Comments by MilesSmiles

that pictures from the cover of 'letters to a young contrarian' as for noam, he may disagree with hitchens on a variety of things, as many disagree with his position on iraq, but noam is a staunch supporter of freedom of speech, and regarding religion he has this to say...

"I am a child of the Enlightenment. I think irrational belief is a dangerous phenomenon, and I try to consciously avoid irrational belief. On the other hand, I certainly recognize that it's a major phenomenon for people in general, and you can understand why it would be. It does, apparently, provide personal sustenance, but also bonds of association and solidarity and a means for expressing elements of one's personality that are often very valuable elements. To many people it does that. In my view, there's nothing wrong with that. My view could be wrong, of course, but my position is that we should not succumb to irrational belief."

....it's quite clear then that they would be on the same side of the "wall"

3. A Matter of Faith

Comment #64710 by MilesSmiles on August 21, 2007 at 12:21 pm

as for the "divine dilemma", it seems that the science is in, no? it's good to see that sweeney is releasing her show as a movie...i think bill maher is also releasing a movie on religion. since it seems that we live in a visual age, i think the more of these videos like dawkins' root of all evil will really start an international evaluation of the necessity for and morality of certain dogmas. hitchens is on point here. check out his new site...

http://www.buildupthatwall.com

has a lot of good books listed, it also keeps up to date with his articles. as for this "gentleman's agreement" with religion, i would argue that religion has offended society to the point that secularists dont need to tread lightly anymore.

4. Democratic Candidates on a Personal God

Comment #64681 by MilesSmiles on August 21, 2007 at 9:29 am

wow, those responses were pitiful. the field doesn't look too promising so far. i wouldn't want the new president of the united states to be relying on prayer for their conviction, ideas on "social justice", or even their courage. i found their answers for the most part to be boring, or fake. it's hard to tell who really means it and who's just trying to fit in. while kucinich is rather naive about the states role in global affairs, i heard he wants to create a dept of peace...could be a step in the right direction. perhaps he would enlist david lynch to go around the world preaching transcendental meditation. haha. oh.....and check out this new hitchens site,

http://www.buildupthatwall.com

i found a lot of books on there that i didn't know about...looks interesting

5. The Politics of God

Comment #64499 by MilesSmiles on August 20, 2007 at 9:34 am

can't wait for this to come out. looks like a good one. check out this new hitchens site...has a lot of interesting books the check out

http://www.buildupthatwall.com

6. Authors at Google: Christopher Hitchens

Comment #64330 by MilesSmiles on August 19, 2007 at 3:29 pm

check out this new hitchens website....

http://www.buildupthatwall.com

this video has to be one of my favourites. the debates are quite entertaining but they can get somewhat repetetive after a while. this talk at google hit on some more interesting points - it would appear that the majority of his audience were reasonable people unlike some of his other talks...see crazy woman at politics and prose..."someone had to put in a good word for atheism tonight, it had to be you" hahahaha.

7. God Bless Me, It's a Best-Seller!

Comment #64327 by MilesSmiles on August 19, 2007 at 3:18 pm

check out this new hitchens website.....

http://www.buildupthatwall.com

good article. for those who haven't read this book, it is a must read. hitchens takes a completely different approach then dawkins, or sam harris and dan dennett for that matter. it is nice to see this sudden rise of anti-religious writing among some of our best contemporary polemicists and thinkers in the science community. look out for Mark Lilla's new book - 'The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West' coming next month. check out a preview at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/magazine/19Religion-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin...