Comments by LucyFir

This college seems anti-intellectual:
"While there are many very worthy cases, I hope you will join me in believing that the effort by PHC to offer a truly world-class alternative to the New Atheists and internationalists is among the most urgent issues of our day. Our opponents know that this is a long-term battle, and while we match their determination, we need your help.

Please consider Patrick Henry College in your year-end giving plans. Fighting something with nothing doesn't work. Help us reach our financial goal so that, small as we are, yet working together, we can continue to achieve great victories for God and country."
http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=21147611026532716

3. The Only One in Step

Comment #14560 by LucyFir on December 23, 2006 at 8:19 am

Here is more good news from the Guardian:

"Religion does more harm than good - poll
82% say faith causes tension in country where two thirds are not religious"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1978045,00.html

IMO the statistic about the percentage of people attending holiday religious services seem to suggest that they are in it for the theatrical stagecraft. It's magic.

Next Saturday we have tickets for a matinee of 'On Religion" http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1962412,00.html . "The play centres on Tom who gives up the law to become a priest, to the horror of his atheistic scientist mother Grace, who is in effect a female version of Dawkins. But is Grace overreacting to an abusive Catholic childhood?"

After that show it's own to Faust:
http://www.musicomh.com/theatre/faust_1006.htm

Epiphanies I've had many and everyone has been while experiencing a great work of art. I feel luck, luck, lucky.

4. Science Weekly for December 11: Creationism special

Comment #14366 by LucyFir on December 22, 2006 at 6:32 am

It seems that Dawkins has provoked the University of Lees to make a public disclaimer about a tenured prof. Andrew McIntosh:

"An organisation calling itself Truth in Science has recently used its (evidently large) financial resources to distribute DVDs promoting "intelligent design" to all schools (Report, December 7). The leading scientist behind Truth in Science is Andrew McIntosh, professor of thermodynamics at Leeds University. He has repeatedly said the world is only 6,000 years old. Given that all the scientific evidence points to approximately 4.6bn years as the true age of Earth, the scale of his error is remarkable.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the university has issued an official disclaimer: "Professor Andrew McIntosh's directorship of Truth in Science, and his promotion of that organisation's views, are unconnected to his teaching or research [here]... The university wishes to distance itself publicly from theories of creationism and so-called intelligent design, which cannot be verified by evidence."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1975137,00.html

Thank you Richard Dawkins.

5. CBC Segment on Evangelist Christians

Comment #13994 by LucyFir on December 20, 2006 at 2:28 pm

N-ah - Christians don't shake or spook the CBC. It's not Voodoo but economics that killed the clip. The poor cousin to the BBC doesn't have the money to keep material on the web 24/7. Hopefully Norm ( http://onegoodmove.org ) kept a copy and will find the time (thanks) and another way to show it.

In the meantime I'd like to say thanks to Josh for making this a fantastic and efficient website.

Thank you mostly Richard Dawkins for leadership. The inspiration to speak freely about atheism is positive and will reach most rational people in time.

Be Canadian and do the right thing, LindaWS

6. Richard Dawkins on the Mike Dickin Show

Comment #13608 by LucyFir on December 18, 2006 at 6:04 pm

The talk host and even Dawkins allowed the callers way too much airtime letting them ramble on while saying nothing and refusing to answer direct questions. Most of them seemed quite ignorant and rather pathetic as they defended religion against Darwin and Dawkins. That dynamic duo scares people silly and hooray for that.

Even Tony Benn on another talk show (http://richarddawkins.net/article,433,Richard-Dawkins-on-The-Sunday-Edition,ITV-1 ) defiantly refuses to answer when asked if he believes in god. Benn should have been pressed to lie, say yes and make a fool of himself on national TV or be truthful and say no.

People don't want to admit out loud that what they believe is untrue so they react with irrational responses. Citing the bible, torah or qu'ran is not evidence of gods but is of conditioning. Stop pussy footing around and tell them that. They should be made to answer questions too. Ask the Moslems if they believe that Mohammed flew on a magic pony or Christians if the tale that Jesus resurrected after death is a true story. No sane person can truthfully say out loud that those events actually happened. No matter how many syllables are in the word transubstantiation it's still a circus trick performed by a guy in fancy dress waving a magic wand over a cookie and getting the audience to believe it's a god. That is another manifestation of Jack in the Beanstalk enchantment.

Dawkins must persist when participating in these forums and not let evangelists who have been taught to take command of the stage bully him. He is too courteous when put against aggressive defenders of faith and Creationism.

7. Response to Richard Dawkins' Criticisms in The God Delusion

Comment #13203 by LucyFir on December 16, 2006 at 7:20 am

Hooray for yet another pompous and long-winded essay that doesn't provide proof of gods. Is it too much to ask for evidence of the existence of anything supernatural?

8. Grandparents linked with church-going

Comment #13108 by LucyFir on December 15, 2006 at 1:25 pm

What education, literacy levels or IQs are involved in this study?

My maternal grandmother was Italian, illiterate and from a poor family and of course she went to mass every day. I never knew what she had to confess to as it seemed even from a child's perspective that she suffered tremendous abuse. Although I adored her for the love and protection she gave to me and my brothers and sisters the religion bug didn't bite any of the six of us. My grandmother wasn't stupid however being that she was oppressed by a patriarchal, misogynist culture endorsed by the Roman Church she didn't have options. Perhaps she dreamed that one day if she prayed hard enough to the bleeding statues help would come. It never did.

9. Book a Day

Comment #12083 by LucyFir on December 10, 2006 at 9:09 am

SMART - I have not been able to find TGD at Chapters or Coles in TO. The sales clerks keep saying it's sold out so my advice is to avoid Heather Reichman's book outlets and order from Amazon.

Harper must have read and is paying attention to the Allemang piece in the G&M as he didn't invoke his imaginary friends at the tree lighting event yesterday.

Hopefully Dion will come out as an atheist. It may tough to do that as it would scare Albertans even more than homosexuality does.