1. Borders Tags Atheist Book with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards

Comment #100687 by hakija on December 19, 2007 at 5:41 am

Crybabies.

2. This Is Not a Test

Comment #100120 by hakija on December 18, 2007 at 9:04 am

Well written! Beautiful...

3. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99671 by hakija on December 17, 2007 at 9:34 am

Hmmm....just cast it as a kind of "wonderland" theme park, and all these parents will take their kids there for the special effects.

And why are these ventures always supported by businessmen? Why don't they go build us another great golf course with their millions?

The UK is no KY, where the pathetic US creationist museum is located. The British version will end up as popular as an Anglican mass.

Yes, I agree also with Northern Bright. Let them fail and lose money. Patrons won't take it so seriously. Kind of like saying that Mickey and Minnie Mouse were the first people, and they lived in the Magic Kingdom, before being cast out by Disney for....well, something.

4. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #99657 by hakija on December 17, 2007 at 9:04 am

For my part, I say, call December 25th the "Day of Giving". Yes, I know, the holiday is grounded in the pagan solstice celebration, but that is four days earlier.

And Newton: what a outstanding person, Einstein's genius (as I believe Einstein stated).

I'll remember this during midnight mass, which I still "religiously" attend with my theistic parents and in-laws. The music of the Anglican service in too beautiful to pass up.

Imagine a Hallmark Card for Newton Day:

"An apple falling from a tree
we know it now as gravity
but an age ago an Englishman
invented Calculus and then
physics took us to the sky
on this special day
we remember why..."

Happy Newton Day! !! !!!

and have a joyous and prosperous New Year! ! !

5. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. were atheists, and they were terrible! Answer that!

Comment #91098 by hakija on November 27, 2007 at 7:52 am

This is a slam dunk. I could write a lengthly essay rebutting the proposition that Hitler, Stalin and Mao were had anything in common with the atheism espoused in the modern "bright" lifestance represented here (and the presumption that they were Darwinian too). In essence:

1. Hitler was a devout Christian. Though his actions were hardly "godly" in the sense of living Jesus' commandments, he used scripture and faith to rally his troops, believing they were doing god's work in eradicating the Jews and subduing Europe for the German people.

2. Stalin and Mao were atheists. But Stalinism and Maoism were not based on reason. All basic freedoms were curtailed, free thought, a tenet of modern secular humanism and rationalism, was a crime. Neither dictator accepted Darwin's theory of evolution. In fact, they favored Lamarck's long defunct theory based on evolution of the individual within a species, essentially genetic change over an organism's lifespan. This view squared with the view that the state can evolve the individual, etching in him a new collectivistic character.

3. Hitler, Stalin and Mao were not rationalists or humanists, they would have problems with the Amsterdam Declaration which advocates freedom and free thought. Certainly such despotisms were at odds with the spirit of reason and that of the "bright" world view.

6. URGENT APPEAL: Please Help Protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #88939 by hakija on November 19, 2007 at 7:48 am

I'm as confused as others here. If she returns to the Netherlands, she will be offered official govt protection. If she stays here, she will be offered protection by here supporters, including a secure residence.

I don't know what she makes from her honoraries and publishing, but wouldn't those funds be sufficient? I appreciate the RDF asking for help, though. We should all be concerned for her safety, and the safety of others doing her essential work.

7. I didn't know the FLEA CIRCUS was back in town!

Comment #85149 by hakija on November 5, 2007 at 5:55 am

This Blitzkrieg of glitzy (and predictable) apologies is the shape of things to come for creationists. They're getting themselves a real makeover (just check out the new polished "Answers in Genesis" site, someone discovered photo shop).

"Blitzkrieg" is not the right metaphor. This is actually a theological "Potemkin Village". Reminds me of the recent creationist book fairs - tables full of glossy covered paperbacks by people with the right credentials for arguing for ignorance and superstition.

Anyway, I thought this was a joke. Is it? No? Oh boy! We're going to have to suffer this for goodness knows how long. Some questions come to mind:

Why are they so offended if we are attacking the true religion, why accusations of destroying their faith? Worshipers of an actual god would be more certain than this. I always say, don't attack them, they derive much of their identity from what they call "persecution". Just be nice and reasonable and their game plan will implode.

BTW, do any of these authors in the flea circus get govt grants to study subjects that lead to a deeper understanding of humanity and tech. applications to improve the quality of life? Sounds like a little poodle nipping at our pant cuff "yapp, yapp, yapp". We're winning converts.

8. Letters: Theology has no place in a university

Comment #80105 by hakija on October 20, 2007 at 1:54 am

My challenge to theologians:

As soon as something substantial and useful - like a breakthrough in psychology, linguistics, medicine or engineering - comes out of the scripture, just publish it. No one will doubt the legitimacy of your Bronze Age mythos that takes up credit hours and lecture space then.

9. God's honest truth?

Comment #79870 by hakija on October 18, 2007 at 9:33 pm

That's great! Imagine Congress proposing something like this here is "jesusland" USA.

Yes, I hope this becomes Europe wide, at least in the western nations. I cannot envision Poland going for this though...but progress, YES!

10. Be Good Now, Or Else

Comment #79869 by hakija on October 18, 2007 at 9:26 pm

Science continues to chip away at the myth of "god given" morality. This breakthrough could help addicts and criminally minded learn alternative behavior and help develop better early child environs and education strategies. I just hope in a country that has little public support for sci research like the US, we can find testable applications which prove its usefulness. The superstitious among us will poo poo it as usual.

11. The Squirrel Wars

Comment #79677 by hakija on October 18, 2007 at 6:18 am

I'm with Vendetta. This article is more appropriate for the SciAm or Science Daily site, don't you think?

I'd rather read reports on California's "Campus Crusade for Christ" suing to allow grads of creationist high schools to apply to state universities.

Now that's relevant.

12. John Templeton's Universe

Comment #79068 by hakija on October 16, 2007 at 3:29 am

My stomach turns everytime I hear about Templeton's adventures. We do need our own arsenal of billionaires to support our seriously underfunded organizations. I mean, like RDF and the like minded.

13. In honour of Dan Dennett

Comment #76905 by hakija on October 7, 2007 at 5:01 pm

It's inspiring to hear from someone who can think rationally (even with a life threatening illness) trust human innovation and the care of the doctors who saved his life.

It makes me think: is praying for many believers a knee-jerk response under tremendous anxiety. All of his friends praying for him had the right intent, but do many just say this or attempt to pray out of a conditioned response? I think so.

14. Christianity's Image Problem

Comment #76383 by hakija on October 5, 2007 at 4:55 pm

This is good news. More and more fundamentalist Christians and Muslims are turning off the more educated and mobile elements in their societies. We see horrible results of fundamentalist Islam and increasingly the absurdities and abuses of its Christian counterpart, and the younger generation is picking this up.

Americans are getting fed up with religion in politics. We're tired of self anointed "popes" Dobbson and Robertson critiquing presidential candidates, as if they're experts in morality.

I predict secular Republicans (the ones that didn't walk away and switch to independent, as I did) are trying to reclaim what's left of their party. This and other factors will cause them to lose badly in 2008.

15. Logical Path from Religious Beliefs to Evil Deeds

Comment #75548 by hakija on October 3, 2007 at 1:34 am

Bonzai said, "Very often the insistence of blind respect for religion comes not from the moderate religionists but from some misguided secularists."

I could not agree more. And your example is right on point. It epitomizes the dangers of taking political correctness to the extreme. Respect for differences is a good ethos. Incorporating religious dogma into the system (in this case, tolerance for a religion because it's a minority one) is a bad habit to begin.

16. A New Debate

Comment #75542 by hakija on October 3, 2007 at 1:08 am

The American Academy of Science could sponsor it. But how "mainstream" would the voters take it? To many, this would be as odd as a debate on how they would handle the arrival of aliens from Zeta Reticuli.

I love it. Let's move on this. I like the idea of the various magazines and channels being present, they could display their logos around the set. Add an australopithecus skull on display at center stage, the camera panning the candidates with it in the foreground.

17. The Problem with Atheism

Comment #75536 by hakija on October 3, 2007 at 12:35 am

I have preferred the title "rationalist" over all others. Haven't we arrived at our views on religion, science and morality through the rational process?

I disagree with Quine. Rationalism is not a concession. Who's hanging back? Most who hold negative stereotypes of those who rejects the existence of a deity think of themselves as basically rational, even if they believe in a god. We won't get so far by calling their long cherished beliefs absurd.

Appeal to their reason, and invite them to take it a few steps further, and question the value of these long held beliefs.

18. Harper's Index

Comment #75186 by hakija on October 2, 2007 at 2:15 am

Gridman, good point. The Bible would be the greatest apologetic of them all if it weren't for the thousands of them that water down the original source. And it takes honest skepticism to sift through the "good book" anyway.

Re: Caeruleam: why not use the term "Skepticism", that would encompass more than just atheism (I would prefer "rationalism", but that would sound strange to the average consumer).

19. The Nonbelievers

Comment #73937 by hakija on September 26, 2007 at 4:26 pm

Epstein's use of the term "religion" to describe this atheist movement is no different than Hawking's use of the term "god" as a metaphor in "Brief History of Time", in its inappropriateness. This is the kind of ammo the creationists use as evidence that atheism is a bona fide religion. We don't need this, Reverend...er..chaplain Epstein! Don't fall for the temptation of the religious imagery complete with dusty Gothic style church. We're not going to get far basing our movement on the bones of the old ways. We are not Christians building churches atop pagan ruins. We must be different.

20. The fundamentalist delusion

Comment #73293 by hakija on September 24, 2007 at 4:36 pm

"God Delusion" has done more than embolden long time atheists. It has forced folks like me, who as believers, didn't know we didn't really believe. Dawkins and friends - who have given us several great books recently - have sought us out and are helping more and more of us to find our way out of the mist of superstition and fear and onto the path of rationalism. Dawkins makes it clear that it is good to be an atheist. His recent championing of the "Bright" movement is evidence he is out for more converts not just out to comfort the like minded.

Recently, the Malaysian government enacted a law forbidding Muslims to leave Islam, to make freedom of conscience a "crimethink". There must be a trend out of Islam that concerns the clerics who hold sway over the majority of Malay. Otherwise, why the law?

In the west, we read of Muslims wishing to moderate or abandon their religion altogether.

At least "God Delusion" has forced us all to reevaluate what we do and don't believe and boldly take a stand.

21. Scientific Literacy and the Habit of Discourse

Comment #73262 by hakija on September 24, 2007 at 3:34 pm

I realized in reading this essay, perhaps the main reason I became an atheist (by way of becoming a rationalist). I found that as I understood the beauty of reaching a scientific truth, I could not knowingly and willfully hold on to a belief in the supernatural. I had to be intellectually honest. There is no god, even if we don't like it.

Science is the "business" of discovering things, even if we don't like what we find.

22. Keeping the faith at school

Comment #73260 by hakija on September 24, 2007 at 3:19 pm

I'm surprised the class didn't arrange a "pretend" burning at the stake for the boy who bravely asked why god flooded Peterborough! Heresy!

This brainwashing troubles me deeply. It reflects the fraudulent compassion claimed by religion. It is a true evil.

23. VOTE on the 'Faith smackdown': Richard Dawkins vs Francis Collins

Comment #72444 by hakija on September 21, 2007 at 5:58 am

A predictable little exchange of questions and answers we've heard innumerable times. Sure, Dawkins comes out on top, but his responses cannot sway the "faithful".

24. Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much

Comment #70289 by hakija on September 14, 2007 at 6:13 pm

I just caught this article. Scary. Down right scary. To be competitive in American society, the traits of image and "brawn" win out over substance and "brains". You generally find the opposite to be true in European countries known for scientific and social progress.

America has the brawn to run the world and subdue it with brute force, if need be. But the future belongs to those with the brains and traits like skepticism, discernment, tolerance for different views and adaptability. How open will Americans be to making inconvenient changes now to avoid more painful consequences in the future?

25. 'Incredibly lucky' find yields important fish fossil

Comment #70279 by hakija on September 14, 2007 at 5:05 pm

God is finally coming to the aide of evolutionary science. I can't wait until a creationist calls this find "chance".

The fossil was found in a core sample dating from 1988. Why did its discovery take so long to enter the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences?

According to the CBC report, the oil company kept the core sample (I suppose this is standard procedure) and only 2 years ago was the fossil discovered by geology student Michael Hay, who notified Alison Murray, a professor and paleontologist at the University of Alberta.

Still, what a "lucky" find. Lightning struck!

26. Bible Belter

Comment #70035 by hakija on September 13, 2007 at 7:47 pm

Joseph Stalin may have been an atheist, but if I can recall from my college Soviet History course, he was no Darwinist. He favored the views of Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). Six decades before Darwin's "Origin", Lamarck proposed mutations that occur in an individual organism over its lifetime will transmute to its offspring, gradually transforming the species. By Darwin's day Lamarck and the "transmutationalists" were no longer taken seriously.

Adolf Hitler was not only Roman Catholic, he believed he was doing God's work in exterminating the European Jewry.

"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter...in boundless love as a Christian...I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might...to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders...Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed his blood upon the Cross. ..."
- Adolf Hitler, speech on April 12, 1922

"I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit."
- Adolf Hitler, The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1 (London, Oxford University Press, 1942)

Certainly, Hitler recognized the power of faith to control the masses and the danger posed by reason. Hitler once remarked of his Hitler Youth, "reason is destroying my young men." - Source, Peter's Quotations, L. J. Peter, 1977

27. Creationism raised as Ont. election issue

Comment #69895 by hakija on September 13, 2007 at 5:31 am

The tradition of publicly funded parochial schools must have its origin in the established Church of England. Thank goodness our Founders were deists and skeptics of religion.

28. Young Muslims begin dangerous fight for the right to abandon faith

Comment #69879 by hakija on September 13, 2007 at 4:22 am

Kudos to these "apostates" for standing up for freedom of conscience, a crucial pillar of modern civilization.

29. Religion - our maelstrom of ignorance

Comment #66681 by hakija on August 30, 2007 at 11:50 pm

I left the Republican Party mainly because of the Christian Right. I was a GOP activist for many years as well, and have watched the gradual takeover of the party by fundamentalists through organizations like "Reclaiming America for Christ". I found myself to be increasingly among unlike minds who loathe science, love Ann Coulter and link evolution to communism and atheism to treason. I'd had it.

I've been a happy Independent since January. Being on the outside looking in to the GOP, I see more clearly the cancer of fundamentalism I once discounted.

30. Curriculum for Baptist School

Comment #66678 by hakija on August 30, 2007 at 10:51 pm

How does one justify this approach to education on the fact that what must be taken on faith in the Bible "has yet to be debunked"?

True, many of these children do get superior education at schools like these in the basics (compared to public schools) but there are secular formats that can as effective if not better.

And, yes in the long run I'd like to see this brainwashing into believing in imaginary beings eliminated. It is a form of psychological abuse. I would go so far as to call many of these Christian parents "morally lazy" people. Why can't basic goodness instead of fear of damnation be the basis for bringing up our children?