1. Interview with Dan Dennett on Danish TV

Comment #54433 by Lord_Satorious on July 7, 2007 at 4:15 am

Why is it in a discussion like this, someone always has to ask, 'but can science comfort people?', as though science were the replacement for religion. Science is not the alternative to religion. Science may provide good reasons to discard your own religion, but it's not the replacement for it. That would suggest science itself is a religion. So what then is a replacement for religion? Human beings. When something tragic happens in your life, find someone that loves you and talk to them. It's what we're doing already, minus the 'god' bit who acts as little more than the imaginary friend.

Other than that, I love Dan Dennett. He's like Santa Claus, with a sackful of good ideas.

2. Messiah

Comment #52431 by Lord_Satorious on June 27, 2007 at 2:50 am

Derren Brown reminds me of James Randi, only without the pulling back of the curtain and showing exactly how it's done. His approach is more subtle, he simply says, 'think about it'. It's not directly calling something a hoax and trying to convince people of it, it's more like getting people to think of it as being a possible hoax all on their own. Sometimes that can be more convincing.

3. Bill Maher - APATHEIST

Comment #35330 by Lord_Satorious on April 26, 2007 at 9:56 pm

I like Bill Maher. I watch his show every week. I don't think he has to say he's an atheist. He's taking the skeptic point of view, that maybe there is a god, but even if there is it's not a personal god, so therefore he doesn't care about it's existence. He may be ignostic (not a typo). Maher may not call himself an atheist because he equates atheism to absolute assuredness that there is no god (a #7 on Dawkins' list), and he himself steps back a bit from that position. Dawkins himself isn't a #7 (he says he's a high 6 however).

It seems Maher thinks religion is arrogant and dogmatic, and atheists should find that commendable, whether or not he him goes under the banner of atheism. Anyone who is willing to admit that belief in the supernatural, even if that be god and religion, is helping to show the ridiculousness of religious claims. The more this stuff gets out there the more people will see it's OK not to believe. The fact Maher is involved in a documentary which (I imagine) will show how religion can be dangerous, is a good thing.

4. The Video: Bill O'Reilly Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #34341 by Lord_Satorious on April 23, 2007 at 8:30 pm

We cannot 'prove' Jesus was _not_ God? Excuse me, but it's called 'burden of proof', and the burden is not on atheists to disprove Jesus' divinity, the burden is on Christians because they're the ones claiming he was divine. Under O'Reilly's reasoning, you can make any crazy claim about the supernatural and it could be considered legitimate because it cannot be disproven. An old logical fallacy argument.

By the way, we all should go to O'Reilly's website and e-mail him with our support for Richard Dawkins. It might not change anything, but he'll see atheists are at least vocal and plentiful.

On a side note, does anyone else think that Bill O'Reilly is a closet agnostic? I got a feeling his arguments were an act, if not parody. I cannot honestly believe someone can justify their faith with those sorts of arguments. Or maybe it's just that moderates look more foolish than fundamentalists when it comes to religion.

5. Flea Circus!

Comment #32964 by Lord_Satorious on April 18, 2007 at 9:23 pm

Can anyone think of any examples of atheists responding to religious themed books (other than their respective bibles)? I'm curious if this 'response to a book that also happens to be of book-length' is exclusively a theist phenomenon.

By the way, if anyone has any interest in buying one of these toilet paper-suitable tomes, please do so off eBay. That way, no royalty reaches the actual author or publisher.

Russell Blackford, after looking up its definition, 'defenestration' is now my favorite word.

6. Mozart doesn't make you clever

Comment #32348 by Lord_Satorious on April 16, 2007 at 11:28 pm

The MythBusters tested music on plants and how it affects growth... can you guess what genre assisted in the largest plants being grown? The most hardcore heavy death metal they could find. Apparently, even plants like to headbang, err, leafbang, or whatever part of the plant is analogous to the human head.

Mozart is good and all, but for my money, I prefer Wagner.

7. Mozart doesn't make you clever

Comment #32337 by Lord_Satorious on April 16, 2007 at 10:51 pm

So they concluded it's a temporary effect at best. Great, I already learned that from watching Penn & Teller: Bullshit! on Showtime. And that was the first season in 2003. No comment on the type of music anybody likes to listen to, as my tastes could most kindly be described as 'eclectic'.

8. Then Call it God

Comment #30796 by Lord_Satorious on April 9, 2007 at 9:26 pm

What, you mean Richard Dawkins _isn't_ God? Wow, I've been wrong all along then. Either that or you're a heretic and you must be punished for your heresy. We of the First Church of Dawkins do not burn heretics at the stake however, we slap them with transient species of fish until they repent.

9. Creation Science 101

Comment #28098 by Lord_Satorious on March 28, 2007 at 1:25 am

Hey, it's music AND reason! What a great combination! Like chocolate and peanut butter... oh wait, peanut butter is the atheist's nightmare, AHH!

10. God and His Gays

Comment #27542 by Lord_Satorious on March 25, 2007 at 8:26 am

I don't care if one's homosexuality is a _choice_ -- insofar as sex is behavior and all behavior is voluntary, therefore it stands to reason that anyone could decide to engage in homosexuality, even if merely out of curiosity rather than predisposition -- anyone who disagrees with homosexual acts is either motivated by religious teachings or is latently homosexual themselves. Hating someone because they don't have sex with the same people you have sex with is about as stupid as hating them because they don't eat the same food you eat--as freestateofmind mentioned. How tolerant the surrounding culture is has a great deal to do with how likely an individual will be to have a homosexual relationship even if the individual is heterosexual in the sense they will eventually get married to the opposite gender and have children when they reach the appropriate age. This is common in India (or was it Thailand?), where the genders are very much segregated.

Even if homosexuality is found to be 100% genetic in _all_ cases (unlikely, I believe homosexuality can be helped along by nurture, have psychological roots or even personal choice as much as strictly nature, albeit not as common), you know the religious fanatics will find an excuse to make it some test by God that one must get over in life.

On a side note, I don't think parents have any right to shield their children from the teaching of homosexuality in schools. They may cite religious reasons, but the real question that must be asked is, 'why, what are you afraid of?' It's bigotry and ignorance hidden behind parental rights. If a child sees two people of the same gender kissing in public (something I'm sure more than a few people wish was illegal), the child is not going to be scarred by witnessing it (unless strict religious upbringing instills hellfire and brimstone at such an act, of course). If the child questions why the two boys/girls are kissing, the parent can explain this to the child in any fashion they feel is appropriate, and based on the child's personality, he/she will either accept or reject their parents' explanation. Parents don't have nearly the control over their children they think they do, children do have minds of their own as it were.

11. Religion

Comment #27018 by Lord_Satorious on March 22, 2007 at 9:33 pm

Along with Lenny Bruce (one of Carlins' influences) and Richard Pryor, George Carlin is one of the three godfather's of stand up comedy. His 'seven dirty words' bit is a classic, and still very relevant because he was criticizing the FCC. His old material when he acted goofy with fantastic cultural observations is still great, but his more modern social commentary material is especially critical and biting, yet remains hilarious. Only Carlin can make suicide and rape funny. Yes, rape, which involves Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd.

shetlandforpeace, I can't believe you've never heard of George Carlin! I recommend you check out pretty much anything by him. His HBO comedy specials (over a dozen!) are all excellent, but he's getting older now, and a bit rant prone lately.

12. Did You Know? Shift Happens - Globalization, Information Age

Comment #25529 by Lord_Satorious on March 14, 2007 at 2:20 am

I'm always amazed when someone claims to be against globalization. It makes me wonder if there were people against the formation of individual nations. Or even further back, tribes against the formation of villages. Every eighteen months, computer processing power is doubling. What exactly will computers do when they're more intelligent than we are, and aware of it? Actually, I'm inclined to think everyday life will be very much the same. A significant difference being you will be able to download porn from the internet much faster.