1. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #241708 by geru on September 3, 2008 at 1:51 am

..and speaking of God's will, isn't it pretty much a rhetorical difference if you say:

"I know the will of God, so obey me!"

or,

"I am God, obey me!"

I guess the only difference is that the "I represent God"-meme is more effective in western societies.

2. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #241697 by geru on September 3, 2008 at 1:38 am

The Iraq invasion is "God's Plan"?

3. Theocratic Sect Prays for Real Armageddon

Comment #240449 by geru on August 31, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Incredible. The old tricks of selling snake oil to idiots work just as well in the 21st century, as they did a thousand years ago.

Makes me wonder why I should bother getting a job anyway, when there's hundreds of millions of people out there just waiting to hand over all their money to the first charismatic figure that comes along promising an easy fix to all their problems.

"Be healed, my brother! ...and by the way, the Sacred Jesus Oil™ costs $29.95 per bottle."

4. Plan to exhume cardinal is 'homophobic'

Comment #237422 by geru on August 26, 2008 at 12:59 pm

"Were going to desecrate your remains and violate your last wishes, because your life is a disgrace to our organization."

What great moral values again from the Vatican.

5. Richard Dawkins on Talkback Radio

Comment #236804 by geru on August 25, 2008 at 10:51 am

Ah, yes. I should have googled first, I knew I was going to get it wrong. :)

6. Richard Dawkins on Talkback Radio

Comment #236765 by geru on August 25, 2008 at 9:50 am

Oh, and about the "Are my ancestors monkeys" question, I guess RD could have mentioned that not only were your ancestors monkeys, YOU are a monkey.

Or maybe this would just lead into a futile taxonomy debate at best. :)

Whenever I hear this monkey-nonsense, I always think of the Hitchhikers Guide bit about digital wristwatches, I guess they truly are the revolutionary step that separate us from other the apes. :)

7. Richard Dawkins on Talkback Radio

Comment #236757 by geru on August 25, 2008 at 9:38 am

The second part was hilarious, although being totally off topic.

At one point I think this anti-Google person was suggesting that it is not enough that you can request Google to remove pictures from the picture search, if they are somehow harmful to you, but Google should ask permission from everyone (who have some connection to the picture, I guess) in advance, before adding the pictures! Or else someone might be harmed in some way by the pictures.

Or maybe I understood this completely wrong, but the guy really seemed like he desperately needs a thicker tinfoil hat, to keep those Google-bastards from invading his privacy. :)

Anyway, I'm guessing this person doesn't have a very good understanding on how search engines work...

8. Why Dawkins is right and his critics are wrong

Comment #235544 by geru on August 23, 2008 at 7:52 am

Surprisingly I found that the archbishops segment was almost the 'looniest' one of all the interviews of the 'adversaries' of evolution.

I mean that all the other loonies really seemed like they probably believe in the nonsense they're saying, especially the scary blonde lady from the women's organization (what was she on anyway?). :)

But once again the archbishop demonstrated the habit of apologist 'intellectuals' to make
up complete gibberish on the spot. Someone wrote that he seems like an intelligent person, who is restricted by the position he's in, an this is probably true. It still doesn't give him, or any other apologist, the right to totally discard the dictionary we all somewhat agree on, and start muddying the waters by using 'poetic language' in a serious discussion.

Unless the archbishop just happened to have a bad day, he really gave a crystal clear example of intellectual dishonesty, as he would rather make up nonsense than admit that he doesn't really have a proper answer.

As I have said before, every time I hear what a clerical figure has to say on some issue, I am utterly struck by the disappointment of the fact that these people have nothing to offer on an intellectual level. Their only arguments seem to be scripture and nonsense (the difference being that scripture is nonsense quoted from the Bible). First they use scripture, and if the target audience is not convinced by the authority of the Bible, they turn to using improvised nonsense, maybe spiced up with some personal observations.

9. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229645 by geru on August 13, 2008 at 10:17 pm

Oh good grief - how do these people actually cope in the real world?

10. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #228977 by geru on August 12, 2008 at 11:46 pm

As the Christian schools at least claim to be educators, they should probably realize that if they choose to ignore reality and fill their courses with made up fantasies, their students will probably have a hard time coping in the world.

Of course they don't really care about that, they're probably just hoping that they'll someday pump out enough ignorant people from their schools, that their ignorance will become the new norm of the society.

I feel sorry for the poor bastards who after years of studying and finally graduating from some Christian school, try to apply to some university and are told that the degree that they have just acquired is worthless because they have been taught nonsense.

I wonder what it would be like if universities did accept all sorts of alternative views of the world. I can already imagine the slogan: "UC - If you believe it, that's good enough for us!"

11. Pope confirms sexual abuse apology

Comment #209655 by geru on July 13, 2008 at 12:08 am

"It is essential for the Church to reconcile, to prevent, to help and to see guilt in this problem,"

12. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208465 by geru on July 11, 2008 at 1:01 am

If this is about personal freedoms, could a gay person refuse to conduct ceremonies for a Christian couple? I would imagine that this naturally works both ways. :)

13. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208460 by geru on July 11, 2008 at 12:48 am

"Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully and harass people over their religious beliefs,"

14. Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat

Comment #203417 by geru on July 2, 2008 at 10:17 pm

They have a problem with pictures of puppies? Well I have a problem whining idiots, I guess well just both have to deal with it.

(Except for the Muslims who will, as always, get what they want.)

15. The $10,000-a-Month Psychic

Comment #200797 by geru on June 28, 2008 at 8:49 am

Argh.

Just imagine if you happened to work at one of these firms, and had to sit through one of Day's sessions as 'training'.

Or maybe a full seminar.. That would sure be fun, wouldn't it? :)

16. Award-winning comedian George Carlin dies

Comment #198096 by geru on June 23, 2008 at 7:49 am

George Carlin was the ultimate atheist's nightmare: a god who walked among us. :)

I guess it's now up to us to keep on spreading His message. Rest in piece, may Joe bless him!

17. Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Comment #197041 by geru on June 21, 2008 at 12:58 am

Laws don't apply to churches? What else is new..

18. On Fitna, the Movie

Comment #178721 by geru on May 12, 2008 at 12:57 am

It's sort a shame that Fitna has become one of the symbols of the debate on freedom of speech vs respecting religions, since it was such a poor film.

I thought that the film had pretty much nothing to say, and still managed to say it unnecessary provokingly. My first thought of the film was why on earth would anyone take on such a subject and make only a 17 minute long film about it. It just seems like more of a propaganda clip than a film that is trying to say something intelligent.

19. Richard Dawkins interviewed by John Humphrys on Cardinal Murphy O'Connor

Comment #177941 by geru on May 10, 2008 at 2:52 am

Applying reason leads to atrocities like the Holocaust?

Does this mean for example that if I'm about to go for a walk, and I see that it's cloudy outside, and I decide take an umbrella with me, then this could lead to the next Holocaust?

20. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153498 by geru on April 1, 2008 at 2:06 pm

I guess the parents defend their actions thinking that this was God's will. If they had any sense, they would probably wonder why God finds necessary to kill children of these kinds of fundamentalist Christians, while the children of less religious parents survive more often.

Their logic must be that it's better to die at 15 months, than live to be 80 years old by compromising on some religious principles.

And I can only imagine that dying of an infection isn't a very nice way to go...

21. Highway to hysteria

Comment #93951 by geru on December 4, 2007 at 1:37 pm

Sheesh, these people really have nothing better to do, than to worship a highway? Well, as long as it keeps them from doing some stupid AND harmful activities...

22. 'Expelled' Movie: The Extended Trailer

Comment #88275 by geru on November 15, 2007 at 5:11 pm

I've watched the first 55 minutes of the video, and I am scared. Is this a time warp to the 50's, or do these people really represent a considerable part of modern American people?

If I watched a few more of these speakers, my atheistic views would probably start to crumble, since I couldn't convince myself that these people aren't controlled by Satan..

23. 'Expelled' Movie: The Extended Trailer

Comment #88261 by geru on November 15, 2007 at 4:12 pm

Whoa, somewhere around 44 minutes of the longer video, does Ben Stein compare his work "for free science" to the sacrifices of the amputee patients of the US army?

What a modest individual!

24. 'Expelled' Movie: The Extended Trailer

Comment #88249 by geru on November 15, 2007 at 3:08 pm

12. Comment #88229 by room101

But, hey, maybe Stein is on to something. Forget about facts and evidence. Get a really good PR movement going. Reality, science, and truth are not issues or relevant anymore. It's all about language and spin.

25. 'Expelled' Movie: The Extended Trailer

Comment #88247 by geru on November 15, 2007 at 3:00 pm

Oh man.. Does anyone else get the feeling watching this, that these people are from bizarro world or something? Scary..

26. Richard Dawkins at AAI 07

Comment #85498 by geru on November 6, 2007 at 2:56 am

It's peculiar how words like "indoctrination" and "dogma" are used when people criticize books by Hitchens, Harris and Dawkins, etc.

I believe that the most important thing about these books is that they raise consciousness about facts that are unpopular, because of the power religion has over societies. These books of course contain claims that are only opinions of the writer, but at least the writers make sure that the reader always knows, that this particular argument is only the opinion of the writer, not an universal truth. (Argumenting without making claims that are universal truths seems to be an alien concept to many.)

If you look past the personal opinions (what no critic ever seems to be capable of doing), these books contain very significant and alarming facts. And I do not think anyone can seriously claim that presenting these facts to raise consciousness, is a process of indoctrination.

Or at least any more a process of indoctrination, than explaining the gravity of theory to someone.

Also, it is obvious that these books must contain opinions and examples. Without them they would only be a compilation of facts, and they wouldn't qualify as literature. But the problem seems to be that critics only attack the opinions and examples, without commenting the ideas behind them.