1. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #191319 by nrvous on June 10, 2008 at 2:53 pm

It seems on the one hand to be a huge waste of time, but on the other hand this is exactly the kind of article that deserves a cool-headed, line-by-line refutation. Go to it, whitepearl! (And others...)

2. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #191299 by nrvous on June 10, 2008 at 2:15 pm

For some reason 'Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator...' put me in mind of two things:

1) Douglas Adams' dialog between God and Man ('I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing'...etc.)

2) This scene from The LEague of Gentlemen, in which two door-to-door evangelicals try to scare someone into accepting Jesus by showing her actual 'photographs' of hell.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9dsEcHAoyb4

3. In God's Name

Comment #183170 by nrvous on May 21, 2008 at 1:34 pm

A great show, incredibly scary. I admired the restraint of the interviewer, who had an unerring knack for knowing when to sit back and let his subject talk, thereby spinning out more rope with which to hang themselves.

As a Brit living in the USA, it is all too easy for me to idealize Britain as a country whose people are far too cynical and level-headed to go for this nonsense in large number, but a show like this gives me pause and causes me to reflect on how real the danger is.

The mad brunette woman is an example of a species of evangelical I have encountered all too often. She is so used to being surrounded by people who agree with her, who believe what she believes, who do not challenge or question her, that when you get her on her own and try to nail down some of her actual beliefs, she is pitifully ill-equipped to express them, to the point where she wants the camera turned off. You could almost see her wishing there was a pastor or preacher who could step in and remind her exactly what she believes. (Thinking, "This stuff made so much more sense when pastor Nigel was saying it. Why does it sound so far-fetched and ridiculous coming from my own mouth?")

Kudos to the bird. That was some great shooting.

4. Pat Condell: Anthology DVD available now!

Comment #173069 by nrvous on April 30, 2008 at 9:50 am

Here's a funny clip I recently found on YouTube -- British comic Richard Herring on the New Testament (specifically on the X-begat-Y-begatZ genealogies that litter its pages -- he's got 'em memorized, folks...)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QBuU2GDD4xA

5. Holy Nonsense

Comment #95519 by nrvous on December 8, 2007 at 1:54 pm

Who is this Christohper Hitchens? Any relation to Christopher?

6. Eugenie Scott on Intelligent Design and Young Earth Creationism

Comment #81240 by nrvous on October 24, 2007 at 1:19 pm

Eugenie Scott is a great lady. She features pretty heavily in the book "Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul" by Edward Humes, an account of the Dover PA flap, well worth reading if you are at all interested in the ID-in-schools debate.

My review, for those who are curious...

http://boybedlamreview.com/issue1/thinedgeofthewedge.htm

7. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #68816 by nrvous on September 8, 2007 at 7:09 pm

I wonder if there will, over time, occur a sort of Darwinist process whereby the fleas' descendants inherit the strengths of their progenitors, while the weaknesses (circular arguments, ad hominem attacks, flaccid reasoning...) fall by the wayside.

Perhaps, given a long enough time period, we might eventually end up with speciation and, who knows, a book that is actually worth reading?

8. India to charge writer Nasreen with 'hurting Muslim feelings'

Comment #67697 by nrvous on September 4, 2007 at 12:01 pm

(Also, on a totally unrelated point, I was just struck by the odd double meaning of the word 'Submit' on the talkboards here. Seems to me that the button we click on when we have something to say should be emblazoned with a less loaded term -- 'Post,' perhaps?)

9. India to charge writer Nasreen with 'hurting Muslim feelings'

Comment #67694 by nrvous on September 4, 2007 at 11:58 am

Reminds me of a recent Hitchens speech in which he said (I'm paraphrasing) "When someone tells me I've hurt their feelings my response is, 'I'm still waiting to hear your point.'"

Sounds like we need to call the Wa-a-a-ambulance for these clowns.

10. An Inquisition in science's name

Comment #51079 by nrvous on June 21, 2007 at 11:30 am

I am writing to you as one who was once as convinced as you are that I understood the nature of reality and how it is best interpreted.

11. The Future Forum Presents: Christopher Hitchens and Marvin Olasky

Comment #50325 by nrvous on June 16, 2007 at 7:35 pm

I was disappointed that Hitch didn't administer more of a 'Finish Him!'-style punch to the Pascal's Wager question. (Sorry, Mortal Kombat reference...)

Aside from the sillinesses Hitch pointed out in his answer, the chief (to me) silliness of P's W is that by that same logic, one should be required to become a Muslim, a Hindu, a Wiccan, and a Satanist. If you run rampant around the field of unsupported beliefs, indiscriminately placing your faith in everything going (because what have you got to lose?) then where does the credulity stop?

Answer: It doesn't. It can't.

12. The Future Forum Presents: Christopher Hitchens and Marvin Olasky

Comment #49985 by nrvous on June 14, 2007 at 11:25 am

Olasky says, during his rant about Stalin and Hitler, "If you're saying that religion poisons everything and that nothing else is poisonous then you're wrong."

This is a terrible and disingenuous misrepresentation of what Hitchens is saying. A really vital and dishonest rhetorical sleight of hand.

BOOOO!

13. Republican candidates range from ignorant to dishonest, part 2

Comment #48527 by nrvous on June 8, 2007 at 9:16 am

#17

Teapot -- Like my username, it's a reference to the great '80s teen comedy flick Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (Specifically, to a scene in which a dull-voiced teacher, played by Ben Stein, is taking attendence and each time he comes to the name of a student who is absent, he just keeps repeating the name with the same droning, faintly quizzical intonation, rather than marking them absent and passing on to the next name on the list.)

So it's a pop-culture-y way of drawing attention to the total silence that greeted the question. And it's, "Bueller? Bueller?" (as opposed to Bewler)

14. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46614 by nrvous on May 31, 2007 at 8:09 pm

But seriously, Prof. Dawkins, I certainly hope you are composing a searing rebuttal for immediate dispatch to the NYT letters page.

15. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46510 by nrvous on May 31, 2007 at 2:17 pm

The most passionate advocates of evolutionary theory offer a vision of man as a kind of historical accident. That being the case, many believers — myself included — reject arguments for evolution that dismiss the possibility of divine causality.

16. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46506 by nrvous on May 31, 2007 at 2:08 pm

Ha ha, The Onion! They're so crazy!

(Oh, wait...)

17. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #41088 by nrvous on May 15, 2007 at 1:31 pm

I've got to go with:

"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."

(PS: How do I do the quotey thing, where the text appears in a little inset box, as in #6?)

18. The Creation Museum: Prepare to believe

Comment #41008 by nrvous on May 15, 2007 at 10:28 am

Exhibit A (from the Creation Museum website)
Hours of operation (ET)
Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Exhibit B: (from Deuteronomy 5:12)
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

Um....

19. Statement of Concern about Impact of AIG's Creation 'Museum'

Comment #40946 by nrvous on May 15, 2007 at 8:35 am

Is this Statement of Concern playing too much into AIG's hands? I'm sure Hamm dearly wants to be able to claim he's ruffling some feathers in the science community, and now here's his proof. Just as with the ID people: all they have to do is claim that evolution is controversial, then the scientists shoot back that no controversy exists, and -- voila! -- instant controversy!

I'm more inclined to ignore him entirely. Don't even give him the satisfaction of the attention. (Then again, I do live within striking distance of the museum, and part of me badly wants to pay it a visit.)

20. Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

Comment #35514 by nrvous on April 27, 2007 at 12:14 pm

And then of course there was the legendary South Park episode "All About Mormons" It's not viewable online as far as I can tell, but here's a transcript.

http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon134.html

21. Peanut Butter, The Atheist's Nightmare!

Comment #27939 by nrvous on March 27, 2007 at 10:37 am

The scary thing is that this is how a lot of Creationism is taught. You watch this video at a young enough age, in a room full of kids who (like you) are too young to question it, led by a teacher who is charismatic enough to get the whole thing off the ground, and congratulations -- you are well on the way to becoming a Fundie.

22. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #26838 by nrvous on March 21, 2007 at 10:48 pm

A question: is there some alternate, bizzarro (perhaps Catholic?) website on which people are posting comments like, "Oh yeah, Andrew really nailed him there!" or, "It's only a matter of time before Harris throws in the towel"?

I am serious about this -- am I perceiving Sam as winning merely because I already agreed with him on most of his points?

23. Senator calls for answer on creation of universe

Comment #24462 by nrvous on March 6, 2007 at 7:10 pm

QED

Quite Erroneous Deduction?

Of course that argument only works if you have a working definition of 'greater' that everyone can agree on. If you're not careful, your supreme being might end up looking a hell of a lot like a blue whale.

24. Faith

Comment #23098 by nrvous on February 26, 2007 at 10:00 am

Mouthalmighty: A hearty round of applause for your post #67 -- a neat and damning identification of a tendency I have often noted in theists but have never been able to articulate myself.

25. Is America Too Damn Religious?

Comment #22657 by nrvous on February 20, 2007 at 11:58 am

Let's just get the kids reading Phillip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy at a young age...

26. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #21337 by nrvous on February 8, 2007 at 8:28 pm

And another round is upon us. I think it is going to become harder and harder for Harris to keep up the fight, as the terms of the debate are now so up-in-the-air that it is hard to know what victory would even look like (a little like the War on Terror?)

I think the strongest tactic for arguing with theists is not to debate in terms of 'believer vs. atheist' ("Here's why I don't think God exists.") but rather by pitting believer against believer, as Harris does here ("What makes Christians right as opposed to, say, Muslims?") As long as a person is espousing a faith that has claimed to have exclusively cornered the market on morality, or the afterlife, by virtue of ths true divinity of its particular book(s) (as opposed to the blindingly obvious patent falsity of the books of other faiths) then it is far easier to poke holes in their arguments.

This is why Sullivan keeps trying to draw the debate back into the weeds--hiding behind vagueness and abstraction--and why Harris is at his best when he is dragging it back into the open and firing very specific questions. Theists have no problem arguing for the existence of God vs. the non-existence, but they are on much shakier ground when they are debating their 'version' of God against those of other faiths.

27. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #21154 by nrvous on February 7, 2007 at 7:24 pm

"...whereas Richard Dawkins does believe he is Richard Dawkins."

There. Finished that off for you.

28. Atheist Chic

Comment #13466 by nrvous on December 17, 2006 at 10:07 pm

I completely agree with you, Conrad (#3) -- I have always found people to be far more willing to take my opinions seriously if I use the soft-sell approach, even if that means bowing my head while someone says grace. I liken it to vegetarianism: nobody likes (or is convinced by) the militant animal-rights crusader who stares icily at the hamburger-eater and hisses "Do you know where that came from?" and then starts reeling off a tirade about the living conditions of factory farm animals.

Choose your moments to speak, and be gracious when you do. It's the last thing people will be expecting from an atheist.

29. Preaching to the converted

Comment #13289 by nrvous on December 16, 2006 at 8:38 pm

True. Actually, though, I did chuckle at the term 'wintery exasperation' to describe RD's occasional state when faced with religious believers. (Or belief, anyway).

30. Preaching to the converted

Comment #13287 by nrvous on December 16, 2006 at 8:22 pm

How long do you think it is going to take for 'I think religion is to be admired for asking the right questions' to be taken out of context?

31. Response to Richard Dawkins' Criticisms in The God Delusion

Comment #13286 by nrvous on December 16, 2006 at 7:56 pm

The Channel Four show 'The Doomsday Code' mentioned here is up on Youtube in its entirety. See the link below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHk0N9mzPsk