Comments by villageidiot

1. GOD VS. SCIENCE: A Debate Between Natalie Angier and David Sloan Wilson

Comment #93407 by villageidiot on December 3, 2007 at 5:14 am

20. Comment #92137 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on November 29, 2007 at 11:30 pm I'm with Bonzai on this. There is way too much knee jerking going on in our alleged "rational" community.

People need to think carefully about what they consider "truth", and evaluate counter arguments equally carefully. The whole point is that skeptical critical thinking will get us out of the hole, not the wholesale embrace of yet another dogma.

i agree to some extent with TheModestAgnostic 'cause he's Irish and just plain cool. :)

And i remember him apologizing to Logicel on one of the other threads. That was decent. You don't see a lot of that 'round here. (Unfortunately Logicel seems to have left because of the way-things-are here). Everyone's convinced that they are right (it looks like to me). If i may ask a question... does anyone change their mind about anything around here?

2. Daniel Dennett Debates Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #93135 by villageidiot on December 2, 2007 at 9:47 am

Our growing immaturity (as someone in the audience even pointed out to Dennett) toward religion, even among the vanguards of modern atheism, betrays an insecurity I thought we didn't suffer from.

I want to just say that I get what you are saying. Also I really don't understand why, in a forum that purports to allow free speech, your comments get relegated to an "alternate comment thread".

3. Daniel Dennett Debates Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #93130 by villageidiot on December 2, 2007 at 9:27 am

Dinesh D'Souza is no idiot.

I agree.

Dennett.. no match for the skilled rhetoric and quick-paced sophistry of D'Souza

Agreed.

I don't know that there's much point in debating people like D'Souza.

Pat Condell may very well be right.

4. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #93074 by villageidiot on December 2, 2007 at 6:07 am

Am I the only one who sees the resemblance between Cardinal Ratzinger and Senator Palpatine. It's all in the eyes I tell you.

Ah the holy father, Pope Palpatine.

5. Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #93069 by villageidiot on December 2, 2007 at 5:46 am

I'm surprised that she didn't point out to AC that the word "Islam" doesn't literally mean "peace" as he said. If she had pointed out that it actually means "SUBMISSION" I think it would have had a nice effect as she was talking about the way women are treated in Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, i found that really strange as well. It would seem like the most obvious thing to point out. (Does the word Islam have more than one meaning?)

6. Daniel Dennett Debates Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #93038 by villageidiot on December 2, 2007 at 3:31 am

Dinesh D'Souza is no idiot. Are you [em]trying[/em] to insult me.

Two facts:
(1) Hitch has said that DD is a formidable debater.

(2) Hitch thinks that DD really believes the doctrines he is saying.

I agree with (1). DD uses every debating trick in and out of the book. He uses as many forms of deception as one can imagine. He is an expert at rhetoric and a master of obfuscation.

I'm not sure about (2). Still, it is likely that DD is self-deceived (if only because in evolutionary psychology terms, it is easier to deceive if first you have deceived yourself)

If DD really does believe his absurd doctrines and is able to express them with such passion, the amount of rationalization going on in this dude's head must be phenomenal. For such rationalization he needs intelligence.

7. Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #92187 by villageidiot on November 30, 2007 at 2:58 am

one little letter can make you into a needlewhore

what's a needlewhore? please explain more.

8. Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #92081 by villageidiot on November 29, 2007 at 8:59 pm

Ayaan is my heroin; wait i think i've said that before.

9. My life under a fatwa

Comment #91312 by villageidiot on November 28, 2007 at 2:41 am

Comment #91298 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on November 28, 2007 at 2:07 am
avatarThe objections raised to my video are familiar. So here is something I prepared earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0lRffYTStw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coi14j5q-vU

'ello there; i'm new so i was just a-wondering if briancoughlanworldcitizen (on this site) =
TheModestAgnostic (on YouTube)

10. Islam and the modern world don't mix

Comment #91300 by villageidiot on November 28, 2007 at 2:15 am

It's good to see that at least some people are talking sense.

11. My life under a fatwa

Comment #91274 by villageidiot on November 27, 2007 at 10:35 pm