1. It's no wonder evangelical atheists need to shout so loud

Comment #238039 by jaf on August 27, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Wondering means tolerating mysteries.

2. Call to teach biblical creation as science

Comment #225288 by jaf on August 6, 2008 at 11:53 am

"Education Committee chair Mervyn Storey's demand comes amid fresh debate over the origins of mankind,"

There is *no* debate over the origins of mankind. the evidence is plain to see, to those who are not wilfully self-blinded to it. It's simply that some people are too scared (or too lazy) to throw away their crutch of religion.

3. Faith schools undermined by 'Government witch hunt'

Comment #202282 by jaf on July 1, 2008 at 8:11 am

Christina Odone is an odious Kafflick rent-a-mouth.
Whenever or where-ever you see her name, you can guarantee that it is to criticise someone (especially someone non-catholic) and to condemn those who don't see the world her way as immoral, or amoral. She is one of those who believes she has a hotline to the LARD, and she is not above Lying for Jebus.

4. Fossil of most primitive 4-legged creature found

Comment #199545 by jaf on June 26, 2008 at 12:30 am

"should of", mordacious

5. As the world becomes smaller, the need to understand each other's faith grows

Comment #193396 by jaf on June 15, 2008 at 2:05 pm

If people of different faiths can coexist in mutual respect, then so much the better for our world.

6. Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind

Comment #191451 by jaf on June 11, 2008 at 2:07 am

Did nobody notice this -
Interviewer - Where does god play to this? [...] 'Cos you said evolution, I thought that we were created perfectly?
Marcus - I'm challenging that idea.
Interviewer - It's a political statement as soon as you decide [...] it's evolution, right?
Marcus - I think it is a political statement. The book actually tries to challenge both intelligent design, because there are a lot of things that aren't very intelligent about our design, but also it tries to challenge an idea in evolution, which is that we're optimal, that we've been sort of perfectly created by evolution itself.

1. NO, it's not a political statement. Science has no politics. It's neither left nor right, conservative nor liberal. It's a description of the way things are, after observation, hypotheses and testing. Objects (inanimate or living), are as they are, and no election is ever going to change that.
2. NO, there is no 'idea' in evolution that we are optimal. We are where we are, because infinitessimal adaptations have occurred in order for us to survive whatever circumstances prevail, making the best use of whatever materials are available. The only people who belive we are 'optimal' are the creationists, who believe we were created perfect.
Which brings us back to the beginning.

I hope Mr.Marcus writes a better book than he gives interviews.

7. How Are Humans Unique?

Comment #184695 by jaf on May 26, 2008 at 1:44 am

First Line - "Human beings do not like to think of themselves as animals."

I'm sure that's not right. Some don't, I'll accept, but I know a great many who are only too happy to be thought of as animals, because that's exactly what we are. I'm proud to be an ape. We share all the ingredients,and are wired up according to the same basic plan; we're only different in the way a home hifi set-up is different from a walkman.

If the article opens on a false premise, where can it go?

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

Comment #174964 by jaf on May 4, 2008 at 1:39 am

'No child has ever been hurt during this ritual' sounds a bit like "Don't worry, they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist. . ."

9. Does science make belief in God obsolete?

Comment #170776 by jaf on April 28, 2008 at 1:51 am

"Does science make belief in god obsolete?"

Well, I've said this before, but it bears repeating -
I think this question was settled when the first lightning conductor was fitted to a church.

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

Comment #165290 by jaf on April 21, 2008 at 9:50 am

Saat Makkah (the watch of Mecca). . . runs anti-clockwise in the direction of Tawaf, the rotation around Kaaba.

11. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158277 by jaf on April 10, 2008 at 9:26 am

It's as if they have completely missed the point of the idea they are damning.

If members of a population die or are killed off, they will leave no descendants for subsequent generations.

12. 'We Make Our Own Heaven'

Comment #151609 by jaf on March 29, 2008 at 4:01 am

If I don't believe in gods, spirits, bogeymen, boggarts, banshees, leprechauns, fairies, in fact, anything that is not *Real(C)(TM)* then why would I need a spiritual home? Or a spiritual anything?
No thanks, I'd rather have a home made of bricks and mortar than one made of some invisible unknown non-substance.

13. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146741 by jaf on March 19, 2008 at 10:37 am

Dear 'Pathfinder',

What utter, utter bollocks you do talk.
Have you ever read any non-fiction?

As a good friend of mine once said -
"If you only ever read one book in your life,
shut the fuck up."

14. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145374 by jaf on March 17, 2008 at 2:13 pm

"He (D'Souza) describes how Christian principles of free choice and human dignity laid the groundwork for democratic political systems built on inalienable human rights."
That's where his entire argument breaks down. Where's the free choice in being told 'Do as I say, or go to Hell for all eternity'? Where's the human dignity in having to kneel before an imaginary sky-fairy, and his (self-appointed) representatives on earth? Where's the democracy in the hierarchical construction of the churches?
Where is the inalienable human right to do as you like with your own genitals, to be of a 'differing' sexuality?

To quote the Moody Blues* - "It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave, and keep on thinking free. . ."

* You may not 'get' this if you are under 45.

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

Comment #143302 by jaf on March 14, 2008 at 12:28 am

Isn't there supposed to be legislation against this type of discrimination? Shouldn't someone be reporting this religious toss-pot for 'hate-speech'?
I'm amazed at how un-christian the attitude of some christians can be. Or am I?

16. The argument from oranges

Comment #128429 by jaf on February 17, 2008 at 2:03 am

Could Darwin's publishers have made a terrible mistake in the title of the book?
Could he have intended to call it 'The Oranges of Species'?


jaf
www.anax-andron.com/thunderbox

17. The Dog Allusion

Comment #128426 by jaf on February 17, 2008 at 1:42 am

Greybishop wrote-
A reverse flea...with built in fleas of its own?

18. A match made on RichardDawkins.net?

Comment #128423 by jaf on February 17, 2008 at 1:33 am

The Energist wrote-
I find this message somewhat pessimistic about the future of humanity, although perhaps I should be an optimist and call pessimism realism.

19. Atheists to celebrate at Darwin Day in Coconut Creek

Comment #122239 by jaf on February 5, 2008 at 1:06 am

'We don't want to give the religious ammunition against us.'

Why not? No matter how much ammunition they have, they're still wrong, and will continue to be so. If they want to use 'illogic', let them, we'll use logic, science and reason to make them look silly, as usual.

20. The Pagan Christ

Comment #102510 by jaf on December 23, 2007 at 4:07 am

'The evidence for a historical Jesus is incontrovertible'

That bloke is either lying (apparently, lying for Jesus is OK), or he has no understanding whatsoever of the concept of 'evidence'.
I suspect he's lying, in the expectation that no-one will be bothered to find out for themselves.

21. How can the Earth be so perfectly suited for life by coincidence?

Comment #98670 by jaf on December 14, 2007 at 2:32 am

The 'Goldilocks Proposition' is utter nonsense.
The Earth is not perfectly suited for life. Quite the reverse, life is perfectly suited to Earth.
At least, the kind of life found on Earth is; who knows what kind of life might be found on other planets in the universe? If there is any at all, it would have to be suited to that (or those) planet(s), and may well be totally unsuitable and so unable to survive on Earth.

22. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #96841 by jaf on December 11, 2007 at 2:13 am

If Mr. Morris wants to bandy meaningless (and uncorroborated) numbers, he should be aware that, in the bible, god kills over 2.5 million people, whereas the devil only managed 10 individuals.

23. 'Boycott Worked': Compass Flops - Opening Weekend $26 Million; Narnia $63 Million

Comment #96832 by jaf on December 11, 2007 at 2:00 am

I suspect the film's PG-13 rating had rather more to do with keeping families away than any boycott by superstitious fuckwits.
It's downright censorship.

24. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95333 by jaf on December 8, 2007 at 2:56 am

[...]the question of whether science and religion are really at war.

25. Ask The God Delusion author Richard Dawkins

Comment #94289 by jaf on December 5, 2007 at 6:48 am

BBC News 24.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/talking_point_programme/default.stm

26. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #92627 by jaf on December 1, 2007 at 1:40 am

"It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice," the Pope said.

If Ratzo wants to see examples of cruelty and injustice, he should read "Double Cross - the Code of the Catholic Church."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Double-Cross-Code-Catholic-Church/dp/0955413303

27. Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission

Comment #91701 by jaf on November 29, 2007 at 2:20 am

Didn't someone quite famous once say "Thou canst not worship god and mammon?"

28. Richard Dawkins at AAI 07

Comment #85499 by jaf on November 6, 2007 at 2:59 am

ADH said -
"They know what we believe about the consequences of shutting God out of their lives. We don't mince our words about that. But we will not resort to fear tactics."

Do I detect a paradox?
Methinks 'tis so.

29. Science can answer how questions but only religion can answer why questions

Comment #82691 by jaf on October 27, 2007 at 8:51 am

I offer this (previously posted at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1361840.ece)



"What is life all about?" [or, if you prefer, 'Why are we here?']
It's not that no-one can find an answer, it's more that it isn't a valid question. Life isn't 'about' anything. It just is. It's a Monty Python sketch, without a punch-line. Enjoy it while it lasts.

30. You can't prove that you love someone, so don't expect proof of God

Comment #82687 by jaf on October 27, 2007 at 8:37 am

Has no-one here ever heard of CAT/MRI scanning?
Love can not only be detected, it can be measured.

31. Atheists don't believe in anything

Comment #82025 by jaf on October 25, 2007 at 2:47 pm

To quote the lovely Shirley Manson (of Garbage), from her song 'Stupid Girl' -
"[I] don't believe in anything that I can't break."

32. Arrogance, dogma and why science - not faith - is the new enemy of reason

Comment #61814 by jaf on August 7, 2007 at 1:54 am

Presenting this article here is giving the crazed Melanie Phillips (Polly Filler) too much undeserved credit for having any idea whatsoever WTF she is talking about.
She clearly has no understanding of the matter, at all.

33. Ducking the God Question

Comment #60469 by jaf on August 2, 2007 at 2:46 am

[Darwinism is] a humanistic view of life rooted in scientifically verifiable principles

34. CNN Debate on Koran in Toilet

Comment #60255 by jaf on August 1, 2007 at 11:49 am

I fail utterly to comprehend what exactly is the big deal?
I meantersay, I *never* go for a dump without a book.

35. God Hates the World

Comment #52035 by jaf on June 26, 2007 at 2:03 am

'God hates the world'

. . .except of course, the members of Westboro Baptist Church.

36. Atheism is pretentious and cowardly

Comment #48182 by jaf on June 7, 2007 at 1:42 am

Basically this person has nothing whatever to say, merely a ramble about the definitions of words, and an example of how many people use the wrong definitions, or make up their own to suit their point of view..

37. Beggars belief: Robin McKie on The God Delusion

Comment #47091 by jaf on June 3, 2007 at 2:07 am

[Quote]BMMcArdle on June 2, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Why amen? Isn't that just going to confuse people? I would also reject the use of the terms godly or ungodly. Referring to people as ungodly is akin to calling them sinful or wicked.[/quote]

Strange, to criticise someone for saying 'amen;, then to use the religionists own phraseology yourself.

Be Ungodly and proud of it. Be Godless.
What is 'sinful' when it's at home? A childish concept, a word used only by the (so-=called) godly.

So, let them call me 'sinful' or 'wicked'. What will be the consequence of my 'sin', or 'wickedness'?
Nothing, that's what.

38. The Atheism FAQ with Richard Dawkins

Comment #47086 by jaf on June 3, 2007 at 1:54 am

You should see this -

'The God FAQ'
http://www.400monkeys.com/God/

39. Liberty U student plotted to set off explosives, police say

Comment #44153 by jaf on May 23, 2007 at 1:25 pm

Bremas said -
"Sounds more like a dangerous college prank than an attempt at doing harm. Just a hunch. I remember a few of my friends from college who would have had homeland security all over them if they were in college today."

Sounds like someone who has had a crappy education, especially when it comes to chemistry. Liberty isn't renowned for its scientific rigour.

40. The God disunion: there is a place for faith in science, insists Winston

Comment #34745 by jaf on April 25, 2007 at 4:35 am

Scottishgeologist - "So does this mean he DOESN'T believe in god as it is just as deluded as thinking that science has all the answers?"

On the several occasions I have heard Dr. Winston speak on religious matters on the radio, I have wondered about this. He usually seems very reluctant to commit himself on anything, and I get the impression that his being a 'practicing jew' is more out of habit and a social imperative than any belief in a deity.

Speaking only for myself, I find he is usually best ignored (unless you are half of a childless couple, of course, in which case he could be very helpful!).

41. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #16678 by jaf on January 8, 2007 at 2:42 am

"[...] the abundant proof that the God of the Bible very much exists."

Show me some. Show me one good hard piece of testable, repeatable, predictive evidence.

42. The Science Show versus God

Comment #5331 by Jaf on November 9, 2006 at 1:49 am

"The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe just right for life"

What a nonsense title. The point is, life is just right for the universe, not the other way round.