1. Christian Founders 3D Adventure Computer Game

Comment #152974 by LordSummerisle on March 31, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Hey, no need to worry guys, kids never really go for this stuff anyway. If there is one thing pre-pubescent gamers hate, it's edu-games.

They really don't like it when a message gets in the way of good, clean, old fashioned shoot-outs, bloodlettings and gut-spillings. They take one look at this thing and their first reaction is: "M'kay... now, where's my GTA San Andreas?"

2. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152593 by LordSummerisle on March 31, 2008 at 8:42 am

I found the film disgusting, silly, intolerant and full of barely concealed racism, just as I find Mr. Wilders himself. However, we live in Western Europe, where we have free societies and freedom of speech. There must be room in public discourse even for dangerous and extremist ideas such as these. Indeed, I feel it is a sign of a healthy society that such ideas can expressed and then, if necessary, discussed and dismissed.

There are very real problems within Islamic communites in western Europe, ones that need to be addressed with utmost seriousness. If only it weren't just louts like Wilders who bring them up.

3. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150415 by LordSummerisle on March 26, 2008 at 9:27 pm

Happy Birthday, Professor Dawkins! And let us say you don't look a day older than 57.

4. No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film

Comment #148003 by LordSummerisle on March 21, 2008 at 6:59 pm

I'm afraid this is all mostly just free publicity for the film, but at least the NYT correctly refers to Expelled as a Creationist film, instead of going for some softerm more fundie-friendly term.

5. EXPELLED!

Comment #147814 by LordSummerisle on March 21, 2008 at 10:31 am

If nothing else, this makes for an amusing opening anecdote for Dawkins's lectures.

6. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #142515 by LordSummerisle on March 12, 2008 at 3:36 pm

It seems the lecture is the same everywhere and has changed little from the book's original promotional tour. By now, we here on the site, and those who have read the book, pretty much know all the discussion points by heart, all the lines and the jokes. We have to take into account that the majority of those who come to see the Professor have not seen the earlier lectures and there is little sense changing the contents for each stop of tour.

What interests me, personally, are the crowd reactions, the debates and the audience questions after the lecture.

7. A natural phenomenon

Comment #137543 by LordSummerisle on March 3, 2008 at 5:42 am

Attenborough on our favorite subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Y-5CR-_hw

Bravo!

8. Ayaan Hirsi Ali to get EU protection

Comment #135899 by LordSummerisle on February 29, 2008 at 10:33 am

"This is a new decision," Frattini said, declaring that no new laws were necessary to try to guarantee the safety of Hirsi Ali and others in similar situations. "If we need a law to guarantee the right to life, we're in a difficult position. We have the decision based on mutual trust."


Indeed such laws should not be necessary. Still, glad to see the EU doing right by her.

9. America: slouching towards the Enlightenment

Comment #135024 by LordSummerisle on February 28, 2008 at 1:08 pm

"What rough beast/It's hour come round at last..."

Never have Yeats's words sounded so beautiful. Be prepared, America.

10. Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson

Comment #122634 by LordSummerisle on February 5, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Surprisingly genial, all in all. The bourbon bottle at the end was a nice gesture on Jackson's part.

11. Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson

Comment #122627 by LordSummerisle on February 5, 2008 at 5:20 pm

Lovely. I've been looking for Hitchens's Southern debates for quite some time now.

12. Happy Birthday Josh Timonen!

Comment #119010 by LordSummerisle on January 31, 2008 at 9:05 am

Joshy, you're doing a helluva job!

No, seriously, Happy Birthday!

13. MySpace: No place for Atheists?

Comment #118229 by LordSummerisle on January 30, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Well, I've had the big red "A" in my Facebook account for months now and I haven't heard any complaints, I belong to several atheist groups (all going strong), I've marked my religion spot as Atheist from Day One, and I have quotes from both Dawkins and Hitchens on my profile. No complaints of problems so far.

I've considered joining MySpace for some time now, but in light of this, I think I'll pass.

Mind you, the iThink application on Facebook is a veritable playgroud for theists and theist appeasers.

14. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91416 by LordSummerisle on November 28, 2007 at 9:02 am

I have always felt that the Turks have no business joining the EU before they have owned up to the Armenian genocide. If a country cannot honestly examine its own history, we can hardly expect it to do so to religion.

I agree with Pieter, I'm surprised TGD hasn't been threatened with banning before.

15. Mother dies after refusing blood

Comment #85264 by LordSummerisle on November 5, 2007 at 11:36 am

Come on, everyone, why so cruel? We must respect her right to believe...

oh forget it, there's no way to even say it in a way that sounds even remotely sensible.

16. A House Divided: Hitch at Georgetown

Comment #84599 by LordSummerisle on November 2, 2007 at 6:17 pm

Sounds like Hitch won fair and square.

No suprise.

17. That's not MY God or Religion you're criticising

Comment #81427 by LordSummerisle on October 24, 2007 at 5:49 pm

If your god is supernatural, all-powerful and impossible to prove, then yes, I AM criticising your god and your god in particular.

18. You can't be moral without God!

Comment #81424 by LordSummerisle on October 24, 2007 at 5:44 pm

Going on murderous rampages on a daily basis is not very beneficial if we want to enjoy the benefits of living in societies and communities with other human beings. It's simple common sense to treat others as we would like ourseves to be treated. We don't need gods to tell us to behave ourselves anymore than we need them to tell us to eat food or breathe air.

19. Pascal's Wager

Comment #81409 by LordSummerisle on October 24, 2007 at 5:10 pm

1. There is no way to meet the terms of the wager: one cannot force onself to believe, even if it would be beneficial for one to do so. You either believe or not, you can't fake it before an all-knowing entity, right?

2. Isn't believing "just to be safe" an insult to the potential creator?

3. What if you are wrong? ---> "Wrong about what? You have to be more specific, there are thousands of gods for me to be potentiallly wrong about. And that goes for you too: if The Flying Spaghetti Monster is real, I would say we're both screwed, my friend."

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

Comment #81398 by LordSummerisle on October 24, 2007 at 4:57 pm

It would be useful to cut to the chase, so to speak, and begin the rebuttal by saying "I hope no one here walks out thinking that Nazis were atheists, or that communists favored critical thinking and rationality" or something to that effect. It's a rethorical trick, similar to the question itself, but I feel it's important to bring up the main point as quickly as possible.


After all, there's nothing particularly atheistic, not to mention rational, in thinking that one goes to Valhalla after death. Catholic church's support for fascist causes is an important factor, of course. The whole Nazi/atheism myth is a rather soft target when one addresses it. Atheism's connection to communist crimes is by no means as easy to refute, and as many theists (mostly American religious fundamentalists who love to bring this point up) have, at best, a hazy understanding of communism, except the idea that it is somehow inherently evil and corrupt, it takes some time and effort to address the irrationality and the personality cults that come with it. The idea of workers' paradise as an irrational illusion is a good place to start, I suppose.

I'm not too keen on Hitchens' way of constantly bringing up Stalin's brief stint at the seminary whenever he debates this point. Undoubtedly the religious way of spreading "faith" in communism was to a great extent a concious choice on his part, but Stalin was by no means alone in laying the foundations of communist dogmatism. Fanatical adherence to the teachings of Karl Marx and the deluded idea that the revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat demanded blood to be spilled, so that the masses could live in peace and harmony existed before Stalin had even met Lenin. Communism didn't need religion to poison it, it was irrational and corrupt already. Is it perhaps Hitchens' past as a trotskyite that makes him cling to this point which, while not entirely unvalid, has perhaps too much emphasis placed upon it?

Atticus's great post is an excellent take on the subject of Communism, btw. Bravo.

21. 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' Religious Group Turning Heads at MSU

Comment #76296 by LordSummerisle on October 5, 2007 at 11:32 am

My best wishes to the members. May His Noodly Appendage bless you all.

22. The God Delusion One-Year Countdown

Comment #67501 by LordSummerisle on September 3, 2007 at 3:51 pm

If TGD does manage this momentous task, it will no doubt be atrributable to the fundamentalists, eager to "know their enemy".

23. Teresa, Bright and Dark

Comment #66299 by LordSummerisle on August 29, 2007 at 4:18 pm

Hitch touches abortion shortly in "god Is Not Great", in which he essentially states that while he considers the termination of human life to be appalling, he is firmly pro-choice.

24. A Daddy Longlegs Tells the Story of the Continents' Big Shifts

Comment #66261 by LordSummerisle on August 29, 2007 at 1:39 pm

Well, you won't find that interesting bit of information on Discovery Institute's web site.

Score 11 897 for science.