1. Should Strident British Atheist Richard Dawkins Dictate Education Policy to US States? Barbara Forrest Apparently Thinks So

Comment #197051 by Partisan on June 21, 2008 at 1:45 am

I'm sure the fact the LSEA concerns itself solely with criticisms of evolution, despite a wimpy attempt on the DI website to qualify it as applying to all science, and its whole-hearted backing by the DI, is all just a coincidence and their interest in it is entirely in the interests of skeptical inquiry. Yea. Sure. This thin end of the wedge is so weak its set to shatter.

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

Comment #190622 by Partisan on June 9, 2008 at 9:49 am

I honestly doubt Mr. Postelnik has ever met an atheist, or if he has has contented himself with the familiar "see and hear no evil" stance of putting his fingers in his ears and screaming 'til his congregation come and whisk him away.

The youngest school child can tell you that a building does not build itself and that, by extension, neither does a universe.

3. A New Step In Evolution

Comment #188194 by Partisan on June 3, 2008 at 10:29 am

This is actually very useful when arguing IDiots and their claim that micro evolution can never mean macro as genetic "information" can't increase...well, here it is, E.Coli with the ability to digest citrates where none could before. This link is going to be well used by me.

4. Scientists rally against creationist 'superstition'

Comment #186990 by Partisan on June 1, 2008 at 2:59 am

40%? I really, really, REALLY doubt that. 40% of the British population believe in a personal God, and there is no chance all of those beleive in Creationism. I don't know anyone at my University who has even bought it up...never seen a protest, never heard a "you know, something strange happened in a lecture today" from a medicine student...just no. There are very few fundamentalists around.

In fact, I remember on my first day one of the lecturers introduced the course by saying Universities are no place for fundamentalists; you have to be willing to keep an open mind. Good for him.

5. Town moves against Islamic school

Comment #185272 by Partisan on May 27, 2008 at 10:26 am

A valid complaint for the wrong reasons. I would oppose the school because I feel faith schools only serve to divide communities and don't offer equal oppurtunity.

I'd speak out against any fascist speakers, whether Islamic or not.

6. Repulsive but right

Comment #184548 by Partisan on May 25, 2008 at 5:01 pm

I love watching Hitchens in debates, he's perhaps the most eloquent and entertaining speakers I've ever seen. I actually think his confrontational style makes people think seriously about their own positions when they're laid open to such clear ridicule: there's probably a place for a spectrum of oratory methods from Hitchens through Dawkins to greater moderates.

However, it's hard to talk on religion truthfully without sounding rude. It's ridiculous, so no-one can be too surprised when it's ridiculed.

7. Scientists discover 'frogamander' fossil

Comment #183447 by Partisan on May 22, 2008 at 6:30 am

Yay, I managed to sneak in =], the link needs "-frogamander-fossils,reuters" added the end of it.

Still, another gap plugged in the fossil record. I wonder what all these frogamanders were up to in the garden of Eden?

8. In God's Name

Comment #183277 by Partisan on May 21, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Fundamentalists in Britain? I can't wait =D, hopefully I'll meet one of these cretins in the street and have the oppurtunity to rip the rug from under their feet with the information I've learned from this and other sites (talkorigins particularly). Then the inevitable media attention and rebuttals from Hitchens or Dawkins; I might even have the chance to see a few live.

I hope they give themselves alot of attention, so their arguments can be publicly shattered. It can only help introduce more people to the God hypothesis and why it ultimately fails; this can't help by lead to an increase in Britain's atheism.

9. 16% of US science teachers are creationists

Comment #182573 by Partisan on May 20, 2008 at 2:44 pm

I'm surprised; are teachers in the US not prone to any kind of invigilation? Surely it would take one complaint and the teacher would be fired for teaching something illegal.

10. Non-religious summer camps develop niche

Comment #182549 by Partisan on May 20, 2008 at 12:24 pm

"Nobody wants to live alone in a bubble," Pinskiy said. "So it's extremely nice to find similarly minded people with the same world view."

11. Bible Theme Park Faces Opposition in Tennessee

Comment #181727 by Partisan on May 18, 2008 at 4:39 am

Chuckbert: Err. I think you'll find that's pre-modernism.

12. Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle

Comment #181610 by Partisan on May 17, 2008 at 4:30 pm

I would buy a cup of Starbucks in protest against Resitance; unfortunately, their coffee tastes of shit (sugar mixed with melted butter was my overall impression the last time I bought one there)

So, I'll just have to settle for telling them to grow up.

13. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181600 by Partisan on May 17, 2008 at 3:55 pm

I think Religious Education should remain a compulsory part of the curriculum and BECOME SO in countries such as America.

In line with Dennett's reasoning, presenting the world's religions and their tenets in an objective fashion (as I strongly believe they are in the UK, or atleast were when I was in school) is crucial in allowing children to make up their minds for themselves; which, I'm sure we'd all agree, is our objective.

Religious Education isn't some kind of extended church service where a preacher comes along and tells pupils what to think, it's an important factor in the development of how to think.

So, the National Secularist Society have it all wrong here, I feel making RE optional is only going to encourage fundamentalism. If this bill ever starts to gain impetus, I'll oppose it.

14. Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle

Comment #180926 by Partisan on May 16, 2008 at 6:28 am

Not sure if this has been said before, but I personally find the image of a semi-naked man nailed on a cross quite distressing and amoral, but hey-ho, swings and rundabouts I guess?

Edit: Looking at the above post I guess it has, feel free to put my name down too =]

15. Bible Theme Park Faces Opposition in Tennessee

Comment #180920 by Partisan on May 16, 2008 at 5:33 am

Ha, postmodernism gone wild - I think it's found its home in the USA.

16. Church of Scotland mediators to quell disputes

Comment #178323 by Partisan on May 11, 2008 at 7:58 am

Senior kirk members admit many ministers are not used to being questioned on matters of faith that in the past were accepted as absolute.

17. British Airways takes beef off the menu to avoid offending Hindus

Comment #178082 by Partisan on May 10, 2008 at 1:03 pm

This doesn't bother me at all - some people are vegetarian, and people's reasons for being vegetarian seem alien to me. Some people don't eat beef, and their reasons also strike me as bizzare, BUT if they form a majority of the airline's passengers then it makes perfect sense to change the menu to their tastes.

Also, as it turns out, I prefer chicken and fish pie to beef (and I'm British), so big woop =]

18. Trouble ahead for science

Comment #176977 by Partisan on May 8, 2008 at 12:16 pm

I wonder how the public will take it when they realised Expelled has flat out lied on so many of its key points, such as the link between Evolution and the Holocaust and the incompatibility of Evolution and Religion. Unbelievable, it seems like it's pissed on everyone's shoes.

19. An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee

Comment #176570 by Partisan on May 7, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Ha, this was good fun - it's a shame all the let-down, repressed and shy people on that trip feel the need to jabber in tongues and surrender their will to a man who clearly finds them an expendable source of capital. Societal casualties, I suppose...it's a real shame.

20. The History Channel might do something right

Comment #176159 by Partisan on May 6, 2008 at 5:44 pm

Looks better than nothing; so long as it's in standard documentary format and involves interviews from experts, I can't see how it could go wrong, so yea, I'll be tuning into the History channel come mid-june =]

21. Regulating Evolution: How Gene Switches Make Life

Comment #175910 by Partisan on May 6, 2008 at 8:27 am

Does this mean all life forms have very similar DNA, except only certain parts are activated in certain animals? So a scientist could take a rat, activate the right genes, make it yellow and able to produce electricity à la a pikachu, assuming it shared some of these traits with its ancestors? I remember seeing something similar to this in one of potholer54's youtube video, I think "evolution made easy," where he showed an example of a gene unused in modern day chickens but present in their ancestry for teeth, which could be activated. So...how far back does this go? Do we all have the DNA of our amphibian ancestors? This article's given me alot of questions.

22. Dumb and Dumber: A discussion between Ben Stein and Glenn Beck

Comment #175563 by Partisan on May 5, 2008 at 3:43 pm

I recognise the words they're saying, but...in the context...and in this way it, it just doesn't make sense =/

23. Truly Bizarre : Indians Throw Babies 50ft From Roof To Thank God.

Comment #175069 by Partisan on May 4, 2008 at 10:24 am

Replace the phrase "religious reasons" with "a laugh" in the sentence "Villagers throw their children off tall buildings on to a sheet for religious reasons," and we can see why this isn't an innocent practice.

24. A New Jack Chick Tract: Moving On Up!

Comment #175065 by Partisan on May 4, 2008 at 10:14 am

Ha, I remember getting handed one of these strips on my way to school when I was a teenager. I just couldn't equate the jolly look on the face of the guy who handed it to me with the totally unjustified stories of damnation and pain in it - it was really sickening; clearly he was targetting school kids as they're the most impressionable. The vapid, glazed over look of Christians like that is frightening, it fits so perfectly with their masochistic belief system, like they love the idea of punishment and wothlessnes before ultimate redemption by a megalomaniacal master.

25. Evolution's Critics Shift Tactics With Schools

Comment #174798 by Partisan on May 3, 2008 at 2:45 pm

The bills typically restrict lessons to "scientific" criticism of evolution...

26. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #173340 by Partisan on April 30, 2008 at 4:32 pm

A very well executed interview from Richard; I don't think anyone who listened would be in any doubt as to who came out on top. Thanks a bunch.

27. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170789 by Partisan on April 28, 2008 at 2:31 am

Five minutes with any reasonbly intelligent debator would see Stein fall flat on his face - unless, like Mathias in the SciAm interview, he feels his ignorance gives him a free pass to say whatever he likes, as well as something to hide behind when the questions get just too awkard.

28. Yoko Ono sues over use of John Lennon videos

Comment #169416 by Partisan on April 26, 2008 at 3:38 am

*Titter*

Honestly, I always thought the IDiots were masters of spin, propoganda and surfing the judiciary; I can't believe they'd make such obvious mistakes.

29. Tyrannosaurus rex protein proves dinosaurs evolved into birds

Comment #168416 by Partisan on April 25, 2008 at 6:14 am

I'd like to see what other animals they compared the proteins with, besides chickens/ostriches and alligators.

30. Pope's Views on Science Invoke Spirited Debate

Comment #165367 by Partisan on April 21, 2008 at 11:50 am

In fact, in a July 2007 speech in Italy, Benedict called the debate between evolution and creationism "an absurdity." He noted that "there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution" but that the theory still had room for God to play a role.

31. Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Comment #165179 by Partisan on April 21, 2008 at 7:17 am

Other speakers talked about the privileges of Mecca quoting verses from the Holy Qur'an and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad.

32. Sex for diploma offer caught on tape

Comment #164512 by Partisan on April 20, 2008 at 10:55 am

This sort of thing happens all the time, but it still makes me happy to think another religious hypocrite's been busted and watch him try to squirm his way out of the accusations on camera.

The only thing that irritates me about this is he'll give a quick apology, atonement and gesture of repentance to Jesus and be back in the game doing something equally sordid. My opinion on vicarious redemption is in line with Chris Hitchens'; it's immoral.

33. Gods and earthlings

Comment #163813 by Partisan on April 19, 2008 at 5:20 am

"If we could land a jumbo jet beside a medieval village, would we not be worshiped as gods?"

John Frum comes to mind.

34. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #163424 by Partisan on April 18, 2008 at 10:37 am

I've heard the probability of a sperm and an egg randomly creating a baby is equivalent to a hurricane blowing through a scrap yard and assembling a Shepherds pie. What are these so called "scientists" thinking...

35. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #163021 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 8:51 pm

I used photoshop to make it and the "import video as layers" option in the file menu, then just put another layer as a speech bubble on top of all of them, then saved it as a .gif. It wasn't hard, if you don't have photoshop I'd recommend www.gimp.org , a free imaging program which likely has a similar feature.

36. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #163006 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 8:01 pm

@Steveroot

It wouldn't be a film with Ben Stein without a little good old-fashioned plagiarsing going on somewhere!

37. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #162993 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Some of the comments on the youtube site are hillarious ^.^

38. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #162963 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 6:08 pm

Sex theorists believe eggs and sperm just turn into a baby LOL, don't they know the probabilty of that happening is 189022x100000000000000000^?

39. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #162932 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 5:17 pm

www.answersinornithology.org

Know the Astorkist's arugments and how to counter them ^^

40. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #162893 by Partisan on April 17, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Lmfao, what a rebuttal.

I've seen statistics which clearly show countries that embrace sex THEORY have higher levels of gun crime, vandalism, witchcraft and people with evil staring eyes.

Except Scandinavia...And Western Europe....Err

(Exit, stage right)

41. Inadequate, private and late apology with grotesquely inadequate excuse

Comment #159333 by Partisan on April 12, 2008 at 1:20 am

If her apology was good enough for Sherman, it's good enough for me. I say he was right to leave this; as it stands she went off on one, he took it and later graciously accepted her apology. There's maturity, and dare I say some Christian virtues, in action. I'd say it's clear who won this.

42. Scientists take drugs to boost brain power: study

Comment #158866 by Partisan on April 11, 2008 at 6:10 am

I need to get me some of these, my typical late-night study fare is a 4-pack of relentless and some pro-plus.

43. In search of the God particle

Comment #158069 by Partisan on April 10, 2008 at 3:38 am

Steve Zara:Just to put minds at rest, the chance of anything nasty happening is very, very remote. The reason why we can be confident of this is that particle collisions of far greater energy happen every day when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere. Nature has already done this experiment, and nothing happened.

44. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #157998 by Partisan on April 10, 2008 at 12:36 am

The thought of this film being hacked to pieces intellectually, morally and now legally before it's even released makes me feel all warm and tingly inside *big smile*

45. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157037 by Partisan on April 8, 2008 at 1:55 pm

Richard - you're my hero, congratulations for cutting through the asinine bullshit on display and saying what had to be said.

46. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #153219 by Partisan on April 1, 2008 at 8:15 am

Hmm, and there was me convinced this was an April fools. Truth >stranger> fiction.

47. Vatican: Islam surpasses Roman Catholicism as world's largest religion

Comment #152882 by Partisan on March 31, 2008 at 5:06 pm

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

48. In His Name We Pray, Ramen

Comment #151743 by Partisan on March 29, 2008 at 9:45 am

Brilliant! Now we just need to set-up a propoganda film mentioning how scientists have expelled(™) FSMism from the classroom and ban PZ from the screening.

49. 'We Make Our Own Heaven'

Comment #151396 by Partisan on March 28, 2008 at 3:58 pm

This sounds a little whacky to me, I mean, "free thinking"...what is that? Discussions on ideologies and how they shape our decisions, of which religion is one such ideology? If so it's more like a Social Theory lecture, but I doubt that's what's going on here as it'd be way over the kid's heads.

Then there's the apparent parody between being a "free-thinker" yet having to meet up in church style groups. I'd rather the kids focused on being kids than worry about how they should be thinking, "free" or otherwise, and let their Humanism develop naturally...or not, if that's the case and they want to be Theists. I don't understand this social club framework, it could just be the author's wording, but as Christopher Hitchen's says it's an Atheist strength that we don't have to meet up every week and remind ourselves why we think what we do; I'd hope most of us are more intelligent than that.

50. Austin Dacey - The Secular Conscience

Comment #150928 by Partisan on March 27, 2008 at 4:57 pm

Yeaaa...new link please =]