1. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177231 by barry21 on May 8, 2008 at 7:37 pm

Shmuley's screeching pales in comparison to his arrogance. He can't get through a paragraph without referring to his affiliation with "the world's greatest" this or the "most influential" that. It's embarrassing.

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

Comment #176687 by barry21 on May 7, 2008 at 9:26 pm

Holy shit.

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

Comment #174931 by barry21 on May 3, 2008 at 10:06 pm

When I was in elementary school, 2nd grade I think, a Baptist family moved in next door. They had a girl my age, and she gave me Chick tracts. I was raised Jewish and had no idea what the hell these boring little comics were talking about.

She told me on the school bus that the Bible was the only truth. I asked her if it's true that 1 1=2. She wasn't quite sure how to answer.

Since then, my Jewish beliefs have fallen away, but the fascination with fundie propaganda never has. I can't wrap my mind around how people buy into this garbage.

4. Bill Good Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #173173 by barry21 on April 30, 2008 at 1:31 pm

You will never hear me accuse richarddawkins.net of a lack of content! Thanks again.

5. Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear

Comment #172578 by barry21 on April 29, 2008 at 6:45 pm

Gorgeous.

6. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #168795 by barry21 on April 25, 2008 at 11:06 am

Does the slogan on that t shirt even make sense? Does it imply that homosexuality and happiness are mutually exclusive alternatives?

Is it a joke? Aren't jokes supposed to be funny?

The formulation "Be X, Not Y" is a pretty hard one to pull off logically, as it demands a non sequitur for almost all possible solutions for Y.

I may be parsing it a little close, but I just want to get a sense of the message this asshole is proudly slapping on his chest.

As for his freedom of speech. There is no question that he should be allowed to wear the shirt. But to coopt Sam Harris's idea, he should be marginalized for doing so.

7. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #164861 by barry21 on April 20, 2008 at 7:00 pm

The patience shown by Professor Dawkins in time and again in taking these tired arguments apart point by point is superhuman.

It makes me happy that a mind as sharp as his leads all of our efforts to combat ignorance wherever it is found.

I am not so forgiving of the author of the letter to Shermer. 149 years after the publication of "Origin", people have no excuse for not knowing better.

8. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158553 by barry21 on April 10, 2008 at 5:54 pm

Christopher Hitchens is the person making the best arguments in favor of the Iraq War. Even though I am not sold on it, I appreciate his tone and his perspective.

Regarding atheism, Hitchens provides the most artful iterations of both the problems of theism and the arguments for atheism. It's always inspiring to watch/read his work.

9. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158269 by barry21 on April 10, 2008 at 9:15 am

Waaaait, a second - when something dies, it's no longer alive?