many atheists and potential atheists of whom I have become aware in the 8 years since I arrived here from Alberta - the ultimate Bible Belt of Canada - that I am truly amazed. We have to be patient.

24. If God Is Dead, Who Gets His House?

Comment #165950 by perkyjay on April 22, 2008 at 4:05 pm

This is getting bloody ridiculous.Atheists, normal ones anyway, do NOT need a church in which to meet once a week, or twice, or every day. Surely our strength is in our individuality. I am in my 80th year and the term atheist was good enough for my father and my grandfather, although my mother and my grandmother thought that their husbands were "sick in the head" because they were atheists. My five sons and six grandchildren, all adults by the way, are atheists and I haven't tried to influence any single one of them - they must have excellent genes.

25. Iowa county board gives initial OK for ghost hunters to investigate asylum

Comment #151776 by perkyjay on March 29, 2008 at 11:11 am

epeeist:'why are they looking for ghosts in such a new building ?'.

I'm a transplanted Yorkshireman, living in a British Columbia village,(not very much older than I am), and people are looking for ghosts in the hotel here which was built in 1893, only 37 years before I was born. On the whole Canadians are wonderful people, but lack true historical perspective.

26. Richard Dawkins on The Alan Colmes Show

Comment #143988 by perkyjay on March 14, 2008 at 7:46 pm

I've never seen Colmes without Hannity before. What a treat ! And what a treat RD was - he was relaxed,chatty and genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

27. Lords Approve Abolition Of Blasphemy

Comment #139903 by perkyjay on March 6, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I think most of the posters to this point,#41 when I joined the conversation, have their knickers so twisted that they didn't pay any attention to the heading of the NSS article,
"Lords approve abolition of Blasphemy" to which I can only say, "Thank the Lords".

28. Hebrew University researcher: Moses was tripping at Mount Sinai

Comment #139310 by perkyjay on March 5, 2008 at 2:53 pm

This is very amusing - since I embraced atheism 65 years ago, I've told everyone who would listen that I thought Moses forgot his manic-depressive medication on the day he went up Mt.Sinai. Guess I'll have to change my story, in the light of this new "revelation".

29. The New Atheist Movement

Comment #123138 by perkyjay on February 6, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Crich83: I agree with you that the story of the fellow-traveller appears to have been a fabrication. Pretty well all the atheists that I have known in a fairly lengthy life,(I'm now in my 80th year), have experienced religion at first hand, thereby doing away with the need to read about it.

30. George Scales, War Hero and Generous Friend of RDFRS

Comment #111394 by perkyjay on January 14, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Best wishes for a speedy recovery George from a Yorkshireman who's lived in Canada for more than
50 years, but hasn't lost his accent !
John Perkins

31. Good God! A politician who doesn't believe...

Comment #101970 by perkyjay on December 21, 2007 at 10:09 am

BNCBright: You shouldn't be so hard on Clegg. Three of my five sons, all firm atheists, are or have been married to catholics, and all have had children. Their children are now adults and, happily, are atheists. During their childhood they attended catholic schools, but once that was over they learned sense, with obvious results. Give Clegg's children a little time to make up their own minds !

32. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99348 by perkyjay on December 16, 2007 at 12:10 pm

Diacanu: I've always found it strange that Brits, and I am one, although ex-pat these 50+ years, prefer a homosexual-type oath, "Oh bugger". to anything else.

33. Ayaan Hirsi Ali versus Timothy Garton Ash

Comment #98458 by perkyjay on December 13, 2007 at 4:10 pm

The video that I watched carried a closing message that the two protagonists had agreed to edit a short passage from the video. TGA and AHA had both been rendered briefly inaudible.TGA's was longer than AHA'S, but that's because TGA was a lot longer-winded than Ayaan. I had a real problem with him.

34. Keith Olbermann talks about the Romney 'Religion' Speech

Comment #95587 by perkyjay on December 8, 2007 at 4:25 pm

Barbara - 95486: You could feel safe, with your two cats, in Canada. 20% of all Canadians are avowed atheists, and I suspect another 40% are quite lukewarm to the blandishments of religion.
You would be very welcome.

35. Sunday School for Atheists

Comment #90797 by perkyjay on November 26, 2007 at 11:48 am

Phillip1978: I'm a parent of five sons, aged 56 to 43. I've been an atheist since the age of 16, but I never stood in the way of any of my boys going to sunday school - only two ever wanted to go anyway, and then only two or three times. They are all very devout atheists and have been for many years, but it's only since I retired from business almost 20 years ago that I came out and declared myself to the world at large that I was an atheist,(why spoil a good thing - I had a lot of christian clients, who most certainly would not have used my services if they had been aware of my infidel status) - my point being that I never
tried to influence my sons one way or the other. I'm delighted to say that my six grandchildren,all in their 20s now, are atheists as well.

36. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #76845 by perkyjay on October 7, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Corylus #29: Agree wholeheartedly with your comment about Richard Burton reading poetry. Have you heard his version of A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas - much better read than by the author himself. Many many years ago when I was a young fellow we had a rugby song which could go on all night long, and which used almost every Limerick ever written, one of which was:

"There was a young man from Madras
Who had two balls of brass.
In inclement weather
They banged together,
And blue sparks flew out of his arse."

Very apropos, I thought

37. Harper's Index

Comment #75077 by perkyjay on October 1, 2007 at 4:29 pm

Since January 2006, I have donated on average one book every month by RD, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Dan Dennett,Victor Stenger,AC Grayling,
Carl Sagan, Michel Onfray, Ayan Hirsi Ali. I have ordered Root of All Evil on DVD for donation as well. Strangely enough, the Dewey Decimal System for classifying library books does not have a category for Atheism, with the result that my donations are all over the library. Fortunately they are in almost permanent circulation and the Head Librarian tells me that she has refused Inter-Library loan privileges on almost all of 'my' books because local interest is stiil high.

38. MORE GOOD NEWS for US taxpayers

Comment #72704 by perkyjay on September 22, 2007 at 11:23 am

Frankie 1958: There is still a thriving "agricultural" industry in British Colmubia. BC Gold is the current name of the crop and it is replacing timber, the stands of which are being decimated by the Mountain Pine Beetle, as the province's principal export, and Nakusp, where I live,is one of the main centres for wild mushrooms, both psychedelic and regular .

39. MORE GOOD NEWS for US taxpayers

Comment #72243 by perkyjay on September 20, 2007 at 3:05 pm

I too would like the RDFRS make an application to the CCRA - the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency -for charitable status. I think it's important to let you all know that Socrates is only talking about Ontario. Here in British Columbia there is no government financing for faith-based schools and, apart from a few pockets of Bible-Beltism, the province has a healthy population of skeptics and 'devout' atheists like me.

40. Good News: Both our Foundations are now Officially Recognized as Charities

Comment #70598 by perkyjay on September 16, 2007 at 8:34 am

Can I add my plea for Canada ? There are plenty of perfectly happy infidels up here too.

41. The Out Campaign

Comment #60041 by perkyjay on July 31, 2007 at 3:54 pm

savagemickey: I can sympathize. I owned a mfg.co.
for 32 years and sold a product, actually a line of products, across Canada. I kept quiet about my atheism the whole time I was in business, at least as far as my 250+ wholesalers were concerned
because a number of them were christians and made no secret of it. My deceit did not go unrewarded because selling my product to holier-than-thou types did give me a certain kick. I retired 18 years ago now and went public with my atheism immediately.

42. Come Out!

Comment #59552 by perkyjay on July 29, 2007 at 2:35 pm

I live in a relatively small village in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. I have donated 18 books on atheism, at the rate of one per month, to the local public library, each one containing a book plate inscribed,"Donated by John Perkins" - that's me -. The book donations have made me aware of so many atheists, agnostics,wannabes etc. in this small community, that I am gratified by the numbers. I have also ordered some T-shirts and, moreover, I count amongst my friends and nodding acquaintances here, people of all faiths, the gamut from RCs
down to Pentecostals and JWs. So don't be afraid - if you can come out in a small village like this one ........what the hell !

43. Response to the God Delusion

Comment #58121 by perkyjay on July 23, 2007 at 2:54 pm

Certainly in the KJV, or whatever version of the bible the C of E uses these days, the numbers of the words used 'coincided' precisely with the magic number in the Jewish whatever, but did it match up in Hebrew or whatever language Genesis was written in originally. It infuriated me listening to Midgley pronouncing Dawkins as DAWKINGS all through his pathetic diatribe

44. Insurance for Sex Abuse: A policy tailor-made for the Catholic church

Comment #57266 by perkyjay on July 18, 2007 at 5:37 pm

St.Peters would make a smashing opera house - it would replace the Caracalla Baths, also in Rome and now discontinued as an outdoor venue for operatic performances. Let's work on it ! We might be able to pick it up for a song !

45. Charles Darwin - Legacy

Comment #55502 by perkyjay on July 11, 2007 at 10:29 am

I too think that Monkey 2 is being a little over-sensitive over Kaufmann's use of the word "God"; after all, god has become a part of English and many other languages as in the expressions my god, godforsaken, goddamned etc ad nauseam. Maybe Kaufmann is a theist. We can't expect everyone who is ever interviewed on TV programs to be as atheistic as we are, although it would be nice !

46. Call for 'post-9/11' RE teaching

Comment #50375 by perkyjay on June 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm

I was at a grammar school in Yorkshire during WWII and since all the masters of military age had been called up for service, we were taught mainly by old fogies and very attractive young mistresses, who had never been previously allowed within the confines of a boys' school. RI, as it was then known,(Religious Instruction), was taught by a delightfully humourous 25 year old woman, who had us all eating out of the palm of her hand ,(we wished), and we spent a great deal of our time trying to look up her skirt as she sat
on the front of her desk, alternately crossing and uncrossing her legs. It was shortly after that
that I saw the light and became an atheist at the age of 15.

47. Rushdie knighted in honours list

Comment #50313 by perkyjay on June 16, 2007 at 4:37 pm

For all you non-Brits who are not familiar with the honours process, it is entirely the responsibility of the Prime Minister of the day to recommend candidates for honours. A friend of mine was Mrs.Thatcher's adviser on honours, and the process seems to be out of the monarch's hands - in other words, what the Prime Minister wants, the Prime Minister gets.

48. Tome truths

Comment #49306 by perkyjay on June 11, 2007 at 12:46 pm

Friend Giskard: Onfray has two books recently published, In Defense of Atheism, and The Atheist Manifesto. They are, in my opinion, 'a little light in the loafers' compared to Dawkins,Hitchens, Dennett and Grayling himself, although he doesn't mention his own books - I suppose he would have thought himself immodest if he had - I love the way Hitchens writes, but he is a 'big bully' when he is up against somebody like Chris Hedges, who, if one can make allowances for his Christianity, seems to be a gentle man and sincere, even if very deluded.

49. U.S. a theocratic state, says former Canadian ambassador

Comment #46817 by perkyjay on June 1, 2007 at 7:54 pm

I was born in the UK and I arrived in Canada 50 years ago at the age of 28. I am a life-long Liberal and a third generation atheist. Frank McKenna is a good man - obviously I believe that because he's a Liberal, but this is the first time I've heard him give a reason why he didn't enter the leadership race for our party. Canada has come closer to being a theocracy under Stephen Harper's, (also known as Bush-lite) minority government than at any time in its history, but we can only hope that he will suffer a crushing defeat at the next federal election, whenever that may be. Harper's Minister of Public Security is a young earther, for christ's sake - 'nuff said!

50. Despite what the scholars say, God isn't dead yet

Comment #44176 by perkyjay on May 23, 2007 at 2:27 pm

On a 'point of order': Eugenics was the official policy of The Government of Alberta(Canada) from the mid-30s until the late 40s. The Premier was known as Bible Bill Aberhart, and he conducted ,every Sunday morning, The Prairie Bible Hour on CFCN 1060 Radio. He had a direct line, just like Haggard and Dubya, to that mythical old man way up yonder.