1. When the ain'ts go marching in

Comment #25214 by AbstractMonkey on March 11, 2007 at 3:12 am

This is quite a good article. The more that people can be exposed to high profile atheist, humanist, &c. thinking, in the mainstream media, the more likely it is to spread.

@Roedy.
"Closer to our own kind, chimpanzees do not believe in God, but look what happens there when two rival gangs meet.

They mostly just hoot and rush. There is nowhere near the carnage of a belligerant human encounter."

This is what our advanced brains do for us. They use fists & sticks - we invent city destroying weapons :)

2. Academy denies claims from job candidate

Comment #25213 by AbstractMonkey on March 11, 2007 at 3:03 am

@Veronique

I found several of them listed under that name, and several under 'emanuel'. Are they the ones with the rather seriously Christian-aligned curriculum? There was something a while ago on the news here about a school that looked like its curriculum was written by a cult.

Have a google for them.

This is a link to one - are these what you mean?
http://www.emmanuel.walsall.sch.uk/

--
Abstract Monkey.

3. Academy denies claims from job candidate

Comment #25153 by AbstractMonkey on March 10, 2007 at 1:02 pm

This, unfortunately is not the first time this kind of thing has been identified from schools financed by Reg Vardy (a car dealer). Another one of the flagship academies was pulled up for slipping creation & ID into biology classes.

Personally, I have to wonder, given the large non-theistic population of the UK, and the sizeable sections of the Christian community that support separation of evolution & creationinsm to biology and R.E. classes respectively, if the purpose of the academies is to allow the introduction of a more extreme viewpoint.

Given the current authoritarian behaviour, and support of Blair for extreme viewpoints such as those of the Catholic & Anglican church w.r.t gay adoption, it is a distinct possibility. One that we should be worried about as it seems exposure of the activities, and widespread opposition has had little effect on these zealots.

--
Abstract Monkey.

4. Public Acceptance of Evolution

Comment #24875 by AbstractMonkey on March 9, 2007 at 2:26 am

If any of you have seen Ken Miller on Intelligent Design (youtube), at the end there is a little information about the evolution of ID - they are now making an attack on the principle of critical thinking in science. Evolution is now a peripheral target - they want to replace the underlying principle of science itself.

5. Happy 50th Birthday to PZ Myers!

Comment #24874 by AbstractMonkey on March 9, 2007 at 2:22 am

Many happy returns of the day Mr. Myers.

Here's to avoiding the return of the Inquisition.

6. Why Children Love Their Security Blankets

Comment #24872 by AbstractMonkey on March 9, 2007 at 2:18 am

Someone has already mentioned the olfactory element which they omitted, but there is something else as well that is worth mentioning. An experiment with young children was done in which they were shown identical photographs of meercats(I recall) but which were actually different creatures.

An adult cannot tell the difference, but a young child can. The implication is that they see a different level of detail to older people. Although this was not babies, it could be a factor in the results.

7. Senator calls for answer on creation of universe

Comment #23986 by AbstractMonkey on March 4, 2007 at 2:35 am

Typical of this lot. What they cannot pursuade one of, they enforce by law.

The bible belt authorities did once, apparently, try to legislate that the math constant Pi was equal to 3 because thats what the bible said. I don't think it actually made it into law, but I could be wrong..

W.r.t conservapedia, on the Jesus page, they propagate a myth about Flavius Josephus, and his mentioning of Jesus - I read a while ago that copies of his work before the fourth century show no trace of these passages, and that they were suspected to have been added later by Eusebius. Anyone else know if this is true?

8. Pope is warned of a green Antichrist

Comment #23983 by AbstractMonkey on March 4, 2007 at 2:20 am

The antichrist, by apocalyptic prohpecy, is supposed to be an charismatic manipulator that brings war while preaching peace. I can think of one current world leader that fits this bill, and he ain't an environmentalist.

It is this kind of trash that exposes the illogical thinking of these people for what it really is. They reject any notion that if we have a problem, we should fix it for ourselves. Sitting down and having a good pray is their solution.

Shame that history shows it has no effect.

9. Merkel wants EU to be vocal about Christian roots

Comment #23676 by AbstractMonkey on March 2, 2007 at 3:11 am

It is a bit surprising given that Germany has one of the highest Atheist populations in the EU. This is an example of something that I have noted to be happening in many situations; religious groups organise and migrate to positions of power, then -when powerful enough- they attempt to impose their ideas.

I also heard somewhere that she warned the elected EU parliament to keep out of the new constitution. If so, then it is clear that she is trying to circumnavigate the legislature. It must be opposed.

Ok... So are we going to terraform Mars, or Venus?

10. Research links some scriptures to hostile acts

Comment #23673 by AbstractMonkey on March 2, 2007 at 3:02 am

A link between scripture & violence. So... They've finally picked up a book on history.

What worries me, in the context of this story is that if one watches the evangelical channels, there is a prevalence of association between faith and being one of 'God's warriors'. In the right circumstances, with the right inducement, people who have faith can be made to do very bad things.

11. Falwell says Christians shouldn't focus on global warming

Comment #23672 by AbstractMonkey on March 2, 2007 at 2:54 am

Well, Falwell is proposing this God thing will save us...
Al Gore is saying that ManBearPig is responsible (see SouthPark)...

I know which one I find more believable.

I wonder if people like Falwell and the various capitalist institutes trying to undermine the global warming evidence are also behind the new attack that employs cosmic rays...

12. If God is talking to you, too, Mr Cameron - don't listen

Comment #23505 by AbstractMonkey on March 1, 2007 at 7:15 am

RE: #23498 Luthien -

I wish I had thought of that. Well, at least it has had an effect!

Yeh - I'm gonna have to have some respect for him now.

13. Bishops must not sit in reformed House of Lords

Comment #23482 by AbstractMonkey on March 1, 2007 at 3:30 am

I believe (I have no references) that a while ago, there was a debate about aspects of permitted Euthanasia. There was no legislation intended, it was to explore aspects as I recall. Inevitably, the vote was split; however, the interesting thing was that the bishops stepped in to swing the vote their way, and shut down debate. Usually, as I understand it, they don't vote.

If this is an example of their behaviour - namely to shut down legitimate debate - they must be eliminated from the legislature.

14. If God is talking to you, too, Mr Cameron - don't listen

Comment #23479 by AbstractMonkey on March 1, 2007 at 3:21 am

I posted something about this to the comments section of the times website, but it never appeared. My point was along the lines that Portillo contradicts himself in the article:

He says, "I recognise that teaching religious belief may be a good way, perhaps the best way, to impart a sense of right and wrong to children and it is fundamental to our society's survival that most people should distinguish good from bad."

And two paragraphs later shows a complete lack of understanding of his own point when he asserts, "But if our political leaders cite faith as their political guide, then how do we distinguish ourselves from the religious extremists who wreak havoc in our world?"

He seems to have made the usual mistake of not understanding that teaching right and wrong by religious means is exactly what gets us into the problem of extremism in the first place. Children should be taught common sense - not inconsistient, and often, barbaric fable as a basis for morality.

"But once you claim that He is judging you or telling you what to do, there is no logical defence against another who claims that his God is instructing him to blow up discotheques or fly planes into buildings..."

I could add invasion of another country.. Where exactly does he think that these people get their ideas & justification from?

** If someone out there reading this has contact with that plonker Portillo, give him a kick in the ass for making such a mistake. Better still, get Andrew O'Neil on This Week to grill him about it! **

15. The joy of changing your mind

Comment #23347 by AbstractMonkey on February 28, 2007 at 3:12 am

I think that one of the best ways to combat fundamentalism is public exposure to challenges of their arguments; they will often do themselves more damage by communicating where they can be questioned than being silenced. It doesn't matter, in a sense, that they won't change their mind, it's the minds of people liable to believe them that we have to change.

16. Religion in Conflict: Are 'Evangelical Atheists' Too Outspoken?

Comment #23345 by AbstractMonkey on February 28, 2007 at 2:56 am

Lord William Rees-Mogg published something in the London Times a few days ago along the lines that religion must take its place. It was the usual cart-load.

I noticed that in the title of the topic article is the word 'outspoken' which, in the common parlance of many is used to indicate someone of particularly outlandish views. I don't like the use of this term since it is used in some media circles to imply that although the

Other than that, I think he makes some good points.

17. The joy of changing your mind

Comment #23250 by AbstractMonkey on February 27, 2007 at 6:34 am

I would offer another use of the word Fundamentalism - one who refuses to change his, or her, beliefs even in the face of incontravertable evidence or logic that they are wrong.

The worst fundamentalists are rather like intellectuals (by Arthur C. Clarke's definition):
One who has been educated beyond his or her capacity to learn.

18. James Cameron finds grave of Jesus & Son

Comment #23229 by AbstractMonkey on February 27, 2007 at 2:54 am

I'm still hoping that the name Oded Golan doesn't turn up in relation to this discovery. He's fooled a lot of people in the past.