1. Carlin on Religion

Comment #198312 by Vanitas on June 23, 2008 at 2:44 pm

Goodbye, George.

May your remains be as welcome in the earth as will your memory always be with us.

2. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190079 by Vanitas on June 8, 2008 at 10:46 am

Fanusi Khiyal
does anyone doubt that this is yet another Mohammedan atrocity?

But that is exactly what I am doubting.

I was born and raised in Algeria, a predominantly muslim African country. I was circumcised at the age of 6 (male), but female "circumcision" was virtually unheard of.

But I know very little about the topic, and I guess there may be some sense in which FGM is a practice exclusive to muslims of certain African cultures (e.g. Algeria is mostly an Arab and Berber country, and besides, in most senses their lifestyle could be considered "civilised")

3. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190065 by Vanitas on June 8, 2008 at 10:08 am

mordacious1

Ah, I agree with you there. Surely their beliefs must play some part in explaining their practice?

4. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190061 by Vanitas on June 8, 2008 at 9:58 am

Dax:

Thanks. That's the info I was missing.
I was just going off the fact that FGM is older in Africa than Islam, and has as much to do with Islam as it does with the other monotheisms.

5. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190057 by Vanitas on June 8, 2008 at 9:38 am

Again, I don't understand why it is being assumed by so many people here that the couple is muslim. I don't see where in the article it says that.

Don't count on me ever to say anything in defence of islam. But the fact is that FGM is, as far as I know, a practice native to Africa and common with people of all religions. This couple could be christian, for all I know.

I might be wrong. But I just don't see the connection with Islam, for all its horridities, and FGM.

6. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters

Comment #190045 by Vanitas on June 8, 2008 at 9:24 am

I'm sorry, but where in the article does it say this family is muslim? Am I missing something here?

7. Altruism in social insects is a family affair

Comment #186231 by Vanitas on May 30, 2008 at 1:57 am

I remember it clearly to this day. I was a boy of about 7 years. I was watching a trail of ants, and I, uh, lightly injured one of them. all of the other ants marched by on their business. but one of them actually stopped to aid the injured ant, and within a few seconds, the ant was up and running. i went on to tell that story for the rest of my childhood.

8. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #178569 by Vanitas on May 11, 2008 at 3:55 pm

Prior to this, I wasn't so convinced that the faith that i was brought up in could lead to such atrocities. After all, I'm used to a much milder form of it. That recent similar case in Canada? "Well that's just some crazy fuck, what do the tenets of islam have to do with it?"

But this story has removed any doubt I ever had. That an entire, coherent society can support this, explicitly in the name of the religion, is both confounding and enlightening as to the nature of this religion.

For me it's been like watching a child and wondering how that child could ever grow up to be a criminal--but now I see the criminal, and the resemblance is undeniable.

9. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170758 by Vanitas on April 28, 2008 at 12:55 am

The most disgusting thing about a religious mind like Stein's is how, pretending always to have the moral high ground, it makes a mockery of everything that could be called morality.

10. Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists

Comment #165063 by Vanitas on April 21, 2008 at 2:20 am

Surely, if there were indeed a god, such stupidity wouldn't exist?

11. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164206 by Vanitas on April 19, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Zamboro

"We all certainly deserve a basic degree of ethical consideration on account of our humanity, but I hope you don't mean to imply that being an atheist entitles one to additional respect, any more than accepting gravity, evolution or the shape of the earth does."

Of course not. What I meant to say was that nonbelievers deserve an equal share of respect as the rest of human beings--something which has never been an entitlement until recent years.
Of course, in the end of it all, we should hope to convince every last human being to pursue reason with us as a moral necessity.

12. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164202 by Vanitas on April 19, 2008 at 5:38 pm

MonkeyMagoo

Thank you. Yes, and even when you outgrow the beliefs, it's still a good thing to learn more about them and appreciate the culture--just as one can cherish Greek mythology without believing it to be true.

Layla

And I wish the same for you :) Of course, it's never too late to change your mind about anything. And I feel the same way--I'm glad I had the chance, if anything, to experience firsthand what islam is all about. Atheists are too often dismissed as "not knowledgeable enough about religion."

13. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164176 by Vanitas on April 19, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Hello. I am a new contributor here. I've been coming on this website for the longest time now, and the articles are always so interesting and the discussions so lively that I just had to join in. :)

I would like to begin by congratulating you, Layla, on your deconversion. I was brought up a Muslim myself, although my faith faded into something more like deism by my teenage years.
But I am glad to say that it was Professor Dawkins' writings that dealt the final blow to my faith last year.

I'm only 19 now, and it's been the hardest thing "coming out" to my parents, and i suppose even now i've still got one foot in the closet. But I guess it's a gradual thing, and the more you make a stand for yourself, the easier it becomes and the more you gain the respect you deserve.

Anyway, I think it's wonderful that so many people have been standing up and raising the middle finger to religious bullying these past few years, and i feel lucky to have the opportunity to contribute two of my own.