1. Cathedral seminar to equip clerics to deal with Dawkins

Comment #252965 by j s bach on September 24, 2008 at 1:22 am

A clear sign the Church is running shit-scared.

2. Jewish 'ultras' defend morals with menace

Comment #252331 by j s bach on September 23, 2008 at 12:08 am

The Nazis established stringent travel conditions on the Jews in the 1930s. Now the Jews are doing it to one another. You've got to laugh.

3. Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview

Comment #241643 by j s bach on September 3, 2008 at 12:17 am

How old is this woman? She looks and sounds like a 15 year old.

4. Catholic leaders block contraceptive advice for 30,000 Scots girls

Comment #232933 by j s bach on August 18, 2008 at 11:57 pm

This piece of news makes me so angry. I thought we had sorted out this damn Roman church centuries ago - at least we cut off the head of a craven Roman catholic called Mary Queen of Scots. Perhaps it would be worth reminding these confounded cardinals of that fact.

5. Call to teach biblical creation as science

Comment #226301 by j s bach on August 7, 2008 at 10:56 pm

Looking for religious bigots and nutters? Why look across the Atlantic - we have them in the United Kingdom. Look no further than Northern Ireland.

6. On TV: The Genius of Charles Darwin: Presented by Richard Dawkins

Comment #223307 by j s bach on August 2, 2008 at 1:34 am

I've taught biology for some years in British secondary schools. Evolution and natural selection are firmly in the curriculum for 15 - 18 year olds. Dawkins is right however - just a few hours will be devoted to the subject. This can't be helped. Were it not so - other scientific topics would have to be omitted to avoid over-loading the syllabus.
I recall spending a considerable time (more than I should have) teaching genetics and evolution to a class of 15 year olds a couple of years ago. At the end of the module and during a general discussion, a Muslim boy casually declared that Allah gave him his physical characteristics. I was momentarily stunned. I thought what the hell had I been teaching and what on earth had this boy learned. Dawkins is right - a few science lessons is not going to shift this religious influence.

7. Cardinal accuses Anglican Communion of 'spiritual Alzheimer's'

Comment #218992 by j s bach on July 26, 2008 at 12:45 am

This Cardinal's got a bloody cheek. Someone ought to remind him that Britain fought many wars to keep our shores free from people like him and his confounded Popery and superstition.

8. How Anecdotal Evidence Can Undermine Scientific Results

Comment #217115 by j s bach on July 24, 2008 at 12:12 am

Recently, a woman in the UK hs been awarded thousand of pounds damages as a result of following the instructions of some quack dietician who instructed the woman to drink 4 pints of water a day and reduce her salt intake. Result: brain damage. Same problem - the general public have latched on to this nonsense of getting "de-toxified" because all the diet mags are talking about it. Studying biology to the age of 16 in the UK would have enabled this woman to realise the danger she was letting herself in for.

9. MnIndy interview: Unrepentant science-heathen PZ Myers still intends to prove 'this cracker is nothing'

Comment #211383 by j s bach on July 16, 2008 at 12:04 am

I would have more respect for these people if they just said "Please don't do what you are threatening to do. We would find it most objectionable and ask for your forbearance in this matter."

10. France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam

Comment #209680 by j s bach on July 13, 2008 at 1:55 am

Us Brits have got a lot to learn from the French in this regard. I admire them - they stand no bloody nonsense when it comes to muslims.

11. Weak US dollar hits papal profits

Comment #209243 by j s bach on July 12, 2008 at 1:06 am

A single donation of $14.3?

"A fool and his money are easily parted."

12. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208419 by j s bach on July 10, 2008 at 11:54 pm

And another one: just recall the moslim woman who applied to be a hairdresser but was refused because she wouldn't take off her headscarf! The courts awarded her ££££ for her "damaged feelings" -or something like that.
They are getting away with murder.

13. Religious bigotry upheld in court

Comment #208417 by j s bach on July 10, 2008 at 11:49 pm

This silly woman would be the frst to object if she were refused something because she is black.

14. Prayer refusal pupils 'disciplined'

Comment #204855 by j s bach on July 6, 2008 at 12:40 am

This is heartening - that two 11 year old children have got the guts to say "No, I'm not doing it." They should be commended for their courage.

15. Science is thrilling - except in our schools

Comment #203924 by j s bach on July 4, 2008 at 12:30 am

I've been teaching science for 33 years. There are so many factors governing why children don't choose it as a career or to study it to A level at least.
It used not to be the case but then youngsters were free to choose which science to drop - biology, chemistry or physics. Now, they have to study them all for some spurious reason that we all have long forgotten. Furthermore, science is difficult - even more so if you have to grapple with all three - with their respective terminology, feel and smell. Science is 3 subjects - not one! Imagine having to study 3 languages to GCSE! The current science exams are far more difficult than the dreary O/A levels I did despite what politicians say. Youngsters nowadays study aspects at GCSE level I was only introduced to at university.
Lastly, science lacks glamour. There is not prospect in the bounds of the mind of a 16 yr old of "making it". No wonder Media Studies and IT are more attractive.
Zeus help this country.

16. A secular world is a sane world

Comment #202870 by j s bach on July 2, 2008 at 5:07 am

Brilliant. Spot on.

17. Saudi Marriage Officiant : 'It Is Allowed To Marry A Girl At The Age Of One'.

Comment #198983 by j s bach on June 25, 2008 at 12:53 am

We shouldn't be too hard on Proph Mo' - he did put off satisfying his twitching willy for 3 years.

18. Kenneth Miller on Colbert Report

Comment #195226 by j s bach on June 18, 2008 at 12:15 am

Total waste of space.

19. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194556 by j s bach on June 17, 2008 at 12:29 am

"Mutilation of cardinals"? Sounds great.

20. Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Comment #194553 by j s bach on June 17, 2008 at 12:26 am

We shouldn't be so naive as to expect the muslim/christian gay-haters will change their tune. Have they ever taken on-board scientific evidence and rationality?

21. John McCain: America a Christian nation, needs Christian president

Comment #190351 by j s bach on June 8, 2008 at 11:41 pm

Here's another future President of the USA who can't string two comprehensible words together.

22. Mail-boat record 'proves Darwin stole his original ideas from a Welsh scientist'

Comment #184671 by j s bach on May 26, 2008 at 12:13 am

The Origin of Species is a bloody big book. Could it really have been cobbled together in such a short time? I think not. Furthermore, I have always understood Darwin had long composed manuscript on the O of S which he asked his wife to publish in the event of his death.

23. Kenya mob reportedly burns 11 'witches'

Comment #183581 by j s bach on May 22, 2008 at 9:56 am

And it is now the likes of these superstitious children that compose the greater part of the Anglican/Episcopalian Church.

24. In God's Name

Comment #182750 by j s bach on May 20, 2008 at 11:56 pm

This has shocked me to the core. I feel a mixture of anger, pity and - I'm sorry to say - utter loathing for these people.

25. Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

Comment #180445 by j s bach on May 15, 2008 at 1:35 am

I wonder what religious stage these aliens are at: the Moses, the Jesus or the Mohammed stage. Have they been saved yet? Have they got the Bible or do they have their very own one? Did Jesus have to die for them too - second time over? What is this god playing at - surely he should be satisfied with just us without having to go the same old tedious route all over again with another hopeless bunch of creation?

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

Comment #178332 by j s bach on May 11, 2008 at 8:42 am

I'm a meat-eater and I love beef. I'm offended that BA is not going to serve it any more.

27. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177374 by j s bach on May 9, 2008 at 1:50 am

Dead on. Has anyone heard Jeremiah Wright screeching? They are all the bloody same these religious nut-cases. As the saying goes: Empty vessels make most noise.

28. Is religion a threat to rationality and science?

Comment #166267 by j s bach on April 23, 2008 at 4:25 am

I am utterly mystified how a concentration camp survivor, not to speak of any Jew, can still believe in their yahweh god and that their faith should have provided the strength to get them through the unimaginably ghastly horrors of an extermination camp. I find it hard to believe that it wasn't the basic human instinct to survive but religion. If yahweh is out there - then surely it has been clear since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem that he's really gone off his "chosen" people.

29. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164278 by j s bach on April 20, 2008 at 12:56 am

LAYLA -
I was interested to read of your experience of moving away from your faith. I too followed a similar course and was amazed how simple it was. I can remember the precise moment I ceased to pray - and that after 50 years with the habit. And habit is all it is/was. When I look back and try to understand how I could have possibly believed in all the christian nonsense I come up with the same answer: I just didn't THINK. And that was possibly because I didn't know how to. My best wishes to you.

30. Victims: Pope Benedict Protects Accused Pedophile Bishops

Comment #161490 by j s bach on April 15, 2008 at 10:46 am

Christopher Hitchens' motto for the Roman Catholic Church is so apt here:

"No child's behind left."

31. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157332 by j s bach on April 8, 2008 at 11:51 pm

What was the point of Richard being on the programme? He hardly had an opportunity to say a word - unlike that mad African woman, the smarmy Mayoral candidate and the whining moslim convert.

32. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #148812 by j s bach on March 24, 2008 at 1:46 am

I'm sorry to say Prof Dawkins but you've been had - it's as simple as that. Surely there is a lesson here: don't be so eager to accept invitations to appear in "films" without closely examining the producer's credentials and purpose.

33. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #147810 by j s bach on March 21, 2008 at 10:05 am

These loonies should invite Ted Haggard along to be cured. Funny, though, he being so close to god, I would have expected an instant conversion to being straight.

34. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #143624 by j s bach on March 14, 2008 at 8:57 am

England's freedom from the tyranny and wickedness of the Roman Church and has so often been in peril. Think only of that craven bitch Mary Queen of Scots and the murderous fanatics in the gunpowder plot and Philip of Spain! Yet - here we are again with these superstitious followers of the vicar of Rome who want to ban books and bash gays. Zeus! can the leopard ever change its spots? I think not.

35. What's the Point of the Archbishop of Canterbury?

Comment #139229 by j s bach on March 5, 2008 at 10:41 am

I have no objection to the office of the A of C. I bought a book by RW when he first became Archbishop - it was utterly incomprehensible. I threw it in the bin.
I wish Williams would throw his weight around a bit, however, particularly with the superstitious homophobic African prelates who have only just shed their animist nappies.

36. Ayaan Hirsi Ali to get EU protection

Comment #136929 by j s bach on March 2, 2008 at 3:38 am

It would be terrific if Ayaan took up residence in UK but it is highly unlikely and not at all condicive to her well-being. It would be like Daniel in the lions' den. We are known for giving shelter and protection to screaming nut-case Muslims rather than those seeking to escape from the tyranny of this vile religion.

37. Leaving the Faith

Comment #136925 by j s bach on March 2, 2008 at 3:20 am

BigThink is terrific link - who needs TV when you have material like this?

38. How he was sentenced to die

Comment #132537 by j s bach on February 25, 2008 at 12:07 am

And my countrymen are losing their lives for this shit hole of a nation.

39. Whale Evolution

Comment #131376 by j s bach on February 22, 2008 at 11:12 am

I went to a talk given by Duane T Gish in the early 70s. He wrote the silly little book "The Fossils Say No!" He talked about the absence of transitional forms indicates that evolution had not occurred. I blush to admit I was taken in - hook, line and sinker. My only excuse was that I was an impressionable youth who had a heart but no brain. It amazes me that the creationists persist in this claim. I suppose there is just no alternative for them but to stick to this falsity otherwise thier whole house must come tumbling down.

40. Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks for protection

Comment #131373 by j s bach on February 22, 2008 at 11:04 am

How is it that Hirsi Ali's request for help has caused such a plethora of comment?

41. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #111228 by j s bach on January 14, 2008 at 5:10 am

You don't need to watch the whole of debates like this to determine who won: just quickly determine who's talking the loudest is certainly the loser: the rabbi was nigh on yelling!

42. Islam's Silent Moderates

Comment #95690 by j s bach on December 9, 2007 at 1:15 am

Ayaan is absolutely right. We hear over and over in the UK of the "moderate" Moslims in our midst. It is myth. They may not be the ones that light the fuses on the bombs but they condone every vile piece of nonsense in the koran.
The day I see TENS OF HUNDREDS of Moslims protesting in Trafalgar against the inhuman practices of islam - then I'll eat my hat and in public too.

43. Frequently Asked Questions about the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust

Comment #89618 by j s bach on November 21, 2007 at 9:14 am

I am simply amazed at the mean-hearted and cynical attitude of so many contributors to these pages. How is it they can't just dip into their pockets and pull out $5 or $10 without all this questioning and wriggling. It really makes me want to convert to Christianity. If this is the sort of people I am "rub shoulders" with then I'm out of it.

44. URGENT APPEAL: Please Help Protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #88763 by j s bach on November 19, 2007 at 12:27 am

From reading some of the comments on this page it would seem to me religious people ARE, after all, more generous the non-believers.
All the twisting and wriggling and scraping for reasons not to pay. I wonder if Christians would do the same when asked by a reputable source for money to help someone in need?

45. At a Theater Near You ...

Comment #54053 by j s bach on July 5, 2007 at 5:54 am

Where is the evidence for so-called "moderate" Muslims? We just assume they exist.
The day I see a demonstration of Muslims in their tens of hundreds in Trafalgar Sq protesting against the presence of the extremists in their midst will be the day I believe moderate Muslims exist.

46. Ancient boy's skeleton sparks evolution debate

Comment #21257 by j s bach on February 8, 2007 at 9:37 am

This Adoyo man is barely out of his Animism nappies. It's the likes of him that has the Archbishop of Canterbury by the short and curlies and is dragging the Anglican Church back into the Dark Ages.

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

Comment #21055 by j s bach on February 7, 2007 at 12:32 pm

Birds only flutter when they are injured.

48. Dispatches: Undercover Mosque

Comment #18303 by j s bach on January 19, 2007 at 1:26 pm

It's no wonder people vote for the BNP.

49. Creationism special

Comment #17668 by j s bach on January 15, 2007 at 11:52 am

The scientists on this recording would do well to know a little bit of theology.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I believe, coined the term "God of the Gaps". That is- what we can't explain we attribute to our god. When science finally explains it. The god ends up being squashed into an ever-diminishing corner. As one of the commentators said, what happens when science does fully explain the bacterial flagellum? The god-botherers will just move on to something else.

50. FiveLive debate on faith and discrimination

Comment #17407 by j s bach on January 13, 2007 at 11:06 am

A further thought:
one of the email messages said, referring to the demo outside Parliament, somelike: "You wont find any Quakers demonstrating."
How true. If there were any Christinas that could convert me back to the faith- it would be the Quakers. They accept all and everyone. They make not one distinction or proviso. And they do their good works quietly and unobtrusively. If there were a god, I would say god bless them.