1. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #157976 by Will in Aus on April 9, 2008 at 11:23 pm

Well well well, what a surprise that they'd resort to plagiarism to get their stupid message across. Just another example of how rubbish this film really must be.

2. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150948 by Will in Aus on March 27, 2008 at 6:16 pm

A very Happy Birthday indeed!

3. Richard Dawkins' US Tour begins this week

Comment #138007 by Will in Aus on March 3, 2008 at 6:28 pm

We definitely need an Australian University tour! We have our fair share of woo-woos here as well...

4. Bill Maher on Larry King Live

Comment #126195 by Will in Aus on February 12, 2008 at 3:23 pm

I have a BSc in Biochemistry, and a PhD in Biology. I believe I have read enough.

5. A Letter From Hell

Comment #115835 by Will in Aus on January 24, 2008 at 10:35 pm

That really would be child abuse to show that to a child. Disgusting.

6. The OUT Campaign has its own Flea!

Comment #106423 by Will in Aus on January 2, 2008 at 10:40 pm

I have a big problem with plagiarism. After having "don't plagiarise" drummed into me whilst studying science at Uni, it makes me cringe every time I see such a blatant example of it.

Josh, is there not some sort of copyright held on the OUT campaign concept.....surely this would be an infringement?

7. Creation college seeks state's OK to train teachers

Comment #99229 by Will in Aus on December 16, 2007 at 1:43 am

This really needs to stop! I really hope someone is doing something about this. These "educational institutions" should be made to pass strict requirements prior to being able to award any degrees. It just makes a mockery of those people who have received a real degree.

8. Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief, and Uncertainty

Comment #97214 by Will in Aus on December 11, 2007 at 6:20 pm

Well done Sam! First author and everything.

9. Merry Mithras 2007

Comment #95021 by Will in Aus on December 7, 2007 at 7:23 am

Happy Winterval! (I write that on all my cards even though it's summer here in Aus).

10. Sherri Shepherd needs to go away now

Comment #94608 by Will in Aus on December 6, 2007 at 3:46 am

stu·pid
1.lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2.characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.
3.tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party.
4.annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio.
5.in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.
6.Slang. excellent; terrific.

Source: www.dictionary.com

All except 5 & 6 apply.

11. Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin

Comment #93052 by Will in Aus on December 2, 2007 at 4:18 am

Comment 14 by annabanana:

Ok, I'm well aware that statistical data can be strongly manipulated and that this "sample" of the population could be an erroneous sampling for various reasons...BUT...it still makes me want to cry!

Does anyone over there in the U.K. want to put me up while I find a job and place to live? I don't think I can stand this country any longer.

12. Boy dies of leukemia after refusing treatment for religious reasons

Comment #92071 by Will in Aus on November 29, 2007 at 8:27 pm

What an incredibly sad story. Sounds like the judge needed to man-up and rustle a few religious feathers. Then again, I reluctantly agree with Celandine......it's a harsh thing to say, but at least he won't have the chance to pass on his stupid beliefs to another poor child at risk of dying because of them.

13. Golden Compass author hits back

Comment #91224 by Will in Aus on November 27, 2007 at 5:06 pm

If there is watered-down non-religious sentiment in this movie/book, then let's bring on the harder stuff......I wanna see some really offended believers!

14. Discover plagiarism at the Discovery Institute

Comment #91006 by Will in Aus on November 26, 2007 at 11:46 pm

Typical. I hope Harvard and XVIVO take them for all they're worth. It's just another example of ID proponents being unscientific!

15. 'Muhammad' teddy teacher arrested

Comment #90901 by Will in Aus on November 26, 2007 at 4:06 pm

What a joke! I mean, seriously, it's time someone put these people in their place. The UK should not put up with this. This was a woman who was presumably trying to help these kids, and she gets put in jail and threatened over something as trivial as naming a bear Muhammad! Have some balls Gordon, tell these idiots that you will no longer tolerate such absurd behavior. These people need to be stood up to, screw the respect for their stupid prophet, we need to get over tiptoeing around religion like it's a bomb waiting to go off (sorry...) and start acting like we give a sh*t about truth and freedom.

16. Sunday School for Atheists

Comment #90627 by Will in Aus on November 25, 2007 at 10:08 pm

I'm all for organisations like this. As long as the children are not "led" to atheistic/humanistic conclusions, but rather pointed in the right direction and left to discover their beliefs through critical thinking and analysis of the evidence, no harm could really come from such a program. It's really good to see people engaging in such ideas....there's hope for us yet!

17. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90607 by Will in Aus on November 25, 2007 at 6:40 pm

It makes me sick. As someone who is hoping to start a Ph.D in environmental science next year, it worries me that these people can fake it for a while to get their doctorate, and then go and claim they have authority to promote creationist bulls**t!

18. 'Expelled' Movie: The Extended Trailer

Comment #89915 by Will in Aus on November 22, 2007 at 5:59 am

Ben Stein, show me mountains of overwhelming evidence that supports intelligent design and I'll believe it.

If you can't.....then kindly shut up.

19. Man-sized sea scorpion claw found

Comment #89771 by Will in Aus on November 21, 2007 at 5:02 pm

"The biggest scorpion today is nearly 30cm so that shows you how big this creature was," said Dr Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK.

20. Sir David Attenborough on God

Comment #86672 by Will in Aus on November 9, 2007 at 11:51 pm

I was thrilled when I found this video. I've always admired Sir David Attenborough and at the same time wondered how his love of the natural world impacted his religious views. I agree with simonchase, it would be awesome to see him weigh in on the issue of atheism and particularly the fight against intelligent design. Never the less, a true legend of our time.

21. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #86435 by Will in Aus on November 9, 2007 at 8:14 am

mjr, you have simply shown your complete lack of understanding of the scientific method. This "reasonable interpretation of evidence" that you claim leads to the possibility of a "universal observer" results in a claim completely untestable and unfalsifiable. You have no POSITIVE evidence for the UO, you are merely making it up as you go along. Hell, my cat could be observing every quantum event, but it's doubtful. The only challenge to the fact that there is no god, will be positive evidence for such a being's existence; not some bullshit argument you plucked out of the sky.

22. God Talk on 'The View'

Comment #71610 by Will in Aus on September 19, 2007 at 5:37 am

Words cannot express how I am feeling at this point in time...... The ignorance is utterly mind boggling....

23. Catholic school board in Halton may ban HPV vaccination

Comment #71392 by Will in Aus on September 18, 2007 at 4:51 pm

Ok, so, when you get married, what stops you from contracting the virus??? Nothing! Furthermore, there are so many other sexually transmitted diseases that simply vaccinating against 1 will not encourage promiscuity. I recently went to a Skeptics meeting where Prof. Ian Frazer (the Australian who developed the HPV vaccine) gave a guest lecture. He raised an interesting point: the vaccine is really only for personal protection, and so those who choose not to receive it are only putting themselves at risk.......some may say it's natural selection at it's best.....

24. The God Delusion One-Year Countdown

Comment #67515 by Will in Aus on September 3, 2007 at 4:30 pm

I sincerely hope that this is a sign of the turning tide, from juvenile fantasy to a refreshing and uplifting existence based on logic and reason....

25. Anger at Malaysia 'Jesus cartoon'

Comment #65965 by Will in Aus on August 27, 2007 at 3:43 pm

Jesus Christ! Doesn't the world have better things to worry about than some stupid cartoon. If I was sure that I was going to heaven to be with Jesus, and everyone else was going to spend eternity burning for their sins, I wouldn't give a shit about some crappy cartoon. Idiots.

26. Shop targets U.S. hunters with camo Bibles

Comment #65546 by Will in Aus on August 24, 2007 at 5:39 pm

Good old Genesis giving humans "dominion" over everything!

I've got a new product idea for their wacked out store:

"The New Southern Hick Version of the Bible: so even the stupidest person alive can read the word of God whilst shooting stuff."

27. The Gullible Age: Review of 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #61429 by Will in Aus on August 5, 2007 at 6:16 am

I certainly do hope that there is some way I can watch this series over here in Australia soon after it is released. It would be a shame if we had to wait months or even years.

Does anyone know any more information about this?

28. God-Fearing People: Why are we so scared of offending Muslims?

Comment #60061 by Will in Aus on July 31, 2007 at 5:51 pm

So true. It is sad when people are no longer free to express their viewpoints on such an important issue without fear of violence.

On another note, I am nearly finished "God is Not Great", and I must say it has been very enjoyable. At times I have had to take out a dictionary and look up the meanings of some unfamiliar words, but I just see this as an opportunity to expand my vocabulary!

29. Touch Me Feel Me Science

Comment #57766 by Will in Aus on July 21, 2007 at 12:59 am

Could there be any one thing more important, or relevant, than environmental science education? In a time where making important decisions regarding the environment requires a basic understanding of the science behind the concepts, I could not think of a more important facet of science to be taught to the general public.

Sure, the lack of interest in science in general is worrying at least, and perhaps science museums have a very important role to play in that area. However, of much more concern is the environmental fate of this planet, the decisions regarding which will be made by the general public. Surely it is paramount to ensure that those choices are made by a well informed population - for everybody's sake.

30. Praying to a milk jug

Comment #56124 by Will in Aus on July 13, 2007 at 10:51 pm

Ok, I get the general gist of the video and completely agree. However, that dudes voice is so irritating, and the video is of rather poor quality. Let's get some talented multimedia artists working on such projects....

31. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45321 by Will in Aus on May 27, 2007 at 7:07 am

Richard, please come to Australia.

32. Happy 66th Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #27666 by Will in Aus on March 26, 2007 at 3:51 am

Happy Birthday Richard. A few lines on this message board really isn't adequate to show the gratitude that I, and I'm sure many others, have for the work you do. Keep it up Richard!

33. The Archbishop whose words came from same hymnsheet as a Marxist

Comment #25220 by Will in Aus on March 11, 2007 at 4:41 am

Well well well, looks like they don't reinforce the necessity to cite sources of information in the ministry. Perhaps the Archbishop would benefit from some scientific education; it would solve his plagiarism problems, and perhaps his religious delusions as well........

34. Response to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

Comment #25042 by Will in Aus on March 9, 2007 at 9:01 pm

Sorry? Is this guy for real? I've never heard so much rubbish come out of one persons mouth. He quite clearly has no idea of the scientific method, or its applications.

It's also quite obvious that he struggles with forming a coherent argument. Perhaps he needs to go back to high school.

35. The questions science cannot answer

Comment #21762 by Will in Aus on February 11, 2007 at 2:07 am

"Could the moderator(s) please stop posting articles from this McGrath asswit? He's a complete waste of space."

Seconded.

36. The questions science cannot answer

Comment #21761 by Will in Aus on February 11, 2007 at 2:04 am

Wow, another lame argument for the existence of God. Seriously, it's getting beyond a joke. It's really quite simple Alister. You have NO evidence for the existence of God. Simple. Build a bridge....

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

Comment #20916 by Will in Aus on February 7, 2007 at 2:46 am

The entire article is McGrath likening himself to Dawkins ("we are both Oxford Professors" and "we both believe in evidence based reasoning") in an attempt to convince people he is worth taking notice of, and then proceeding to try and add credibility to his religious views by stating his love for science and "evidence based reasoning". Grow up Alister. Argue properly or shut up.

38. Root of All Evil? Discussion

Comment #20345 by Will in Aus on February 1, 2007 at 11:47 pm

There were far too few atheists on that program, 2 atheists versus 8 theists is not a good ratio.
Furthermore, I really think that arguments such as this are useless when the people involved do not understand science. One must understand the scientific method in order to understand the arguments surrounding evolution and the existence of God.
It's really quite simple:

Evidence for God - 0%
Evidence against God - 100%

Evidence for evolution - 100%
Evidence against evolution - 0%

The Bible does not count as evidence. It's claims cannot be tested or observed, and so it is nothing more than here say.

39. 'Friends of God' Documentary

Comment #20214 by Will in Aus on February 1, 2007 at 5:25 am

You know what? I can honestly say that watching that video made me feel sick to my stomach. Never before have I witnessed such a display of, well, stupidity really isn't a strong enough word. This is an all time low. Really.

40. Blasphemy Challenge on FOX

Comment #19805 by Will in Aus on January 30, 2007 at 2:43 am

Wow. That is a joke. Only in America would that kind of biased garbage be allowed onto a mainstream news program.

41. Arguing for Atheism

Comment #19228 by Will in Aus on January 25, 2007 at 4:46 pm

Looks like Shermer avoided making any comment regarding his own opinion on the issue. He simply recalls what the book was about, and then criticises part of it. Perhaps he was too afraid of the consequences of supporting the arguments in the book, instead preferring to mildly criticise it so as to seem less supportive of the atheism movement.

42. Federal Way schools restrict Gore film

Comment #17441 by Will in Aus on January 13, 2007 at 6:11 pm

"The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."

Mmmmm, funny that, perhaps it's the complete lack of evidence for anything said in the Bible, and the overwhelming evidence for global warming.

"Asked whether an alternative explanation for evolution should be presented by teachers, Barney said it would be appropriate to tell students that other beliefs exist. "It's only a theory," he said"

Yet another example of a layperson misunderstanding scientific terminology. A theory in science is something supported by evidence, accepted as fact, but still able to be modified slightly as new evidence presents itself.

"From what I've seen (of the movie) and what my husband has expressed to me, if (the movie) is going to take the approach of 'bad America, bad America,' I don't think it should be shown at all," Gayle Hardison said. "If you're going to come in and just say America is creating the rotten ruin of the world, I don't think the video should be shown."

There's nothing that annoys me more than a patriotic American who believes that the USA is a superior country. NEWSFLASH Gayle, America is one of, if not the worst offender with regards to greenhouse emissions. Everyone should be saying "bad America, bad America".

It's time for the world to start embracing science, rather than criticising it. Decisions like that made by the school board in question are detrimental to society and to our longevity as a species. It's time to face the facts.

43. Richard Dawkins' Report Card

Comment #16996 by Will in Aus on January 10, 2007 at 3:09 am

.......... Weird. I'm not sure of the point of this post. Looks like a silly book to be quite honest.

44. Pat Robertson: God told me of 'mass killing' in 2007

Comment #16978 by Will in Aus on January 10, 2007 at 12:08 am

I would have thought that an all knowing, all seeing God would be perfectly accurate in his predictions?........Come on Pat, we all know you're a senile lunatic with nothing better to do than feed people your bogus predictions. Grow up buddy.

45. Questionable Mission

Comment #16653 by Will in Aus on January 7, 2007 at 10:39 pm

Wow, America certainly is a scary place. The Religious Right is becoming increasingly influential. You guys really need to get some liberal democrats into office to stamp this kind of thing out before it gets out of hand.

46. The New Atheists

Comment #16470 by Will in Aus on January 6, 2007 at 5:44 pm

" Well, the canons of proof are not applicable to that question, and it's not something that can be proved or disproved."

Firstly, who gave Prof. Cox the power to simply decide what the canon of proof is and isn't applicable to? I'm sorry, but that is not an acceptable response. You can't just say something like that.

The existence of God should be treated with the same method of inquiry as everything else is on the planet. If you have no evidence, well, I'm sorry, but that's it. I am sick to death of these pathetic arguments being given a voice, and the day they are no longer accepted as a valid response is a day that cannot come soon enough.

47. Without God, Gall Is Permitted

Comment #16467 by Will in Aus on January 6, 2007 at 5:23 pm

Mr Schulman is clearly feeling threatened by the current atheistic movement, and his article is nothing more than a pathetic smear campaign designed to try and express his own theistic based disapproval of atheism using tired arguments and weak logic. Nice try.

48. No religion and an end to war: how thinkers see the future

Comment #16157 by Will in Aus on January 5, 2007 at 4:27 am

Perhaps the fading out of religion and the decrease in violence around the world will go hand in hand. It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

49. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15630 by Will in Aus on January 1, 2007 at 5:54 pm

I think we should just stick with "atheist". People know exactly what it means, and it is a term that is slowly becoming more accepted thanks to the likes of Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett. Forget "bright", lets work on making "atheist" a more acceptable term.

50. Let's Hope It's A Lasting Vogue

Comment #15623 by Will in Aus on January 1, 2007 at 5:06 pm

I certainly don't think that atheism is a passing vogue. It can't be. We need it to be something that continues to grow. I'm trying to make my contribution, by lending my copy of The God Delusion or giving it as a gift, to people who are willing to read it.