Comments by Richard H

Comment #43448 by Richard H on May 21, 2007 at 1:31 pm

And, does anyone know how we send Josh links to things he may post on the main page?

Comment #43447 by Richard H on May 21, 2007 at 1:31 pm

I think you all will find this Onion piece even funnier:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39512

Comment #36901 by Richard H on May 2, 2007 at 5:38 pm

Just finished Hitchens "God is Not Great" and I have to say, those who are accusing Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett of basically stating the same old tripe are missing the wonderfully unique ways each author approaches the question of belief in the divine.

The only thing Hitchens book has in common with TGD is that they are both well written by commited atheists. The arguments are of quite a different nature in God is Not Great. I found the book to be quite refreshing and not at all "same old, same old" with the other Musketeers.

4. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #36899 by Richard H on May 2, 2007 at 5:32 pm

I supposed this would be a great time to HIGHLY recommend Ayaan Hirsi Ali's new book "Infidel". I just finished it the other night and was amazed at her breadth of experience, her thoughtful prose, and, most of all, her modest tone even while making the sort of statements she is hated for.

She talks quite a bit in the last few chapters about multiculturalism, especially Muslim immigrants in Holland, who are creating isolated communities totally out of touch with Dutch society and culture. Lots of honor killings and other abuses of women, but these are glossed over in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism.

An excellent book!

5. Brian Lehrer interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #34554 by Richard H on April 24, 2007 at 1:21 pm

Richard often uses the example of fairies to show how one cannot prove that the supernatural does not exist, but no one seriously believes fairies exist.

Apparantly some woman named Doreen Virtue, PhD does:

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Fairies-Messages-Manifestations-World/dp/1561708070/ref=sr_1_37/102-3719839-2861739?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177445390&sr=1-37

6. The Most Hated Family in America

Comment #29705 by Richard H on April 4, 2007 at 8:47 am

This makes me so sad.

But not as sad as Kermit the Frog.

See if you notice anything unusual at 1:55 in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLQRv0RjBBM

Richard, were you aware of this?

7. The Fifth Flea!

Comment #28241 by Richard H on March 28, 2007 at 1:23 pm

"Does it seem conceivable that the religionists are starting to be on the defensive?"

What seems observable to me is that if a non-religious person makes a big enough noise about the poverty of a religious idea, religious fundamentalists will automatically react with a frantic and often misplaced defense of their beliefs.

We saw this with the DaVinci Code. We saw it with the Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him, by the way) cartoons.

These things only generate a backlash if they are popular enough shake a few coins out of the Church's coffers!

8. The Fifth Flea!

Comment #28227 by Richard H on March 28, 2007 at 12:38 pm

You know this crap will be bandied about by the evangelicals:

"Dawkins has been refuted! I saw a book about it!"

9. Peanut Butter, The Atheist's Nightmare!

Comment #28225 by Richard H on March 28, 2007 at 12:34 pm

This is almost as good as the Kent Hovind videos I was forced to watch in my 7th grade Biology class.

I went to a private Christian school :)

10. Response to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

Comment #25624 by Richard H on March 14, 2007 at 10:51 am

I just wanted to give a little more background on Shaykh Hamza since I used to be a convert to Islam myself, have met Shaykh Hamza, and was an avid student of his.

It is no exaggeration, as Richard said earlier, that this man is THE intellectual icon for modern American Muslims. He has rock-star status among Muslims around the world, but especially in the West, since he is an American convert to Islam and studied in traditional madrassas (religious schools) for several years in the Middle East. He has mastered Arabic and many traditional religious texts. He also throws around references to Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and Augustine in his speeches and lectures to "wow" the audiences with his wide-reading and give the impression that he is immersed in both the Western and Islamic traditions. I'm not joking when I relate that people burst into tears, fight each other, and get ecstatic when they see this man at a public lecture. I've been around him many times, and have seen people fall in front of him, grabbing his hand and kissing it as they weep to be in his presence.

Part of why I left Islam was due to the celebrity of these "scholars" like Shaykh Hamza. He and his Zaytuna Institute have gone to great lengths since 9/11 to promote him as the voice of REAL Islam, tolerant, Jew-loving, and intellectual. He sells millions of CD lectures, draws the largest crowds at any Islamic gathering, and is quite aggressive towards dissenting views.

But before 9/11, Shaykh Hamza had a very different persona. You can still find lecture tapes of his from this time, in which you'll find a very angry and arrogant man regurgitating anti-Semitic language you hear all over the Muslim world. Now he supposedly loves Jews and uses their suffering to make an argument against "the worst of science" via Nazi Germany and the Eugenics movement. I have a strong feeling that it is through political expediency that this change has been made. Let me explain.

Another well-known Muslim "scholar" that I was having lunch with one day told me the story of Hamza Yusuf's transformation after 9/11 from the anti-Semite cleric to intellectual, tolerant rock-star that he is now. The man relating the story is one of Yusuf's own teachers and personal friend, and was with him when Yusuf was giving a speech in Washington D.C. to a large crowd after the 9/11 attacks. His teacher and friend, noticing several people in the crowd crying because of the power of Yusuf's words, pulled Yusuf backstage and told him, "Shaykh Hamza, look at these people. They are in tears because of your words. They really listen to you!"

It was after this experience that Hamza Yusuf radically changed his message and image, and garnered immense popularity in a very short amount of time.

What is so ironic about seeing this video is that when I was a Muslim, I used to think this man was an intellectual powerhouse. Now I listen to his vacuous arguments, his evasive repetition of "dogs, pigs, cats, lions, donkeys, etc" as if he's talking to children, and, the worst of all habits I encountered when I was Muslim, MAKING JUDGEMENTS ABOUT PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW AND BOOKS YOU HAVEN'T READ!

I'm so grateful I have left the idea of God behind me. The world is so much more beautiful now, and even though persevering through the apparant meaninglessness of life is more difficult (at least at the beginning), it gives me a little pride to know I have a mite of courage to try.