1. Disquiet over schools' moment of silence

Comment #103040 by lobdog on December 24, 2007 at 8:40 am

FightingFalcon

surely this is the thin end of the wedge, that if allowed to continue unapposed does create future problems.
i.e. we are renaming "quiet reflection" time to prayer time, what difference does a name make? etc etc

2. 'Christian God is not to blame'

Comment #103031 by lobdog on December 24, 2007 at 8:12 am

ADH

I must be completely illiterate and dense then because I just cannot see how you make this point. It may be I'm just an ignorant and was brought up to "say what you mean and mean what you say" but

extreme fanaticism and stubborn steadfastness that merciful "destiny" gives to men in hard times for the defense of their own lives....

As far as I am aware destiny is neither merciful or evil it just IS!!!

Obviously I could be wrong

3. 'Christian God is not to blame'

Comment #103025 by lobdog on December 24, 2007 at 8:00 am

ADH

I will try a better example, one where I can't see any form of sophistry construing this to mean god = destiny

Providence shows no mercy to weak nations, but recognizes the right of existence-only of sound and strong nations....

This Jewish bolshevist annihilation of nations and its western European and American procurers can be met only in one way: by using every ounce of strength with the extreme fanaticism and stubborn steadfastness that merciful God gives to men in hard times for the defense of their own lives....

We have suffered so much that it only steels us to fanatical resolve to hate Our enemies a thousand times more and to regard them for what they are destroyers of an eternal culture and annihilators of humanity. Out of this bate a holy will is born to oppose these destroyers of our existence with all the strength that God has given us and to crush them in the end. During its 2,000-year history our people has survived so many terrible times that we have no doubt that we will also master our present plight.

-Adolf Hitler, in a recorded radio address, 24 Feb. 1945

4. 'Christian God is not to blame'

Comment #103012 by lobdog on December 24, 2007 at 7:28 am

I, for my part, acknowledge another precept which says that man must deal the final blow to those whose downfall is destined by God.

-Adolf Hitler, in an address to the Reichstag, 06 April 1942

also found on the web at

http://www.nobeliefs.com/speeches.htm

5. Was Muhammad Epileptic?

Comment #102954 by lobdog on December 24, 2007 at 3:20 am

Mansa Musa

here is the definiton of numerology from Wikipedia, which is what you appear to be spouting

Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things.

Numerology and numerological divination were popular among early mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered part of mathematics and are regarded as pseudomathematics by most modern scientists. This is similar to the historical development of astronomy out of astrology, and chemistry from alchemy.

Today, numerology is often associated with the occult, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts. The term can also be used for those who, in the view of some observers, place excess faith in numerical patterns, even if those people don't practice traditional numerology. For example, in his 1997 book Numerology: Or What Pythagoras Wrought, mathematician Underwood Dudley uses the term to discuss practitioners of the Elliott wave principle of stock market analysis.

6. Was Muhammad Epileptic?

Comment #102752 by lobdog on December 23, 2007 at 2:35 pm

Mansa Musa

From the above article, Ive highlighted a very relevant section

It is said by some Muslim authorities that during the first caliphate of Abu Bakr, immediately after Muhammad's death, concern arose that his orally transmitted words might be forgotten. So many Muslim soldiers had been killed in battle that the number who had the Koran safely lodged in their memories had become alarmingly small. It was therefore decided to assemble every living witness, together with "pieces of paper, stones, palm leaves, shoulder-blades, ribs and bits of leather" on which sayings had been scribbled, and give them to Zaid ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet's former secretaries, for an authoritative collation. Once this had been done, the believers had something like an authorized version.

If true, this would date the Koran to a time fairly close to Muhammad's own life. But we swiftly discover that there is no certainty or agreement about the truth of the story. Some say that it was Ali—the fourth and not the first caliph, and the founder of Shiism—who had the idea. Many others—the Sunni majority—assert that it was Caliph Uthman, who reigned from 644 to 656, who made the finalized decision. Told by one of his generals that soldiers from different provinces were fighting over discrepant accounts of the Koran, Uthman ordered Zaid ibn Thabit to bring together the various texts, unify them, and have them transcribed into one. When this task was complete, Uthman ordered standard copies to be sent to Kufa, Basra, Damascus, and elsewhere, with a master copy retained in Medina.

would seem to me that there was ample oppurtunity to change any elements when this was finally all put together in a standardised / sanitised version.

To err is human ......

7. Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms

Comment #102232 by lobdog on December 22, 2007 at 5:31 am

Steve

Comment #102205

I don't think it has been missed. That was my point about life changing the environment, such as through oxygenation.


Apologies I should have made it clearer that I was addressing this comment to Rainbow. Again apologies.

8. Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms

Comment #102199 by lobdog on December 22, 2007 at 1:50 am

Can I just throw my tuppence worth in?

...so my question remains why was the formation of replicators probable then, but we don't see replicators popping up everywhere?


Steve:
"We think that the formation of the building blocks of biochemistry was pretty easy in the environment of the Earth billions of years ago."

the whole point that seems to be getting missed here is that what went on millions of years ago, is completely different to what goes on in a vastly changed environment now. So I certainly wouldn't expect events that may or may not have been quite common then to still be occuring in the same way now.

It is also seems certain that the current theory on abiogenesis is still open to new finds and some of the answers have to be "we don't know!" it doesn't alter the fact that it currently fits with what all (even if little) evidence points to, so the theory stands.

but as Roger Stanyard asked

"Rainbow, so what is your alternative explanation of abiogenesis?" and what evidence is it based on or are you just struggling with this one point?

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/abioprob/

This probably hasn't helped but .....

9. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101412 by lobdog on December 20, 2007 at 10:23 am

Just a thought but has any one else noticed that

Santa is an anagram of Satan?????

10. CBC News: Sunday - Richard Dawkins

Comment #100205 by lobdog on December 18, 2007 at 11:37 am

Sorry more comments on the "Stalin was an atheist" theme.
Although I'm sure most people who pose this question actually know the basic fallacy of the premise, it very much seems to fall into the "throw enough shit and some will stick" category. However if you lead some one through (and hopefully this is simple enough for any one to follow) the following scenario, it occurs to me (maybe somewhat simplistically)rather than attempt a rational / reasoned response. It may be more effective to try someting like

But Stalin was an atheist?

Do you beleive in the tooth fairy?

Errr (wtf????) NO!!!!
(hopefully you will get a response something like this, or a very silly looking respondant)

Do you know what an atheist is?

Hopefully the response would be "a none beleif in God(s)" (if not stop what ever drivel is being spouted and educate them)

Did you know Stalin didn't beleive in the tooth fairy either.

Rather an obvious trap, but if carried through enough times maybe (yeah right) people will stop asking the same question

11. Is Infant Male Circumcision An Abuse Of The Rights Of The Child?

Comment #96245 by lobdog on December 10, 2007 at 8:21 am

The conclusion on the below link is that

Very few absolute medical reasons exist for circumcision, and no reasons exist to justify routine circumcision of infants outside areas with a high rate of HIV infection. Far too many circumcisions are performed without good reason in Europe and the USA. The best advice is 'if it isn't absolutely necessary, don't circumcise'.


http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/facts/circumcision.htm

dosn't alter the fact it is a form of abuse