1. Schools should put faith in science

Comment #92802 by Gene Goldring on December 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm

Vernon BC, Canada. While sipping on a beer with some friends I was talking with a young girl while she was sitting on her mothers lap. The young girl was in grade 10 and she was talking about basics in biology that she had thus far covered in class. All though her description not one time did she use the word, "evolution" which would have been fitting at several times during her talking points.

When she was pausing for air I took the opportunity to ask if her teachers had ever used the word evolution in class. She said, "No. What is it?"

My reply was, "Everything you just talked about."

Her mother who is a nurse added, "They teach what they want to believe." and a roll of her eyes followed.

This young girl is in the public school system.

If the young girls memory is at fault, fine. My apologies to the public school system in Vernon, BC. If it is a designed omission then shame on the public school system in Vernon, BC.

2. Sunday School for Atheists

Comment #90974 by Gene Goldring on November 26, 2007 at 9:24 pm

"for atheist Sunday school"

Those are words of the authors choosing. The only thing that comes close to those words on their web site for the Children's Program is

"dogma-free Sunday School"

This isn't an atheist organisation as others have mentioned. It's a Humanist organisation. Does using the term atheist get more readers I wonder?
Here's their web site and the Children's Program, a.k.a. dogma-free Sunday School description link.
http://www.humanists.org

Apparently the Stone Soup story is told in church as well.
http://www.storybin.com/sponsor/sponsor116.shtml

A humanist can be an atheist but not all atheists are Humanists.

3. A Matter of Faith

Comment #67453 by Gene Goldring on September 3, 2007 at 1:38 pm

A little bit off topic but I need some help. Reading this thread I came across post #32 with Ms. Murray's statement:
"YOUR PETITIONERS ARE ATHEISTS and they define their life-style as follows.....

After completely reading her statement as posted in post #32, is this what she actually said?

On the American Atheists web site it has this version and another less appealing to me and most probably by many.

http://www.atheists.org/Atheism

"Your petitioners are Atheists and they define their beliefs as follows. An Atheist loves his fellow man instead of god. An Atheist believes that heaven is something for which we should work now – here on earth for all men together to enjoy....

You'll notice "life-style" in the first version and "beliefs" in the latter version along with other statements supposedly what an atheist "believes".

On another page at American Atheists again supposedly quoting Ms. Murray:
http://www.atheists.org/courthouse/petitioners.html

'Your petitioners are Atheists and they define their lifestyle as follows....

The 2 texts contradict each other on the same web site. I've E-mailed American Atheists to no avail further mentioning Wikipedia's American Atheists page and that it also has similar text to the version using "lifestyle" and not using the word "believes" in just about every detail of what atheists know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Atheists

Does anyone have a credible source on this quote? A link to a copy of the court document would be perfect. I've looked but cannot find a credible source on the net. With all the various versions floating around, I think this should be addressed once and for all. I'd like to fix the Wikipedia version and cite a credible source for the quote.

4. Hey Mom, I'm an Atheist

Comment #31146 by Gene Goldring on April 11, 2007 at 6:27 am

Thanks for the reply InManhattan. You confirmed my suspicions.

5. Hey Mom, I'm an Atheist

Comment #31063 by Gene Goldring on April 10, 2007 at 8:56 pm

Howdy from B.C., Canada.
Presently I'm in a discussion based on this video. My question is, does a parent have the legal right to force a child of lets say 14 years of age to go to church against the childs wishes. U.S. court precedence would be nice.

6. Happy 66th Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #27691 by Gene Goldring on March 26, 2007 at 6:38 am

Salvation of the human race had its beginnings, 66 years ago today.

Happy Birthday Prof. Dawkins

B.C., Canada

7. Christmas Present to Defenders of Darwinism

Comment #13536 by Gene Goldring on December 18, 2006 at 6:21 am

Anybody who resorts to tactics of desperation like this has to be a real loser. Dembski is a loser, and it now looks as though he KNOWS it. My guess is that he will try to take it down when he realizes how foolish it makes him look.

If Bill D has any sense, that's got to hurt coming from a brilliant man such as Richard Dawkins....lol