1. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #242013 by jetdriver on September 3, 2008 at 10:10 am

Read her position on the teaching of creationism there: http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Sarah_Palin_Education.htm

Hardly a surprise for such a Jesus freak.
It is enough of a disqualifier for me...

2. Mitt Romney's Faith In America address (as prepared for delivery)

Comment #95052 by jetdriver on December 7, 2007 at 8:56 am

This is one of the scariest political speeches I heard since I arrived in this country in 1998. I wouldn't put past Romney that he actually means what he said this time and did not just do it to get the evangelical votes.
His line about the Courts is exactly what E.Tabbash is warning everybody about: 1 vacancy filled by the likes of Romney in the Supreme Court and Hitchens' wall will never be built.
At this point I will have to leave the country; I can't live in a theocracy. "There is no freedom without religion" What???? The guy is nuts...

3. Eddie Tabash at AAI 07

Comment #83772 by jetdriver on October 31, 2007 at 7:54 am

Even if some people might find Tabash's delivery a little monotonous, his message is an important one that no other speaker/writer, to my knowledge, has touched that clearly. It is about our pragmatic political responsibility to make sure we avoid theocracy. We have to play by the rules of democracy to prevent that event even if that irks some 'militants'.
I liked his take on 'forget what they say to get elected, just pick the one you know will do good' for it always has bothered me to listen to every candidate praising god no matter how contrary to religion their social views were.
The weakness of the democratic system is that it leaves an open door for the totalitarian nuts to muster enough support to destroy that same system that allowed them to thrive. It is our job to prevent that.
If democracy is a meme of the political kind, it seems to me to suffer from a selective disadvantage. Is it just a transitional political system that will succumb to competitive pressure or is it here to stay?
I can't believe I'm digressing like that. I'm not even sure if the question has sense or merit...
PS: I had to use the word 'meme' in a Dawkins forum, I just had to :-)

4. Sam Harris at AAI 07

Comment #82591 by jetdriver on October 26, 2007 at 8:35 pm

Hello,
I'm new here (but not to the cause) and would like to offer some praise after reading so many negative or disappointed comments.
Praise to Sam Harris, for being so articulate, for using systematically those 'finely fletched arrows' of language to drive his points home, for his calm acceptance of criticism and for his courage in moving the conversation from 'let's bash on them' to 'let's look at ourselves'. This display of intellectual honesty (one of his constantly preached notions) proves that Harris, for me, is the epitome of what we thrive to become as humanists, rationalists or whatever you want to call yourselves: ethical, sensitive, open minded human beings, free from dogma and superstition and yet spiritual in some way.
Although meditation doesn't do it for me, I find epiphany and awe in scientific texts, music, movies, books, etc.
I agree with Harris on the 'atheist labeling' issue but not to the point of putting all the labels in the same bag.
I find him a little too enthralled with mysticism and contemplation but I respect his point of views for two reasons:
1- His views on mysticism never compromise his stance on superstition and faith. No matter how much a revelation Harris can get out of going ascetic in a cave, he will still, I believe, rationalize it and treat it as a human experience rather than a religious one. His steadfastness to support reason despite apparently pretty intense meditative personal experiences is commendable.
2- To paraphrase what Chapman said in his speech, if meditation produces an individual the caliber of Harris there must be something to it :-)
I may sound like a fan that must be because I am one. Sam Harris for president anyone?